Leicester CityFC launch 125 exhibition at Snibston

LCFC leading goal scorer Matty Fryatt with club historian John Hutchinson, County Councillor Ernie White and museum staff

Leicester City Football Club have launched the 125 exhibition, ‘Shed to Stadium’, that will take place at Snibston Discovery Museum from 16th January until mid March. For more information, see the press release on LCFC’s website:

http://www.lcfc.com/page/LatestNews/0,,10274~1841763,00.html

Leicester City Football Club memorabilia wanted for Snibston exhibition!

Snibston Discovery Museum is appealing for Leicester City fans to join its memorabilia workshop on Saturday, 31st October 2009.

Leicestershire County Council’s Snibston is working in partnership with Leicester City Football Club (LCFC – a member of the Leicestershire & Rutland Museums Forum) to celebrate 125 years of the club. A series of celebratory events will be held at Snibston over the coming months starting with the memorabilia workshop.

John Hutchinson, LCFC archivist and history expert, will be talking about the club during the last 125 years and what it means to people who have been involved. John will meet with fans to discover more about their prized Leicester City treasures and fellow supporters. The two sessions, starting at 10am and 2pm, are free and will last for two hours.

A similar event, a reminiscence workshop, will be held on Tuesday, 15th December. Fans can come along and share their fond memories of the club and, should they wish, be interviewed by museum staff to produce audio accounts for the club’s archives.

Club historian John Hutchinson said “This is a very exciting time for the club and its fans. We really want people to join in the celebrations and help us reflect on the key moments during the last 125 years.
“If people have old programmes, strips, photos or memorabilia, we would love to see them. There may even be an opportunity to feature some of this material in the exhibition itself.”

The two-month exhibition, From Shed to Stadium – 125 years of Leicester City Football Club, will run from 16th January until 21st March 2010. To be held in the free-to-view Community Gallery, it will showcase football strips, iconic objects and photographs reflecting the history of the club which was founded in 1884.

Fans who wish to get involved and have memorabilia to share, or stories to tell, can e-mail football@leics.gov.uk.

The exhibition is free to all and will run from Saturday, 16th January until Sunday, 21st March 2010. For further details of the exhibition, please contact Sarah Oakden- Nancarrow on 0116 305 3443  www.snibston.com

Photos of the Leicestershire & Rutland Heritage Awards

We’ve uploaded the photos of the awards to our Facebook page – why not take a look?

Winners and dignitaries cut the cake

Award winners finally announced!

Six community-run museums have won this year’s Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland heritage awards, with Hallaton named as museum of the year.

The winners were announced at a ceremony at Stapleford Park last night (Thursday, July 30).

Launched 20 years ago by Leicestershire County Council and the Leicestershire and Rutland Museums Forum, the awards recognise the work of volunteers to preserve the area’s rich heritage.

The winners are:

Best project – Leicester City Football Club, for “Foxes’ Footsteps” (highly commended: Ashby Museum and Lutterworth Museum)

Award for work with children and young people – Ashby Museum, for Junior Friends of Ashby Museum (highly commended, Sir John Moore Foundation and Moira Furnace)

Best exhibition – Hallaton Museum, for “Rituals, Hoards and Helmets” (highly commended, Castle Donington Museum)

Best event – Sir John Moore Foundation, for the Rat Pack Evening (highly commended, Ullesthorpe Windmill) •

Museum of the year – Hallaton Museum (special mention, Castle Donington Museum)

Achievement award – Swannington Heritage Trust and Castle Donington Museum

Ernie White, Leicestershire County Council’s Cabinet member for Better Places, said: “I’m delighted with this year’s awards – not just for the winners, but for everyone who entered, as the standard was so high. “Hallaton is a worthy museum of the year, with its impressive new exhibition about the major Iron Age hoard found there.”

Around 1,000 volunteers run 40 independent museums in the area and they attract 250,000 visitors per year. The judging panel included heritage consultant Heather Lomas, Jim McCallum from Voluntary Action Leicester Shire and a panel of young people from CYCLE, the county’s youth council. For further details about community museums and the awards, see www.leics.gov.uk/community_museums

Heritage Award winners to be announced soon!

Winners of an annual contest to find the best community-run museum will be announced on Thursday, July 30 2009.

The Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Heritage Awards ceremony will take place at Stapleford Park, near Melton, on Thursday, July 30. Top prize is a plaque and £100.

Launched 20 years ago by Leicestershire County Council and the Leicestershire and Rutland Museums Forum, the awards recognise the work of volunteers to preserve the area’s rich heritage.

A total of 20 different museums and heritage groups had submitted 35 entries for six different awards:

* Best special project
* Best exhibition
* The award for work with children and young people
* Best special event
* The achievement award
* Museum of the year (chosen from one of the entries to the five categories)

Around 1,000 volunteers run 40 independent museums in the area and they attract 250,000 visitors per year.
The judging panel includes heritage consultant Heather Lomas, Jim McCallum from Voluntary Action Leicester Shire and a panel of young people from CYCLE, the county’s youth council.

For further details about community museums and the awards, see www.leics.gov.uk/community_museums
For media interviews, please contact the press office on 0116 305 7046 or Rob Clarke on 0116 305 4140.

Independent museums exhibit at Snibston Discovery Museum

As every year, the good folk at Snibston in Coalville have turned over their exhibition space in the foyer to the counties’ independent museums. This year’s exhibition opened on Thursday in time to be admired by attendees of the event to launch Leicestershire County Council’s Volunteer & Internship Programme (VIP).

Exhibitors this year include Coalville Heritage Society, Whitwick Historical Group, Wigston Framework Knitters Museum, Castle Donington Museum, Foxton Canal Museum, Railway Vehicle Preservations  and Rutland County Museum. Other museums are represented with information and /or a banner.

Why not pop along and see what some of the independent museums are up to – you might get some inspiration for a summer holiday trip to somewhere you have never been before, or discover one of the counties’ hidden gems. While you are at Snibston, why not pop in and see the current Anne Frank exhibition as well.

Both the Forum exhibition and Anne Frank exhibitions are free (charges still apply if you wish to visit other galleries). Opening times are the same as Snibston.

So who entered the Leicestershire & Rutland Heritage Awards?

It’s been a bumper year for our annual Heritage Awards. Not only are we celebrating our 20th birthday (and celebrating it in style, I can assure you), but we have seen a bumper crop of entries, with excellent entries in every category.

As happens every year, I’m gobsmacked to find out about some of the things that you are up to, even though i like to think that I am in touch with most of your fairly regularly. Brilliant exhibitions, amazing work with children and young people, fabulous projects and events that I am so gutted to have missed – but I can’t come to them all (more’s the pity).

The entries in the ‘achievement’ categories emphasise how far Leicestershire & Rutland museums have come – some over a number of years, other in a much shorter time – some over only a few months.

But enough of me going on – take a look at a summary of each entry by visiting the awards page of our blog.

Winners will be announced on 30th July!

Record Entries for Museum Awards

An annual awards scheme has attracted a record number of entries, from 20 community-run museums in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.

The heritage awards were launched 20 years ago by Leicestershire County Council and the Leicestershire and Rutland Museums Forum, to recognise the work of volunteers to preserve the area’s rich heritage.

Today, the County Council revealed that 20 different museums and heritage groups had submitted 35 entries for six different awards:

• Best special project
• Best exhibition
• The award for work with children and young people
• Best special event
• The achievement award
• Museum of the year (chosen from one of the entries to the five categories)

Community museums officer Rob Clarke said: “I’m delighted that we’ve had so many entries – it just shows how community-run museums are more relevant than ever, helping people to learn about their local history and play a part in preserving it.”

Around 1,000 volunteers run 40 independent museums in the area and they attract 250,000 visitors per year.
Judging will now take place, before the winners are announced at a ceremony at Stapleford Park in July. The top prize is a plaque and £100.

The judging panel includes Heather Lomas, Heritage Consultant, Jim McCallum from Voluntary Action Leicester Shire and a panel of young people.

For further details about community museums and the awards, see www.leics.gov.uk/community_museums
For media interviews, please contact the press office on 0116 305 7046 or Rob Clarke on 0116 305 4140.

View the Press Release on Leicestershire County Council’s Website for a detailed list of entries.

The Value of Volunteers

A few days away at Museum Development Officers’ and Association of Independent Museums conferences reinforced the huge value that volunteers have for our sector, particularly for independent museums.

They are the lifeblood of our organisations with many museums stating that they could simply not operate without volunteers. In Leicestershire & Rutland, of course, the majority of our museums are those particularly special ones run only by volunteers with no paid staff whatsoever.

Volunteers bring so much – they bring time, expertise and willingness, they are keen, eager and dedicated, they are open, welcoming and pleased to help. It is a regular pleasure to meet with, and speak with the dedicated volunteer workforce across the counties.

Problem is, we need more. We always need more. And sometimes in our sector we are not too good at recruiting them. The times are indeed changing and often people don’t volunteer for volunteering’s sake (although some do), but have a specific purpose in mind. They may want to meet people, make friends, learn new skills, gain experience for their CV or some other purpose. All of these are perfectly valid reasons for volunteering, and we should welcome people with such motivations with open arms. They can expand the capacity of our organisations and help us deliver more for our communities.

We must take account of the best practice in terms of volunteering and look at the experiences of others to learn how to better recruit more volunteers for our museums. We must remember the importance of developing volunteer policies and role descriptions for volunteers. People want to know exactly what they are going to do and what they will get in return. We must consider other issues, particularly relating to money. No volunteer should be out of pocket. If someone volunteers for 5 hours per week at your museum, that is worth £62.50 on the average British wage, so giving them a couple of quid for their bus fare seems perfectly reasonable, really.

We must also remember to recognise our volunteers – and where a museum is run entirely by volunteers, perhaps that is everyone’s responsibility. Just making sure everyone gets a card on their birthday and a slice of cake and a nice cup of tea every so often can go a long way. Offering people references and recommendations where appropriate is essential to recruiting volunteers after CV enhancement. The occasional party with a glass of wine or three on offer also helps.

There is so much help out there to guide us in the right direction in terms of recruiting and managing volunteers – we don’t have to fumble around in the dark. Engage with your local volunteer centre, talk to them, listen to them. Explain what amazing things the volunteers in our sector achieve.

Research in the East Midlands shows that, compared to other sectors like sport and social care, realtively few people volunteer in museums. The same research also shows that those museum volunteers are, however, some of the most dedicated, giving more time, more regularly – and that is truly something to be proud of.

Let’s raise a glass to our sector, our achievements, and, most of all, our volunteers.

Cheers!

Rituals, Hoards and Helmets

Hallaton Museum

Hallaton Museum proudly launched their new exhibition, Rituals, Hoards and Helmets, with an event last Saturday.

The new exhibition tells the story of how local people found this highly significant Iron Age hoards!  Visitors can learn how the hoard was discovered by community archaeologists and how the finds were processed in partnership with the County Council’s Archaeology Team, the University of Leicester and the British Museum. Visitors can see examples of the pig bones found on site, and find out what the tiny silver coins look like. Digital photo frames showcase images of the objects discovered on site.

Visitors can also have their photo taken in a replica helmet, believed to be similar to the one found on site, and have this printed as a postcard to send to their friends! Children (or adults!) can also learn how archaeologists work and try their hand at reconstructing a pot from a number of sherds, and search for the pig bones in the museum’s floor!

Visitors can also pop to the Fox Inn in Hallaton to see the museum’s new showcase in the lounge of the pub which tells the story of the tradition of Bottle Kicking and Hare Pie Scrambling in the village.

The exhibition is part of a partnership project which will see a new major exhibition about the hoard open at Harborough Museum later this year.

Rituals, Hoards and Helmets was funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, Leicestershire County Council, Renaissance East Midlands, the Helen Jean Cope Trust as well as generous private individuals and the Museum itself.