We are happy to share that staff tickets for the Museum’s Peaky Blinders Nights this Friday 22 September and Saturday 23 September can be purchased from the Ticketing office at a discounted price of £10 per person. Four tickets can be bought per staff member.
If you have any questions, or wish to order tickets, please visit our Ticketing team in the Canalside office.
We are committed to supporting a healthy working environment and continuously strive to enhance the quality of working lives for everyone involved.
Under the banner of ‘Health and Wellbeing,’ we are pleased to confirm that the Museum will again be offering prepaid flu jab vouchers, redeemable at Boots outlets, to all our colleagues.
How to Obtain Your Prepaid Flu Jab Voucher
To make it easier for you to access your prepaid flu jab voucher, please contact [email protected].
In your email, let People & Culture know your preferred method of receiving the voucher code and the team will promptly send you the voucher code to the provided email address or phone number.
To redeem your prepaid flu jab you can book online at your nearest available Boots outlet; Book Flu Jab Online.
To celebrate the opening of our replica of Wolverhampton’s Lea Road Infant Welfare Centre, we are inviting 75 Black Country babies born in 2023 to a free preview event on Thursday 12 October, from 9am-11am.
*Update* Thank you to everyone who filled in the form or shared it. We’re delighted to see just how many Black Country babbies want to take part in our preview day.
The 2023 Summer Programme, Tunes Through Time, received an overall visitor rating of 91%, rating either Excellent or Good (62% Excellent).
However, only 49% of visitors were aware of the Tunes Through Time programme, with only 6% of visitors using the trail. Of the 6% of visitors who used the trail, 93% rated it as excellent or good. 85% of visitors surveyed agreed that BCLM “reflects the unique character of this area and the people”.
Positive Comments:
Constructive Comments:
If you have a spare 5-minutes, please fill out the staff survey below, thank you.
Although we are now seeing the hottest temperatures of 2023, summer officially ended on 31 August and a new school term has begun, and I wanted to thank you all for the relentless work required during the busiest of weeks of the year for the Museum (10 July – 3 September).
It is always an especially unyielding time for front-line staff, but all professions feel it at this time of year. To come through with such great visitor feedback on the programme, the Row of Six and its new storylines and characters, as well as strong visitor attendance is a fabulous achievement.
So far as visitor attendance, we have performed very well (despite the vagaries of the weather), being 30% higher than a comparable period in 2022, although 5% below the budget we set for the eight weeks of summer. So, during the eight weeks we welcomed 107,619 visitors – our busiest ever summer, with three of those individual weeks seeing over 16,000 people visiting the Museum. The Summer Lates also continued to be popular, with 8,368 visitors across the four Fridays in August, an increase of 17% on last year.
The dip against forecast during August means the year-to-date results (i.e., from the 1 January 2023) are now almost exactly on budget: 261,607 against a budget of 260,750. That result also means we are currently 15% ahead of a comparable period in 2022, buoyed by Forging Ahead developments and continued strong demand for UnChained Annual Passes, both of which are strengthening the Museum’s beneficial long-term relationships with visitors.
A special word of thanks for everyone involved in getting Hobbs’ and Sons Fish & Chip Shop back up and running within just a few days of the range fire. It is a special part of the character of the Museum and, as we know, much loved by visitors.
We now gear-up for the autumn-winter events season, with plenty to look forward to.
At the next staff briefing, I provide further updates.
With my thanks.
Andrew Lovett OBE
Chief Executive
On Monday 11 September, Audiences & Communications will be hosting a photography morning in the new Infant Welfare Centre, ahead of the official opening in October. A professional photographer will be on-site taking staged photos of ‘visitors’ exploring the building and interacting with our historic character midwives.
We are looking for a small group of volunteers (staff, as well as friends, family and young children) to act as visitors in the photos. This would involve attending the Museum on Monday 11 September from around 10am-1pm, and appearing in staged photos.
In order to accurately reflect the Museum’s audience, we are keen to ensure a variety of different people are represented in the photos. We would like to include people of all ages and ethnicities, as well as people from the LGBTQ+ community.
If you or anyone you know (family members, friends and young children are more than welcome) would like to take part, please register your interest by emailing [email protected] by Thursday 7 September at 5pm.
Date: Saturday 9th September
Time: 7.00 – 10.30pm
It’s the 1950s and rationing has ended, HM Queen Elizabeth II has taken the throne and we’ve welcomed the birth of rock ‘n’ roll.
Join Black Country Living Museum as they invite you to experience life in a decade marked by culture, vibrancy and change.
Enjoy the sounds of the 1950s with live rock ‘n’ roll, jive and skiffle music. Headline acts include the popular Whiskey Jean & the Chasers, The Firebirds, Aisha Khan & The Rajahs, and the Junco Shakers.
It’s the decade that saw fashion become more colourful and extravagant, so why not join in… pull out your poodle skirts, don the leather jackets and put on your blue suede shoes to dance the night away.
Don’t forget to visit our Vintage Stalls and join in with the celebrations on Old Birmingham Road to mark Queen Elizabeth II Coronation!
If you have any questions, please contact [email protected]
Did you know that it is going to be highs of 26 degrees from Monday 4 September? So, let’s talk sun safety.
Too much sunlight is harmful to your skin. A tan is a sign that the skin has been damaged by ultraviolet (UV) rays in sunlight. If work keeps you outdoors for a long time your skin could be exposed to more sun that is healthy for you.
In the short term skin reddening, sunburn or blistering can occur. Longer-term problems include premature aging of the skin making it leathery, mottled and wrinkled with the most serious effect being an increased chance of developing skin cancer.
To protect yourself this coming week:
Please read the Sun Safety Notice thoroughly.
If you have any concerns please contact your Line Manager.
Thank you.
Welcomes
Earlier this month we welcomed Nicola Gill and Karen Kennedy to the Museum, both bring a wealth of experience to the Enterprise Team.
We also welcomed a number of casual workers to our Admissions & Welcome, Enterprise and Car Park Teams, to support the busy summer ahead.
Farewells
We will this month be saying farewell Laura Gibson (Collections Coordinator), Laura was on a temporary contract and has secured a permanent role at the Fashion Museum and to be nearer to her family in Bath.
Martin Meads (Painter) and Elizabeth Taylor Enterprise Team Member will also be sadly leaving the Museum this month.
We wish all our colleagues the best in their future endeavors.
While Hobbs’ and Sons Fish and Chip Shop is closed for remedial works, we’ll now be serving only chips from the Village Fried Fish Shop. This is to make sure that as many visitors can enjoy our chips as we can.
West Midlands Fire Service attended the Museum yesterday (Thursday 24 August) after a small fire was identified in one of the historic fryers in Hobbs’ and Sons Fish and Chip Shop.
Thanks to West Midlands Fire Service and the quick thinking of the staff in Hobbs’, there were no injuries and the fire was contained within the range itself with no damage to the rest of the building.
While we take time to restore Hobbs’ and make it fully operational again, the Village Fried Fish Shop will serve our traditional fish and chips while alternative hot food offers will be available from huts in the Hobbs’ courtyard, Marsh & Baxter, Workers’ Institute & Café, and Café Black Country.
At the moment, we’re unable to share a timeline as to when Hobbs’ will reopen until we understand the work required.
Thank you to everyone involved for responding quickly and efficiently.
