Here is this week’s crop of news items for Cambridgeshire museums:

1. SHARE has a training session on museum mentoring at the Fitzwilliam Museum on 23 February.
2. The SHARE Front of House Forum has an excellent joint meeting with the Retail Forum on 1 February, also at the Fitzwilliam Museum.
3. There are some interesting European opportunities for museums to be covered in Euclid seminars around the country over the next week or so (see www.euclid.info). Of most obvious relevance is Commemorations of major historical turning points in recent European history: 1936 Beginning of the Spanish Civil War; 1956 Political and social mobilisation in central Europe; 1991 Beginning of the Yugoslav Wars; 1951 Adoption of the United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees in relation with the post WWII refugee situation in Europe.
4. The Art Fund is advertising a course on navigating the art market which may be of interest to curators at http://www.artfund.org/supporting-museums/navigating-the-art-market.
5. The Art Fund has also announced Jonathan Ruffer Curatorial Grants Programme. This provides funding for travel and other practical costs to help curators from museums large and small undertake collection and exhibition research projects within the UK or anywhere in the world. Applications for grants under £1,500 can be accepted at any time, while applications over £1,500 are only considered three times a year. The deadlines for 2016 are as follows: 20 January, 20 May, 14 September. Full details can be found on their website.
6. The Waterbeach Military Heritage Museum wonders if any museum has a dehumidifier to dispose of or which they could loan. They also want a lit upright display case, with as much glass as possible, perhaps to buy second-hand. If you can help with either of these items please let me know.
7. The ACE Museum Resilience Fund has been opened for applications at http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/funding/apply-funding/funding-programmes/museum-resilience-fund-2015-18/.
8. The Museum of Cambridge hopes to find a home for a copper hot water bottle, 8.5” diameter (see attached). Please contact lorna.obrien@museumofcambridge.org.uk if you are interested.

Happy New Year to you!

There are several vacancies currently being advertised, and other items:

1. The Fitzwilliam Museum seeks a Communications Co-ordinator; see attached and Leicester number 43329 at http://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/museumstudies/JobsDesk, closing date 18 January.
2. UCM are advertising for a Digital Engagement Specialist, closing date 25 January; see Leicester number 43323.
3. The Fitzwilliam Museum has a temporary learning assignment with a deadline of 11 January; see Leicester number 43322.
4. The Whipple Museum are seeking an Education and Outreach Volunteer; Leicester number 43320, closing date 18 January.
5. The Polar Museum are seeking an Education and Outreach Assistant; Leicester number 43300, closing date 15 January.
6. The Department of Earth Sciences at Cambridge is advertising for a Museums Events Assistant at http://www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/9009/; closing date 9 January.
7. A museum has been offered a sewing machine, with provenance, which they would rather went to another museum, so have asked me to circulate the attached photo. Please contact me if interested.
8. The SHARE Front of House/Retail Fora (yes I did Latin at school!) joint meeting promises to be excellent and is on 1 February at The Fitzwilliam Museum (see attached).
9. Just a reminder about Leicester’s free online course Behind the Scenes at the 21^st Century Museum will be running it again, starting on Monday 18^th January 2016. As before, the course will last for six weeks and requires approximately two hours study per week. For details see
10. Also a reminder that there is a very useful funding database at http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/info/20012/arts_green_spaces_and_activities/35/arts_funding_opportunities_in_cambridgeshire.

Best wishes for 2016

1. The Museum of Classical Archaeology is advertising for a Museum Attendant http://www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/8825/, closing date 11 January.
2. The University Museums are adveritsing for a ‘Twilight at the Museums Volunteer at http://www.le.ac.uk/museumstudies/Jobs2/full_job_descriptions/43279.htm, closing date 18 January.
3. The UK Antarctic Heritage Trust are advertising for a Membership and Engagement Assistant at http://www.le.ac.uk/museumstudies/Jobs2/full_job_descriptions/43275.htm, closing date 5 January.
4. The Whipple Museum are advertising for an Education and Outreach Volunteer, closing date 31 December. This and the following two news items are all in the excellent Cambridge Arts Network Newsletter at http://www.cambridgeartsnetwork.com.
5. Vivacity Peterborough are advertising for a Heritage Programmes and Commercial Development Manager, closing date 31 December.
6. Excavations at Kettle’s Yard have revealed some interesting Roman remains.
7. Lindsey Holmes is running an HLF-funded project which currently has tenders out for the following roles: museum mentor, sight awareness trainer, film maker, photographer, audio description trainer, exhibition/design consultant. Anyone wishing to provide a quote needs to initially email Lindsey on lindsey.holmes@rnib.org.uk. The deadline is 11 January.
8. The new guidance and application forms for the next grant round of the Esmée Fairbairn Collections Fund are now live http://www.museumsassociation.org/collections/18022011-esmee-fairbairn-collections-fund with a deadline of 23 March.
9. HLF are advertising for a full-time First World War Centenary and Anniversaries Adviser to cover maternity leave until 31 January 2017. See https://forms.hlf.org.uk/applications/HLFJobs, closing date 5 January.
10. Michael Lewis at the British Museum is putting together a small online exhibition to ‘celebrate’ 1066 in 2016 – 950 years, through Anglo-Norman objects in UK museum collections. If you have anything suitable just send MLewis@britishmuseum.org an image and details of the appropriate contact.
11. Congratulations to Wimpole and the Nene Valley Railway on both achieving Full Accreditation, and to the Norris Museum on being awarded their HLF Stage Two grant.
12. Sir John Major has been made Patron of the Cromwell Museum Trust.
13. The joint County Council and Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (HLF funded) exhibition “Hide and Seek: Looking for Children in the Past” opens on 30 January for 12 months. As far as we can find out, this is the first exhibition focusing on children and childhood in archaeology in this country.
14. The ‘bronzing’ of the Terme Boxer at the Museum of Classical Archaeology strikes me as exceptionally interesting – check it out at http://www.classics.cam.ac.uk/museum!

This may be the last MiC News this year, so please accept my very best wishes for Christmas and the New Year.

Regular round-up of news for Museums in Cambridgeshire from Gordon Chancellor, Museums Partnership Officer.

1. Downham Market Heritage Centre is looking for a Learning Officer, closing date 11 December.
2. The Fitzwilliam Museum has a vacancy for a 2016 Events Co-ordinator, closing date 14 December.
3. The Fitzwilliam also has a vacancy for and Exhibitions and Registrar Assistant, closing date 22 December.
4. The Norris Museum is re-advertising for a Learning and Outreach Officer.
5. The V&A Museum has five training courses beginning in the spring 2016 (please note the charges):
   Handling Museum Objects – 11 February
   Photographing Museum Objects – 18 March
   The Enterprising Museum – 29 February to 4 March
   Creating Innovative Learning
   Working with Architects and Designers in Museums – sorry I don’t have a link for this.
6. A museum has asked me to ask if other museums provide or have you set up a pension (separate from local government schemes) for members of staff? If so can you please recommend any particular provider or give any advice  please? I will pass on the information.
7. If you would like to find out more about the Arts Council England’s response to the Chancellor’s autumn statement, including confirmation that their programmes will not be subject to in-year cuts between now and March 2018, go to http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/news/arts-council-news/arts-council-receives-cash-terms-increase-spending/. An overview from NMDC, including impacts on LA museums:  http://www.nationalmuseums.org.uk/news/nmdc-response-comprehensive-spending-review/. I am grateful to Liz Hide for these links.
8. Thank you to all the colleagues who replied to my straw poll as to which way you like to receive MiC News. I have about a dozen replies and all said they wanted to keep receiving the email version (as now). This is of course supplemented by each week’s posting on the MiC website.

Regular round-up of news for Museums in Cambridgeshire from Gordon Chancellor, Museums Partnership Officer.

This morning I met with Liz Hide, Dan Pemberton and Lucy Sercombe, Chairs respectively of Museums in Cambridgeshire (MiC), Cambridgeshire Museums Forum (CMF) and Cambridgeshire Heritage Education Group (CHEG). We met to start planning the best way forward for the three groups to work together for the maximum benefit of MiC members. It was a very productive meeting and I will keep you updated as our plans develop over the coming weeks.

What I would much appreciate at this stage is some indication from all members of MiC of how you like to be updated with information about MiC activities and information? Could you therefore, please, let me know through which ‘media’ you prefer to receive MiC information, for example: these news bulletins (MiC News, which will continue, perhaps modified), Twitter, blogs/online newsletters etc, or a combination of these?

Here is this week’s crop of items which may be of interest:

1. The Cromwell Museum is advertising for a Curator, closing date 14 December.
2. The Archaeology of Childhood Project is holding its final Consultation Panel at the Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology (MAA) on Tuesday, 1 December at 6.30pm. This is to help shape the forthcoming exhibition, Hide and Seek: Looking for Children in the Past, which is a collaborative effort between MAA and Cambridgeshire’s Historic Environment Team. The session will last approximately 1 hour and if you would like to attend, please RSVP to archildhood@maa.cam.ac.uk. If you cannot attend but have ideas, please send them along! For more information go to https://archaeologyofchildhoodproject.wordpress.com/.
3. The Museum of Cambridge is currently advertising for a Learning Officer and a Community Engagement Officer, closing dates 26 November. See http://www.museumofcambridge.org.uk/page.php?id=461.
4. The Audience Agency is offering free Visitor Finder online webinars, on getting the most out of social media ad tools within Facebook and Twitter and looking at how to set up and use Google Analytics effectively. These will take place on Tuesday 15th December from 9.30 – 1pm. They are open to all SHARE East museums to log into, but you must have access to a computer and use of a headset which has a microphone. For more details and to register click on https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/digital-webinarsby-katie-moffat-head-of-digital-at-the-audience-agency-tickets-19422013766 .
5. I am currently considering arranging some copyright training with my colleagues in Essex and Hertford. It would be helpful at this stage to know how many people from Cambridgeshire might be interested in attending. So please let me know if you might be interested and if there is any particular aspect you would like covered.
6. Could you please let me know if your museum took part in last month’s inaugural Halloween Museums at Night festival, and if you intend to be involved in Museums at Night in 2016?