Gordon Russell Design Museum
Celebrating the life and work of renowned furniture designer Gordon Russell, this museum offers visitors the opportunity to explore elements of 20th-century design from Arts and Crafts to post-modernism.
Schooled in the Arts and Crafts tradition of the Cotswolds, Gordon Russell (1892-1980) believed that the tradition of British cabinet making by hand could be fused with the possibilities of the machine, making good design accessible to all. His efforts to democratise design – ‘to make decent furniture for ordinary people’ – led to his becoming director of the Council of Industrial Design (now the Design Council), and a lasting influence on British industry, design and education.
The workshops his company occupied in the village of Broadway now house a museum dedicated to his achievements as a furniture designer, maker, calligrapher, entrepreneur, educator and advocate of good design as something that can have a positive impact on people’s lives.
The permanent displays span a rich period of 20th-century design, and are accompanied by a changing programme of exhibitions and events. The museum shop, Plane and Saw, sells a selection of high quality products by contemporary designer-makers.
Contact the museum;
Email info@gordonrusselldesignmuseum.org
Visit on social media;
https://www.gordonrusselldesignmuseum.org/how-to-help/volunteering/
https://www.facebook.com/gordonrusselldesignmuseum/
Avoncroft Museum
Avoncroft Museum is home to over 30 different buildings and structures from the West Midlands which have been rescued and re-built in rural Worcestershire. It is spread over 19 acres and includes a wildflower meadow, period gardens, a traditional cider and perry orchard as well as the collection of historic buildings.
In 1967 Avoncroft Museum was opened to the public following the rescue and reconstruction of a medieval Town House from Bromsgrove, and soon became England’s first open-air museum. Over five decades, Avoncroft Museum has continued to rescue structures and the Museum now displays and cares for historic buildings that range in date from Worcester Cathedral’s fourteenth century Guesten Hall roof to a post second world war prefab from Birmingham – covering over 700 years of Midlands history.
The Museum cares for a collection of several thousand objects that reflect the life and work that went on within the buildings and structures. The majority of objects belong to the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, ranging from small domestic items to wagons and agricultural equipment. Among the special collections is the National Collection of Telephone Kiosks.
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Museum of Royal Worcester
The Museum of Royal Worcester is an independent museum and charitable trust that looks after and celebrates the largest collection of Worcester porcelain in the world and its unique archive in the place where it was made. They work to inspire, surprise and delight people across the world with Worcester’s porcelain heritage, sharing this with future generations from its home in the heart of Worcester. The Museum is located in historic premises in Severn Street adjacent to the regenerated Royal Porcelain Works complex and minutes from the centre of Worcester and the River Severn. A small team of staff is supported by volunteers to provide a warm welcome to a wide range of visitors, enable group visits and experiences, admin and marketing support and delivery of our programme of events and creative workshops.
Discover the extraordinary stories of the workers and artists who skilfully made objects and the celebrity customers who enjoyed them. Enjoy interactive displays, and family explorer trails in our stunning galleries, completely refurbished in 2018. You’ll see some of the iconic objects like Admiral Lord Nelson’s breakfast teapot, and the famous Evesham oven-to-tableware. Explore 250 years of social, food and design history that connects Worcester with the rest of the world through porcelain.
Visit their website: www.museumofroyalworcester.org
Email: info@museumofroyalworcester.org
Follow on
Facebook: @TheMoRW
Twitter: @TheMoRW
Instagram: @TheMoRW
Pinterest: @themorw
George Marshall Medical Museum
George Marshall Medical Museum is a small but mighty medical museum in Worcester, exhibiting the original collection of Mr George Marshall, a former GP and later Consultant Surgeon of the former Worcester Royal Infirmary. The collection of objects, just 10% of which is on display at any one time, illustrates how medicine and health care have developed since the very first hospital in Worcester. This infirmary, which opened its doors in 1746 on Silver Street, was opened about 100 years before the advent of anaesthetics, and the Museum displays the infirmary’s gory amputation chair.
Along with the displayed collection, the Museum is home to a small archive, a rare books collection, a photographic archive, a collection of oral histories and a further collection of stored objects.
The Museum is open Monday to Friday 9am – 5pm, and is free to enter. It employs one part-time Curator who manages a small army of volunteers to ensure the care of its precious collection, and to help create events and activities for local residents and the larger ‘History of Medicine’ community. The Museum also runs a very popular programme of schools workshops based on the broad theme of ‘the history of medicine’.
You can find the George Marshall Medical Museum inside the Charles Hastings Education Centre, an education and training facility for medical and health care staff in Worcestershire and the West Midlands. This building is situated on the site of the current Worcestershire Royal Hospital.
Visit their website: www.medicalmuseum.org.uk
Follow on
Facebook:@TheMedicalMuseum
Instagram:@gmmedicalmuseum
Twitter:@gmmedicalmuseum
Tudor House Museum
Tudor House Museum
Tudor House Museum has been almost entirely volunteer-run since 2004, and has proved a huge success with over 12,000 visitors a year, Trip Advisor certificates of excellence and a dedicated, growing Friends group.
The Museum itself is spread out over 3 buildings, all amalgamated during the early 20th Century, and covers the spread of history from 1550 to 1950. The focus is on the development of the city of Worcester, the social history and the story of the house, with a spotlight on weaving and cloth-making as that was the trade Worcester was internationally famous for in the 16th Century. The house itself underwent many changes of use, from home to weavers shop, from tavern to coffee house, from ARP Warden’s office to school clinic.
There is currently no entry charge: they raise money via donations, education visits, the Friends group, events, gift shop and fundraising schemes such as the tea cosies. There is also a coffee shop onsite which provides the bulk of their income.
The museum is looking for new volunteers to take on gate steward, room steward and café volunteer duties; all of these front of house roles are crucial to the visitor experience and our dedicated volunteers help support the Museum!
Visit their website: www.tudorhouse.org.uk
Follow on
Twitter: @TudorHouseWorcs
Facebook: @TudorHouseWorcester
Instagram: @tudorhouseworcs
Malvern Museum
Malvern Museum
Malvern Museum is a small independent museum, run entirely by volunteers. Opened in 1980, it is housed in the medieval Priory Gatehouse in Abbey Road, Malvern, WR14 3ES. The building is owned by the board of trustees of the Malvern Museum Society.
The museum is open every day from late March until the end of October each year, 10.30am – 5pm. Principal collections include the geology of the Malvern Hills, material from the medieval priory, the history of the Malvern Water Cure, and Radar research at the local MoD establishments.
Malvern Museum is Accredited, with a core staff of Curator, Museum Manager (with responsibility for volunteers) and Shop Manager, plus trustees with legal responsibility for volunteer H&S and the building. There are currently (2017) vacancies in the core management team (which is at under half strength), for curatorial support, and for stewards to open the museum for visitors.
Visit their website: malvernmuseum.co.uk
Transport Museum Wythall
Transport Museum Wythall
Transport Museum Wythall is situated in north Worcestershire, just to the south of Birmingham, close to Junction 3 of the M42. The museum has extensive collections of buses and battery electric vehicles plus a miniature steam railway which operates on their event days.
They are open on bank holidays and at weekends from the end of March to the end of October, plus Wednesdays in school holidays.
They are always interested to hear from people wishing to volunteer who have relevant skills and capable of contributing to the operation of the museum. Volunteer roles include: mechanical engineers, front of house (café/shop/admissions), working with schools and groups plus back office administrative and management.
Visit their website: www.wythall.org.uk
Follow on
Facebook: Transport Museum Wythall
**Please note that they do not have the capability to train new volunteers in specialist skills**
