Museum News
Opportunities to volunteer without becoming a committee person!
The recent planning permission for a new extension announced last month has put a ‘spring in the step’ of the committee and justified the ambition to do better than just replace the old garage and provide an inside toilet. In fact, we are looking at a whole new way of working with the help of our external mentors.
Colleagues at South West Museums - Development group, are helping us with an ‘Organisational Health Check’ as part of the long-awaited Re-Accreditation process (delayed by Covid). The first steps have been taken and we can already see that we need to focus on two important activities:
First – maintain what we are already doing; Second – identify potential improvements in what we do.
The Museum first opened in April 2000. After 20+ years, we need to encourage the next generation of volunteers whilst recognising that there appears to be less spare time available for outside interests!
Effective communications are obviously very important but that does not have to be solely by formal committee meetings; email & phones can be used to great effect once the specific tasks are agreed.
So, here is a direct appeal to everyone who would like to get involved in one or more of the following:
- Maintain what we are already doing
- Custodians to open the Museum on 3 afternoons per week (Wednesday, Saturday & Sunday) and three bank holiday Mondays (Easter, end-May & end-August). Also – private visits by arrangement.
- Assist with caring for our displays & artefacts; review new acquisitions & refresh presentations. We also host temporary exhibitions from other sources and regularly prepare our own in a dedicated room.
- Manage the display of in-house books & leaflets; review sales, stock levels & re-order as necessary. Liaise with authors of publications which may be relevant to Frenchay.
- Identify potential improvements in what we do
- Review the current website and suggest ways of making it more effective/useable. Research & identify opportunities for ‘digitisation’. (NB; getting a phone line & broadband is already on the list…)
- Develop the current (approved) plans for an extension through the detailed design stage and consider how to best integrate the existing & new spaces when built. Also, opportunities for new forms of display!
- Publicity & fund-raising: both short & longer term! (We have some ideas and potential contacts…)
To summarise, our volunteers are encouraged to be ‘task-orientated and time-limited’. Their activities have to be both interesting and fun! FRA is already involved in some joint publicity to our ‘skills bank’.
Below this item there are Notices on; Opening Dates; Unitarian Archives; and Translations.
Please make contact if you can help. Tel; 0117 956 6378 Mob; 0777 552 2689 E; HWandCo@aol.com
Thanks, Hugh Whatley (Chair - Frenchay Tuckett Society).
Museum Notices
OPENING DATES
During the Platinum celebrations for the Queen’s Jubilee the museum will be closed to enable the custodians to take part in the celebrations. We will be on the Common on the Saturday June 4th with activities for children and adults and a selection of the numerous books that we publish.
UNITARIAN ARCHIVES
The Unitarian Chapel has been looking at the records it has. Among them are letters dating back more than 200 years. Eventually they may be deposited in the Records Office but the museum would like to have a copy of them available for research. We are looking for someone who is willing to scan the records and someone who could transcribe them – not necessarily the same person. Can you help us?
TRANSLATIONS NEEDED
As part of our drive to make the museum more inclusive we would like to have our introductory leaflet translated into as many languages as possible. Can you help us?
Telephone us on 0117 9569963 if you can help us or if you have any other skills you can offer. All help is gratefully received.
Frenchay Hill’s Former Name: the answer to the question posed in April’s FCN is ………’Post Office Hill’.