Don’t miss our training days and workshops this Spring!

Course: Making the Most of… Your venue for filming

Date: 25th February 2015  Time: 10:30am-4:00pm

Venue: Carrs Lane Church Centre, Birmingham

Details: Can your heritage venue really raise income as a filming venue? This session takes you beyond the generalities, beyond Bargain Hunt and towards a new and potentially lucrative revenue stream. Whether you are an urban or rural site, already host filming projects or are still a little nervous, this largely practical day could be for you. The course will be delivered by Heritage4 Media, a specialist team of architectural experts with more than 20 years’ experience within the filming and broadcasting industries.

Booking: Follow this link to book a FREE place

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Course: Techniques for Engaging Visitors

Date: 2nd March 2015  Time: 9:30am-4:30pm

Venue: Avoncroft Museum of Historic Buildings, Bromsgrove

Details: This great training session from Angelina Boden will help anyone working directly with visitors. As well as wanting to be informed and educated, visitors to museums are also looking for entertainment and fun. This training programme will develop the confidence and skills to bring the buildings to life through storytelling and demonstrations.

Booking: Click here to reserve your FREE place

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Course: How to Research the 17-20th centuries

Date: 17th March 2015  Time: 10:00am-4:00pm

Venue: Avoncroft Museum of Historic Buildings, Bromsgrove

Details: This training session from Dr Maggie Andrews (Professor of Cultural History, University of Worcester) will show you how to research individual characters or types of characters through easily accessible materials. The day will focus on researching the history of everyday lives of the people in the past: where to find resources and how to interpret, interrogate and use these resources to build up a picture of ordinary lives in other eras. We will explore some of the pitfalls and there will be chance to work through a range of primary sources.

Booking: Follow this link to reserve your FREE place

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Course: How to Wear and Care for Costume

Date: 25th March 2015  Time: 10:30am-4:00pm

Venue: Shugborough Estate, Stafford

Details: The day will begin with a session from historic costume maker Jo Badger who will show you how to correctly wear a selection of different costumes and care for your replica costume to ensure its long life. The second part of the day will give you the chance to see costumed interpretation in action as well as hearing from the staff at the established costumed interpretation site of the County Museum at Shugborough Hall.

Booking: Click here to book your FREE place

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Course: Copyright from Naomi Korn

Date: 15th April 2015  Time: 9:30am-4:00pm

Venue: Almonry Heritage Centre, Evesham

Details: Naomi Korn, Britain’s leading copyright and rights expert, advisor to the cultural and heritage sectors, will be leading a copyright workshop. In this she will be helping attendees to develop the practical skills and knowledge they need to deal with copyright issues at their museum. This event is FREE and spaces are limited, so don’t miss out on this opportunity; usual prices run at £250 per delegate. Materials, lunch and refreshments will be provided – please advise of any dietary requirements. For more information about Naomi’s work, please visit www.naomikorn.com.

Booking: Please contact the Almonry directly to book your place by visiting http://www.almonryevesham.org/blog/

Museums & Resilient Leadership Programme 2015 – 2016

Black Country Museum launches second run

The Museums and Resilient Leadership Programme is a unique course designed to develop you as a new kind of leading museum professional. The Programme draws on a wealth of knowledge and insight about leadership in the cultural and commercial sectors. It puts this learning at your disposal to help you become a cultural leader for the 21^st Century; resilient and entrepreneurial.

Funded by Arts Council England (ACE) through the Black Country Living Museum’s (BCLM) Major Partner Museum programme, MRL commences in May 2015 and concludes in March 2016.  It uses a highly innovative workshop format including two residentials, a number of site visits and an overseas study visit.  It is fully funded by ACE, though there is a small registration cost to your organisation. 14 places are available; 5 will be selected from the East Midlands, 5 from the West Midlands and 4 from elsewhere in England.

Find out more about the Museums & Resilient Leadership Programme and how to apply.

This hyperlink will take interested parties straight to the Museum page.  http://www.bclm.co.uk/about/museum–resilient-leadership-programme-2015–2016/422.htm

Handling and mounting costume workshop – booking now open!

Image courtesy of Staffordshire County Museum

Our first collections care workshop of 2015 is ‘Handling & Mounting Costume’.

Back by popular demand, this hands on, practical session will look at identifying fabric, packing textiles and mounting costume.

It will be delivered by Jane Thompson-Webb from Birmingham Museums who will reveal best practice techniques and simple, money-saving ideas to improve the display and care of historic costume.

Previous attendees of this workshop said:

“We learnt about the make up of fabrics and materials, which I found helpful. I can now identify textiles in our collection by sight.”

“The hands on activity was really helpful – actually mounting the costume onto mannequins gave me new practical skills that I can use straight away at work.”

“It was informative about the time it takes to mount historic costume correctly which will help me plan future exhibitions more effectively.”

The workshop will take place at the Museum Resource and Learning Centre in Hereford on Tuesday 13 January 2015, 10:00am – 4:00pm.

For the full agenda and to book your free place visit our Eventbrite site by following this link.

Membership Schemes and Corporate Giving

Another great event by Oxford Aspire  Monday, November 24, 2014 – 10:00

The context and dynamics of funding has changed fundamentally for museums in recent years.   The current economic situation may get better, but the changes to funding structures will be lasting and arguably even more competitive.  Museums need to get better at asking for money whilst focusing their attention on increasing and diversifying funding sources.

Membership Schemes and Corporate Giving – continues the ASPIRE fundraising and philanthropy series of events which aim to spark ideas, share and develop knowledge, and increase confidence around fundraising and philanthropy.

Museum membership schemes (friends and patrons) can play a key role in providing support with practical help and fundraising.  But museums need to think carefully about how they can best develop schemes that make a valuable and worthwhile contribution, which are attractive to new and potential friends and patrons, and which keep them interested and involved once they have joined.  It may be that there are other options that are more appropriate for certain organisation and this seminar will help delegates explore the pros and cons of such schemes.

Corporate Giving schemes are becoming increasingly popular as a new income stream, though less easily accessed in the regions than London. Further, corporate relationships require careful cultivation which can redirect resources from elsewhere, especially in smaller organisations without dedicated fundraising and development staff.   But when successful, such schemes can herald the start of a long and supportive philanthropic relationship between the museum and the corporate donor.

Through case studies and facilitated conversations this seminar will explore membership schemes and corporate giving and will provide delegates with the opportunity to share their experiences and network with other colleagues who are also involved in fundraising and development work.

This event is for museum decision makers.

Facilitators: 

Lucy Shaw, Manager Oxford ASPIRE, Oxford University Museums.  Lucy has been working for Oxford University Museums since August 2012.  She has worked in the museums sector since the early 1990’s, firstly as a social history curator in the East Midlands but for the last 10 years she has worked as a consultant specialising in workforce and organisational development.   Lucy is a trained facilitator and coach.

Natasha O’Farrell, Friends and Patrons Manager, Ashmolean Museum. Natasha worked in the advertising and film industry for many years.  In 2005 she took up the role of Fundraising and Events Manager at Living Paintings, a national charity which supports blind and partially sighted adults and children. She joined the Ashmolean in April 2010.

Catherine House, Membership Manager, Ashmolean Museum. Catherine is an educational writer and has also worked for many years in the development of community and international charities. She joined the Ashmolean Museum in 2010 as the Friends’ Membership Manager. In July 2014, she also took up the role of Membership Manager for the Ashmolean’s Patrons’ group.

Carol Anderson, Museum Manager, Oxfordshire County Council and Director, The Oxfordshire Museum. Carol has more than 30 years’ experience of working in museums in a variety of roles, learning and access, outreach, exhibitions, curatorial and as a service manager, and more recently, as director of the Oxfordshire Museum. She is a graduate of the National Arts Fundraising School and has wide ranging experience of fundraising for capital and revenue schemes at local, regional and national levels and from a variety of sources.

Lisa Craig, Secretary to the Friends of the Oxfordshire Museum.  Lisa worked for 9 years as a Geo – Environmental Engineer in Yorkshire before moving to Oxfordshire 5 years ago. She served several years on the committee for the Yorkshire Regional Group for The Geological Society of London and has been volunteering on the committee of the Friends of The Oxfordshire Museum, Woodstock for over 4 years, 3 of which serving as Secretary. Through her volunteering Lisa has gained much useful practical experience of fund raising at a local level.

Judy Niner, Chair of Trustees at Cogges Heritage Trust and Director at Development Partners.  Judy founded fundraising consultancy Development Partners 15 years ago, and has since worked with her colleagues on projects for over a hundred arts and cultural organisations in the UK. In her earlier career she held senior fundraising and marketing roles at the BBC, the Science Museum and Waddesdon Manor (National Trust). She is Chair of the Trustees of Cogges Heritage Trust, which took over the management of Cogges Manor Farm (Witney) from Oxfordshire County Council in 2011. She is also a Director of Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre Trading Ltd, Trustee of CinnamonGalle and Founder and Director of mondaytofriday.com.

Paul Mainds, Trustee of the Langley Academy.  Paul is the former CEO of the River & Rowing Museum Foundation in Henley which he helped establish as one of the country’s leading independent museums. Whilst there, Paul led several innovative and successful fundraising initiatives as well as raising funds through traditional routes such as applications to the Heritage Lottery Fund and other grant giving bodies.  He is currently helping to establish a new charitable trust to celebrate the birthplace of the Paralympic movement in Stoke Mandeville.

Alice Gosling, Head of Development, Compton Verney. Alice has 24 years’ experience in all areas of fundraising in the US and UK.   Having served as a Major Gift Officer and Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations for the University of Illinois at Chicago, she then moved to the UK where she lead a £20m campaign at Lincoln College, Oxford before acting as Director of Fundraising for the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals Trust during the successful Children’s Hospital and Cancer Centre campaigns.  With extensive experience in moving programmes to the next level, she now serves as the Head of Fundraising for Compton Verney Art Gallery and landscape park.

Venue:

Worcester College, Oxford

Contact:

If you need any further information please contact the ASPIRE Events Team: aspire@museums.ox.ac.uk | 01865 613784.

Booking Details:

This session costs £25 to help us cover the cost of venue hire, refreshments and speakers’ travel.

To book a place please visit the Oxford University Shop.

Shrewsbury Museum & Art Gallery warmly welcomes you!

Come along to Shrewsbury Museum & Art Gallery and see fantastic collections and contemporary art. Shrewsbury Museum & Art Gallery is offering museums and cultural organisations in England the opportunity to see the new museum and will also share the findings of three ambitious Arts Council funded projects that have been running in Shropshire. And all of this is free!

In addition to the tour you will:

• learn about the Heritage Ambassador programme which has seen over 100 staff and volunteers trained in promoting attractions across Shropshire and the Marches
• see how virtual volunteering has attracted volunteers from across the globe to enhance collections held in Shropshire
• be introduced to a set of free toolkits, which drawing on Shropshire’s experience provide organisations with templates to review methods of delivery and identify new strategies for working

There are 3 events to choose from:

• Tuesday 25 November 2014
• Wednesday 14 January 2015
• Wednesday 11 February 2015

The venue is Shrewsbury Museum & Art Gallery

The day will run from 10.00am to 4.00pm

Lunch and refreshments provided

The conferences are on a first-come-first-served basis so please book your place by emailing emily.nicklin@shropshire.gov.uk

An update from Worcestershire’s Skills for the Future trainees

We are the third and final group of HLF funded Skills for the Future graduate trainees in Worcestershire. The project aims to provide practical experience and the opportunity for training to those who wish to pursue a career in the heritage sector.

Through our newsletter, each edition edited by a different Graduate Trainee, we will keep you updated on our activities including training, site visits, projects and events at our heritage sites.

We also regularly update our Worcestershire’s Treasures group blog that you can access by following this link. 

The first newsletter was edited by Emalee Beddoes (Worcester City Art Gallery & Museum) and is dedicated to introducing the seven new trainees and exploring our first few months on the scheme.

It explores some of the most enjoyable tasks so far, top tips learnt along the way and contains a bibliography of useful websites. To find out more follow the link below.

Worcestershire’s Treasures: GWT Newsletter Issue 1 Oct 2014 (pdf)

Collections care for volunteers

Date: Wednesday 5 November 2014          Time: 10:00am-3:30pm

Venue: Museum Resource Room, Montague Road, Warwick, CV34 5LW

This workshop will introduce some of the basic principles and skills in collections care, focussing in particular on handling, moving and packing objects. It will be delivered by Becky Harvey, Flying Collections Assistant as part of the West Midlands Museum Development Programme. The workshop has been arranged for volunteers at Heritage and Culture Warwickshire which has kindly opened a few remaining places to volunteers at other museums.

Booking: Places are free but booking is essential. Please email rebecca.harvey@staffordshire.gov.uk to reserve your place, providing details of the museum where you volunteer.

Final places remaining on our second Accreditation workshop

There are just three places left on our second Accreditation workshop How effectively does your museum collect? 

Don’t miss out, book now to reserve your place!

This half day workshop will assess the effectiveness of your collecting policy and procedures and will explore methods of collecting more effectively.

It will also focus on unwanted gifts left anonymously at reception and ways of communicating the collecting policy to everyone at the museum. There will be lots of practical, easily adaptable examples to take back to your site.

The workshop will be led by Fiona Mitchell-Innes, Accreditation Advisor and Becky Harvey, Flying Collections Assistant. There will be time during the day to discuss any other Accreditation related issues.

Hosted at the Coffin Works in Birmingham, this is a great opportunity to explore this new visitor attraction before it opens to the public.

Date: Wednesday 15th October 2014

Time: 9:45am – 1:00pm

Venue: Newman Brothers Coffin Works, Birmingham

Follow this link to book your free place

Discover more about 3D printing at West Midlands museums

Join us for an exciting session exploring the innovative work undertaken by West Midlands museums. In 2013 the Museum Development Officers purchased a 3D printer. It has since been lent to a variety of museums and galleries across the region, supporting audience engagement and new ways of accessing collections.

On 16th October 2014 the museums that have used the 3D printer so far will be sharing their knowledge and experience with those wanting to find out more. In addition, staff from Thinktank and Ironbridge’s FabLab will be on hand to offer their expertise. This short, informal session is a great way to discover how you could attract new visitors to your site.

Date: Thursday 16th October 2014

Time: 10:30am – 12 noon

Venue: ThinkTank Learning Space, Curzon St, Birmingham

Booking: Follow this link to book your free place

Free collections skills seminars from Collections Trust

London | Manchester | Brighton | York | Exeter | Colchester

The first seminar will take place in London on 6 October 2014. Book your free place now!

The Collections Trust, with funding and support from Arts Council England, has developed a series of free seminars that will provide you with the know-how to improve the use of technology in your museum and assist you with your collections development strategy.

Who should attend

The seminars are aimed at Collections Management professionals and volunteers who work in small and medium-sized UK museums that are Accredited or that are working towards Accreditation.

Benefits of attending

• Receive practical advice and support
• Benefit from the experience of others
• Gain insights that will help with Accreditation
• Discover a range of useful resources
• Add to your CPD
• Network with colleagues

Dates and venues

6 October 2014	Science Museum, London	Book now
6 November 2014	Manchester Meeting Place, Manchester	Book now
1 December 2014	Brighton Done, Brighton	Book now
13 January 2015	The Hospitium, York	Book now
25 February 2015	RAMM, Exeter	Book now
18 March 2015	Colchester Castle, Colchester	Book now

Programme

09.30 – 10.00	Delegate registration
10.00 – 10.10	Collections Trust welcome and introduction
10.10 – 10.35	Local spotlight – digital strategy project
10.35 – 11.00	Collections Trust’s Digital Support Services
11.00 – 11.20	Networking and coffee break
11.20 – 11.45	Databases and Collections Management
11.45 – 12.10	Digital Asset Management
12.10 – 12.40	Going Digital Clinic – Your questions answered
12.40 – 13.30	Networking lunch
13.30 – 13.55	Local spotlight – Collections Management project
13.55 – 14.30	SPECTRUM and Accreditation
14.30 – 14.50	Risk, resilience and rationalisation
14.50 – 15.10	Collections Management Clinic – your questions answered

Further information

Contact events@collectionstrust.org.uk or call +44 (0)20 7942 6080 for more information.

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