In October 2022 the Museums in Cambridgeshire Fenland Changemakers project was completed.  Supported by the National Lottery Heritage fund the project successfully worked with new young volunteers and several families in 5 Fenland & rural museums consisting of –

• Chatteris Museum
• Ramsey Rural Museum
• Thorney Museum
• Whittlesey Museum
• Wisbech & Fenland Museum

The main aims of the project where to –

• Complete a volunteer audit at each of the 5 participating Fenland museums, identifying training needs and assessing the museums’ readiness to welcome young volunteers.
• Delivered a volunteer training programme which included: Social Media, research, designing exhibitions, marketing.
• Supported the volunteers to explore collections and archives, considering local ‘changemakers, reformers and rebels’ producing an exhibition at each musuem.
• Delivered family activities.
• Produced a youth-led virtual tour of each museum

The main NLHF outcomes achieved through the delivery of this project were –

• A wider range of people are involved in heritage
• Heritage is better identified & explained
• People will have developed skills
• People will have learnt about heritage, leading to a change in ideas or action
• People will have greater wellbeing
• The funded organisation is more resilient
• The local area is a better place to live, work, visit

We would like to thank our National Lottery Players, this project would not be possible without funding from the National lottery.

Here are a few photos of the exhibitions created by the volunteers.

Chatteris Museum exhibition and panel

Thorney Musuem Exhibition panels and brick display.

Whittlesey Exhibition panels

Working with the volunteers’ digital tours were produced with the support of our Arts Partner, 20Twenty and each virtual tour can be found on Fenland Changemakers Museum tours – YouTube page.