Dear colleague

Here are some items of news from the last two weeks:

The AGM of Museums in Cambridgeshire will be held at Kettle’s Yard on the morning of 26 November. I will circulate the agenda and further details nearer the date.

1. The Norris Museum is advertising for maternity cover for the Director, closing date 4 November. See https://www.le.ac.uk/museumstudies/Jobs2/full_job_descriptions/53647.htm.
2. The Churches Conservation Trust is advertising for a Heritage Learning Officer, closing date 2 November. See https://www.le.ac.uk/museumstudies/Jobs2/full_job_descriptions/53732.htm .
3. The next meeting of the Cambridgeshire Museums Forum has been set for 17 January at 2pm at the Norris Museum.
4. No less than 11 small grants for MiC member museums have been offered for projects to be completed in March 2019. They are sure to generate lots of great stories about what we are all doing to protect our collections and share our stories as widely as possible.
5. AIM have relaunched their Prospering Boards programme and are particularly keen to enlist museums from our region. See https://www.aim-museums.co.uk/aim-prospering-boards/ for details.
6. AIM are holding a session jointly with SHARE, for trustees, on governance and financial strategy, at Ely Museum on 15 November. See http://www.sharemuseumseast.org.uk/events/event/aim-financial-strategy-and-governance-for-trustees-2/. Please pass this information to your trustees.

Best regards

Dear colleague

Here is the news that has come my way over the last week or so:

1. SEMFed has its next meeting on 16 October at the redeveloped St Albans Museum and Art Gallery, reviewed in this month’s Museums Journal. Go to https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/semfed-study-day-st-albans-museum-tickets-49649985443 for details.
2. The University Museum of Zoology is also reviewed in this month’s Museums Journal.
3. Whittlesey Museum is looking to dispose of selected Sewing Machines, Typewriters, Gas Masks, Potato Riddles and Dolly Pegs – full details available on request.
4. I have been told that there are small grants available from The Cambridgeshire Family History Society for projects such as digitisation of records likely to interest them. Please let me know if you would like more information about this.
5. IWM Duxford is advertising two Executive Producer posts on the Leicester jobs site: one is for Air Show Creative Content (no. 53535), closing date 9 October, the other is for Schools and Families (no. 53541), closing date 10 October. See https://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/museumstudies/JobsDesk for details.
6. The UK Antarctic Heritage Trust, Cambridge, is advertising for an Administrative Assistant, closing date 18 October at http://www.ukaht.org/get-involved/jobs/.
7. Booking for the 2018 SHARE Conference on 19 November is now open for booking at http://www.sharemuseumseast.org.uk/events/event/share-conference/. The conference is at Firstsite in Colchester.
8. Congratulations to Wisbech Museum and the Fitzwilliam Museum for being awarded a grant from Cambridgeshire County Council’s Community Literacy programme. The project is called ‘Creative Families: Talking Together at Wisbech Museum in partnership with the Fitzwilliam Museum’.
9. SHARE is offering training in how to reduce your museum’s energy use. It is on 18 October in Norwich at http://www.sharemuseumseast.org.uk/events/event/keeping-green-reducing-your-energy-use/ .
10. SHARE has launched its exciting Hidden Histories programme, with grants on offer of up to £3,000, at www.sharemuseumseast.org.uk/project/hidden-histories. The deadline has been put back to 11 February.

Best wishes

Dear colleague

1. Firstly, may I remind museums which have yet to pay their MiC subscriptions to do so now? We are already half way through the financial year and it is surprising that 12 MiC museums have still not paid their 2018-2019 subscriptions (see MiC News no. 126). If you are unsure whether you have paid I can check for you, but please note payment is an eligibility requirement for the small grants scheme which closes on 1 October.

Here is this week’s news relevant to MiC members:

1. A reminder that Takeover Day is 23 November and you can register your events at https://kidsinmuseums.org.uk/takeover-day-england-registration-form /
2. There’s an interesting new partnership agreement between HLF and ACE. See https://www.museumsassociation.org/museums-journal/news/17092018-ace-hlf-form-partnership.
3. Please find attached a flyer for a child protection and safeguarding course in Peterborough on 17 October.
4. A reminder that the Museum of Cambridge is recruiting trustees at https://www.museumofcambridge.org.uk/about/opportunities/, closing date 8 October.

ACE have just published an important statement based on work by key heritage organisations on museums at risk at https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/working-together-protect-museums-and-collections-risk.

Dear colleague

Here are some items of news for the week:

1. The SHARE Volunteer Coordinators Forum’s next meeting is at Anglesey Abbey on Thursday 20 September, and there are still places available! Sign up on the excellent new SHARE website at http://www.sharemuseumseast.org.uk/ .
2. The Stained Glass Museum is advertising for a Learning Officer, closing date 28 September, at http://stainedglassmuseum.com/job_vacancies.html.
3. Congratulations to Ramsey Rural Museum for being awarded a grant from the ‘Talking together in Cambridgeshire’ programme for a really nice project called ‘Treasure Chest’!
4. There is a Tate ‘Sharing works of art’ workshop in London on 22-23 October. If interested contact RSVPsharingart@tate.org.uk.

Best wishes

Dear colleague

Firstly, a big thank you to the three museums which have sent me details of their alarm contracts, as requested in MiC News n.140. I am very grateful for this information.

Secondly, two pieces of important news from SHARE:

• the deadline for benchmarking returns has been extended to 14 September for the (now very few) museums which have not so far submitted their returns, and thank you very much to all museums who have done this.
• the greatly improved SHARE website and training calendar have now been published http://www.sharemuseumseast.org.uk/!

Thirdly, in connection with the last item, there is a training session at Ely Museum on 15 November focussing on financial management, organised jointly with SHARE and AIM. After that, there will be a session on legal protection for trustees which will be at St Neots Museum on 20 February. Both sessions build on the earlier ‘musters’ held in Cambridgeshire so please do share this information with your trustees. Places for can be booked at http://www.sharemuseumseast.org.uk/.

Other news this week:

1. SEMFed are holding a Study Day at St Albans on 16 October at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/semfed-study-day-st-albans-museum-tickets-49649985443 .
2. Please see the attached brief for the evaluation of the Common Ground project, from the Festival Bridge.
3. The Museum of Cambridge is advertising for new trustees at https://www.museumofcambridge.org.uk/about/opportunities/.
4. Wisbech Museum is advertising for a Project Officer for their Esmée Fairbairn-funded ‘Articles for Change’ project, centred on the abolition of transatlantic slavery (please see attached).
5. A reminder that the deadline for SHARE’s fundraising cohort is 10 September (see MiC News no. 140).

Best wishes

Dear colleague

On Tuesday I received a copy of the University of Cambridge Museums and Botanic Gardens ‘2017-18 Highlights’ booklet. Besides some great photos – I love the one about codebreakers, taken at the Sedgwick – there are some impressive stats: 1,059,355 visits, 31,853 people at outreach activities and 38,631 volunteer hours, among others. Congratulations to UCM!

On the other hand there are still many gaps in the County’s benchmarking returns list – still 18 Accredited museums with no return started with today being the deadline! See http://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/EastofEngland1718.

Other news this week:

1. In 2020, apparently England will be 1,000 years old – and Festival Bridge are producing a resource pack containing the history, folklore, and suggested activities to mark this. They would welcome involvement from all museums with Anglo-Saxon/Viking collections – especially those highlighting local culture (e.g. eel catching, monastic life etc). If you are interested, email Chip Colquhoun via england1000@epictales.co.uk or call 020 328 76245.
2. Takeover Day this year is 23 November. For more information go to https://kidsinmuseums.org.uk/takeoverday/. I have received information from a company which is offering to make films involving the youngsters on Takeover Day. Please let me know if you might be interested in their services.
3. It’s not strictly news, but I have been wondering whether any museums in the County have translated their websites into Mandarin? Every time I walk through Cambridge I am struck by the numbers of Chinese tourists and I hear that a fish and chip shop in Yorkshire gets phenomenal Chinese custom just because they translated their website! Please let me know if you have any views on this.
4. A project to help build a wooden pavilion on Christ’s Pieces in Cambridge is looking for volunteers. The pavilion arrives flat packed and is constructed by the volunteers. The day after the build, the pavilion will become a public space for people to discuss the future and concerns of Cambridge. To sign up email info@inyourway.org with ‘BUILD’ in the subject line.

Best wishes

Dear colleague

If your museum has completed its benchmarking return at http://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/EastofEngland1718 then please ignore this reminder, otherwise please complete it now. There is one week until the deadline (see MiC News no. 128). We have a great return record in Cambridgeshire, but so far this year there are 23 returns not yet started. We really need good data if we are going to demonstrate our value and this has never been more important.

Again, if your museum has already dealt with this year’s MiC subscription please ignore this reminder (MiC News no. 126). As of last week there are 13 museums which have not yet paid.

One more request from me please: I would like confidentially to get some indication of what MiC members pay for their alarm services (fire and intruder). I must stress that this is strictly for my use and I would never pass on details of any museum’s arrangements without their explicit permission. I am aware that the annual cost can be significant but I only know the actual costs for a very few museums. If you are prepared to tell me how much your museum pays and give me some idea of the service you receive (e.g. how often the system is checked) I would be most grateful. It would also be helpful to know the name of the company but I’d quite understand if you preferred to withhold that information.

Here are the news items that have come my way this week:

1. Following on from the details of The Library Presents in MiC News no. 135, volunteers in the project can attend a free marketing workshop, covering Facebook, Instagram etc, bookable at thelibrarypresents@cambridgeshire.gov.uk. The workshops are 10am-12pm at Ely Library on 3 September and 2pm-4pm at Huntingdon Library on 13 September and travel costs may be claimed.
2. Newnham College is advertising for a Curator of Valuable Possessions, closing date 3 September, at http://www.newn.cam.ac.uk/vacancy/curator-of-valuable-possessions/.
3. The Group for Education in Museums is running an Intermediate Course on Heritage Interpretation on 4 October, 10am-4.30pm, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, £125 for GEM and AHI members and £160 for non-members. For more information visit https://gem.org.uk/training-and-events/gems-training-programme/intermediate-courses/heritage-interpretation-course/.
4. SHARE is seeking expressions of interest from museums who wish to join a fundraising cohort. Apply using the attached form by 10 September.
5. Palace House, Newmarket: National Heritage Centre for Horseracing & Sporting Art is advertising a 12-month trainee community engagement opportunity starting in October. For further details see https://www.palacehousenewmarket.co.uk/media/wysiwyg/TPtTM_Trainee_Advert_-_Palace_House_1.pdf. Closing  date is 31 August.
6. HLF have announced the timing for their new Strategic Funding Framework at https://www.hlf.org.uk/about-us/our-strategy/changes-our-grant-making.
7. ACE have a useful summary of the project grants at https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/sites/default/files/download-file/Information_sheets_Museum_projects_Project_grants_0.pdf
8. The Royal Society has a small grants scheme for celebrating scientists which could be ideal for small museums, closing date 26 September, at https://royalsociety.org/grants-schemes-awards/grants/places-of-science/.