In this bulletin we share an outline approach to re-opening and work patterns, as well of news of wellbeing visits to the Museum, and a special letter we’ve received from our Honorary Patron.
Re-opening Principles
As a reminder from the previous Museum Update, we are planning to re-open from Step 3 of the Roadmap and are working to be open again from Monday 17 May. This date is subject to the four tests that accompany the Government’s Roadmap being met – including the continued decline of infection rates and hospitalisations.
The Museum will re-open with the Spring programme, ‘Discover the Black Country’. The principles behind re-opening in May will be based on how we welcomed visitors back to the Museum in August 2020, namely:
As a reminder we will be open seven days a week when we reopen in May, welcoming visitors from 10-4. During July and August we will be open 10-5, and then return to 10-4 and seven days in September. From 1 November to 19 December we move to Wed to Sun, 10-4, then open 20 Dec to 31 Dec seven days 10-4 except 25 and 26 Dec.
Line managers, or a member of your departmental management team will also be in touch with colleagues to update everyone on their proposed work pattern as we move closer to re-opening. Where possible, we will endeavour to give people one week’s notice of any changes to your work pattern. The Museum will continue to deploy furlough flexibly until the end of September. Further details will be sent to colleagues to whom this applies in a letter from the People & Culture team.
Colleagues should also continue to be advised by their line manager as to whether or not they should work from home, or be needed on-site.
The NHS Vaccination Centre
The Engagement Operations team are working closely with NHS colleagues to understand how we work together when both teams are back onsite.
Wellbeing visits to the Museum
As of April we can offer welfare visits to the Museum site for those colleagues who feel they would benefit from walking around on-site ahead of re-opening. As per last year, these visits must be pre-booked via the Duty Manager and will be available between 12.00-3.00pm on the following weekend dates:
Because of the continuing social distancing rules, please note you can bring along a maximum of one other person to accompany you, and we will have a maximum of two sets of visitors on site at any point. Places can be reserved on a first come, first served basis either by emailing [email protected], or by calling the DM line on 07788 666161. Only outdoor areas of the Museum will be accessible and entry into site should be via the green gate at the side of the Rolfe Street building.
We ask that staff only travel the Museum if it is safe for you to do so and we politely request that you do not post any pictures or comments on social media about visiting the Museum to avoid any potential confusion for the public about the Museum remaining closed and the vaccination programme.
A letter from our Honorary Patron, HRH The Duke of Gloucester
BCLM’s Honorary Patron, HRH The Duke of Gloucester, has written a letter expressing his gratitude and admiration for the efforts of all colleagues – including volunteers – to support the Museum and local community during these very challenging times. You can read the full text of the letter here .
We have recently received the letter below from the Museum’s Honorary Patron, HRH The Duke of Gloucester, expressing his gratitude and admiration for the work everyone has done during these very challenging times.
The Duke takes a keen interest in the work the Museum does and is kept up-to-date with all the latest developments. We hope he will be able to visit soon.
In this update we’d like to share news of the Museum’s plans for re-opening, changes to the Board of Trustees and an update on Forging Ahead.
Plans for re-opening
Following publication of the Government’s Roadmap, the Museum will re-open at Step 3 in line with other museums and indoor attractions. Step 3 is currently scheduled to begin from Monday 17 May, and this is the date we are working towards for re-opening.
Opening the Museum at Step 3 will enable us to welcome visitors back with a full, but socially-distanced offer in a similar manner to August 2020. Therefore, we hope that we can take what we learned from last year and make this year’s re-opening just as successful.
More detail will follow in the coming weeks about the programme and what the re-opening means for working patterns, including training. Line managers will be in touch with colleagues in due course. If you have any questions in the meantime, however, please do email [email protected].
Please note that all dates quoted in the Government’s Roadmap are ‘no earlier than’ dates and are subject to change should criteria including infection rates and hospitalisations begin to increase again.
Also a reminder that in line with Government’s current ‘stay at home’ rule, which will be in effect until 29 March, colleagues should only be at the Museum for essential work. Although the ‘stay at home’ rule will end on this date, people should continue to work from home where they can and minimise the number of journeys they make where possible, avoiding travel at the busiest times and routes.
Please note that the decision to open at Step 3/17 May has not yet been communicated to the general public. We’ve chosen to leave this slight gap between internal and external comms so that all colleagues will have the chance to learn the news before we make it public. We will communicate publicly via our website and social media early next week. In the meantime, we’d ask that you avoid posting this news on social media, or making public comments about our re-opening plans. Thank you.
Changes to BCLM Board of Trustees
We’re pleased to announce changes to the Museum board. Dr Paul Belford has been elected as Chair of the Board of Trustees and Jonathan Badyal and Vikki Jessop have been appointed as Deputy Chairs. You can read more about this here.
Forging Ahead
Major works on Forging Ahead continue. Balfour Beatty are progressing work by digging trenches to provide cabling and services to buildings.
The de-build of Woodside Library in Dudley has begun and architectural items from the building have started to be delivered to the Museum. One interesting item that has been discovered as part of the take-down of the building is a piece of architrave that was signed by the joiner – a Joseph E. B. Round – who installed it during the building’s original construction in 1894. There may be a family connection between Joseph Round and a contractor working on Woodside now, which would be a fitting story if one generation of a family helped to put the building up and another generation helped to take it down and bring it to the Museum for preservation! The piece of architrave is now in the Museum collection and is shown below:
We’re expecting the first pallet of what will be a total of 400 pallets of bricks to arrive on-site in April, with the translocation of all materials from Woodside scheduled to be completed by the end of May this year.
Overall project timings for Forging Ahead are currently on schedule, enabling us to open the Visitor Centre in Spring 2022 and the Historic Development in Spring 2023. We’re planning to run some Forging Ahead familiarisation sessions as part of re-opening training, so please watch this space for further details.
We’re looking forward to sharing the next steps on plans for re-opening in the next update on Wednesday 24 March. In the meantime, we hope you keep safe and well.
Andrew has recorded a short video to update colleagues on the latest Museum news.
In the video below Andrew talks about the beginning of major works on Forging Ahead and gives an initial response to the publication of the Government’s roadmap out of lockdown.
Further information on plans for re-opening will follow as soon as possible, so please do keep a look out for intranet updates and notifications via PlanDay.
As a reminder to all colleagues, we’re hosting virtual coffee catch ups every Wednesday between 2.30-4.00pm on Microsoft Teams – via this joining link.
We hope everyone has been keeping safe and well and enjoying the sight of the snowy landscape, if not necessarily the temperature!
In this update we wanted to focus on the positive role that the Museum is still playing in the community despite our closure to visitors.
The Vaccination Centre
The Vaccination Centre continues to run successfully; approximately 1,000 per day, seven days a week, are receiving their vaccination at the Museum and contributing to the total of more than 12.6m people who have received their first dose of the vaccine so far in the UK.
The Vaccination Centre also continues to make positive headlines too; BBC Midlands Today presenter Nick Owen received his vaccination at BCLM last week. You can see the report below:
Community Engagement
The Community Engagement team have taken some of their programme online to ensure that the Museum can still connect with audiences during lockdown. A new monthly series of ‘Access Heritage’ films will launch from Thursday 11 February as an alternative to on-site specialist tours for visually impaired and deaf visitors. The films are designed to be accessible and can be enjoyed by all audiences. Visit BCLM’s YouTube channel from 11 February to see the first set of films. This month’s content is themed around Valentine’s Day and features some surprising objects from the Museum’s collection.
Work with community partners such as our Access Panel also continues, including the ‘Me, Myself and I’ group which supports carers and their family members living with dementia.
Once a month the Community Engagement team participate in the talking therapies sessions offered by ‘Me, Myself and I’ where a Historic Character will make phone calls and sing songs and share traditional Black Country stories to a range of vulnerable older people who are lonely and isolated. Through this work the Museum continues to reach out and make a difference to so many local people’s lives. Thank you to all colleagues who are providing their time and support to this vital initiative.
Connecting through Virtual Coffee & Catch Ups
Within our own Museum community, the People & Culture team piloted virtual coffee and catch up sessions last week (w/c 1 Feb) which proved a real success both in terms of participation and feedback. We’re offering more of these sessions over the coming weeks as a way of helping colleagues to connect with each other and share their experiences. You can find more details here. If you have any feedback, or would like to suggest a theme/share helpful advice at one of these future sessions, please do get in touch via [email protected].
As ever, we’d also be delighted to hear how our colleagues are passing the time; any tips and stories would be very welcome. Please do send your experiences to [email protected] and perhaps we can share these with your permission.
We know that colleagues are still connecting with each other, be that through virtual coffee mornings, or through checking-in in other ways. We’d encourage everyone to stay in touch and support each other in whichever way works best for them during this time.
