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  • NHS Volunteers Required

    Following extensive trials, the first safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine has been approved in the UK and is now being delivered to priority groups. 

    The NHS now need volunteers to step forward in the continued fight against coronavirus and help to support the COVID-19 vaccination programme. They are looking to recruit from local communities so they are able to provide a safe and effective vaccination programme while continuing to offer timely access and minimal impact on other NHS services.

    Volunteers form an integral part of the team working at either an existing NHS estate or a temporary standalone service within a local community. You will have the opportunity to work indoors or outdoors, supporting people attending one of the vaccination centres across The Black Country and West Birmingham. 

    The time you dedicate to this role will be flexible and hours offered will depend on site opening times. The NHS will endeavour to find a site as close to your home as possible.

    View full details for the opportunity here 

    The application process will require you to:

    • Attend a short interview/Q&A  
    • Provide two character references or in date DBS Certificate
    • Complete and return a volunteer agreement
    • Complete a risk assessment

    Please contact [email protected] for more details. If you are interested in this role, you can apply online.

    This opportunity is NOT being offered by the Museum. Do NOT contact anyone at BCLM regarding this opportunity as we will not be able to provide any further information than what is listed above.

  • BCLM Staff Consultative Forum – Elections for Posts

    The terms of the Staff Consultative Forum constitution determine that representatives can only stand for two terms, and as a result we would like to invite nominations for the following Constituent posts from all contracted staff:

    • Enterprise (Food & Drink, Admissions, Retail)     x 2
    • Historic Characters     x 2
    • Maintenance     x 1

    As a reminder, here are the current Staff Representatives on the Forum:

    Constituency

    Staff Representative(s)

    Administrative, Specialist & Managerial

    Tim Hamilton

    Steven Hearn

    Enterprise (F&D, Admissions, Retail)

    Vacancy x 2

    Historic Characters

    Lee Adams

    Vacancy x 2

    Maintenance

    Vacancy x 1

    Casuals

    Megan Hartshorne

    The Forum plays a key communication and discussion role in many significant matters affecting all colleagues across the Museum. The Forum meet quarterly and the meetings are chaired by either the Chief Executive or the Chief Operating Officer.

    If you would like to be considered as a Staff Representative, you will need a colleague from the same Constituency as you to propose your nomination and the name of another staff member, again within the same Constituency, who seconds the nomination.

    Given the current circumstances, we will accept email nominations and emails to second that nomination if you are unable to complete the nomination form. If you would like more information about the role of the Forum please email [email protected] or [email protected].

    The closing date for nominations is Friday 29 January 2021. Elections will be held following this date if we have multiple candidates for a single role.

    Unsure about which Constituency you fall under? Check the Constituencies paper saved on the Intranet (Museum Documents/Information/SCF Constituencies) or email [email protected].

    All contracted colleagues are eligible to apply with the exception of the Leadership Team.

    We would finally like to thank our outgoing representatives; Tom Law, Sheila Chamberlain-Hyett, Liz Peters, and Joy Oliver, as well as Peter Harrold who will be stepping down in April, for their honest and dedicated contribution to the Forum over the years.

  • All Staff Update – Wed 13 Jan

    All Staff Update – Wed 13 Jan

    In response to the latest national lockdown, the Museum will now remain closed until the end of March.  We are currently planning to re-open at the beginning of the school Easter Holidays from 1 April 2021. 

    Our re-opening is likely to happen under a tier system: the conditions of which will determine the kind of visitor programme we can offer.  We’ll communicate further information on the programme as Government guidance emerges over the coming weeks.  Training scheduled for January, therefore, will now be re-organised as appropriate given the revised timeline for opening.

    We were fortunate to receive financial support from Arts Council England and the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund in 2020.  Therefore, the Museum’s financial position is more secure than during the first lockdown before Government support was put in place.  Nevertheless, we will continue to review our position alongside the ongoing covid restrictions and associated impact on our programme and visitor numbers.

    Flexible furlough will continue for colleagues who are visitor-facing, unable to work from home, or who have caring responsibilities, and those whose workload is reduced due to the Museum’s closure.  In line with previous communication on flexible furlough, should you be required to return to work a member of your management team will be in touch to discuss and agree a work pattern with you.

    In line with clear Government guidance as regards non-essential travel, staff will only be on-site for essential reasons.  These are currently identified as: supporting duty management duties, animal care, Forging Ahead, NHS vaccination centre assistance, filming support, maintenance, and any other one-off tasks that are deemed essential and which cannot be completed from home. 

    The People & Culture team are working and are contactable if you have any questions, or require support.  Please either email [email protected] , or any member of the team individually if you would like a conversation.  All conversations will be treated in confidence.  As a reminder to all colleagues, should you test positive for the virus please inform the People & Culture team – even if you’re currently furloughed.  Please could you also inform the People & Culture team if and when you have received the covid vaccine. We request this so that the Museum can fulfil its obligations around duty of care, and also so that an appropriate return-to-work plan can be put in place for you in the run up to re-opening.

    You will be contacted about reducing holiday balances as the holiday year 20/21 will draw to a close while we are closed.  Please support your manager with this task.  As a reminder, any holiday taken is paid at 100% of pay, including during furlough.

    The NHS vaccine centre is planned to be operational from w/c 25 January and there may be opportunities for colleagues to volunteer with the NHS to support the centre.  Further communication on this will follow. Please note that this date is still confidential and not to be shared publicly.

    We are very aware of the continuing impact of this public health emergency on all colleagues.  Therefore, during this period of lockdown we will issue All Staff communications on a fortnightly basis; please do check the intranet for latest updates and stay in touch.

  • Temporary Homeworking: Self-Declaration Required

    Following the recent UK Government announcement of a third national lockdown, anyone who has not already done so, please ensure that you read and understand the BCLM Temporary Homeworking Policy and complete an online self-declaration form if you expect to be working either some or all of your working hours at home during this period.

    Please also note that you may be able to claim tax relief while working from home due to coronavirus (COVID-19). You can view the full guidance on the gov.uk website to see if this is applicable to you.

  • Updated Fire and Emergency Evacuation Procedures

    Updated Fire and Emergency Evacuation Procedures

    The Fire and Emergency Evacuation Procedures have been updated to include ACT guidance on dealing with bomb threats and on responding to weapons/firearms attacks. The new procedures can be found in the intranet documents here.

    The guidance is in line with the “Run, Hide, Tell” posters already found on the notice boards in staff areas. Staff should be assured that there is no increased threat to the Museum and the additions are to make sure that we are considering all emergency situations that may arise. All staff should familiarise themselves with the procedures so that they can take appropriate action in an emergency.

  • Museum update: training postponed

    Museum update: training postponed

    We hope you and your families have had a restful Christmas period. 

    Following last night’s Government’s announcement of a new national lockdown, we can confirm that the planned training in January will now not take place as advised in December.  Further information regarding this training, and future plans for re-opening will be communicated later on in January.

    Can we also please remind anyone returning to work in January that you should work from home and only return to the site if advised to.

    Thank you.

  • An end of year message from Andrew

    An end of year message from Andrew

    As 2020 comes to a close, Andrew shares his reflections on a tumultuous and transformative year for the Museum and what lies ahead. Follow the link below to watch on YouTube.

    If you are having trouble viewing the video please see below for the transcript.

    “2020 has been a year that we’re not going to forget, are we? And nor should we actually, really, because it’s had impacts both personally and professionally on the Museum. But, I think we’ve adapted tremendously well, and we’ve worked together tremendously well. You know, I’ve always regarded the Museum as a stage upon which we tell stories, and despite COVID I think we’ve adapted tremendously well to make that stage even livelier than we normally do, and I thank you all for that.

    Do you know, the response we’ve had from visitors and from people who follow us on all the social media channels and get in touch with us has been heartening, actually, even during times when we’ve been closed. Actually it’s given us great comfort that we’re doing the right thing, and that when things get back to normal they’ll be there for us and I’ve found that tremendously supportive.

    This year we’ll have only welcomed around 90,000 visitors, that’s something like about 75% less than we normally would – but we’ve given a great experience for them, and I think it’s been tremendously helpful to be open as much as we possibly can be. But, only welcoming 90,000 visitors as you well know has had a huge impact on our finances. We’ve had to have financial support from the taxpayer of about 5 million pounds, and sometimes I’ve felt like Oliver Twist, actually, just having our hand out all the time, wanting more and more to keep us going. But, we’ve all made sacrifices, and I think through those sacrifices we’ve put ourselves in as best a position as we possibly can be for the future. It feels like we’ve all pulled together.

    It seems ironic, doesn’t it, the last twist of the year is that we’re now being set up as a vaccination centre for COVID, and I expect that to happen early in the new year.

    Forging Ahead is continuing on, particularly the design work, and I hope to have some good news about that in the coming days and weeks. It feels like Forging Ahead is even more important to our future than maybe it did in the past.

    So for now, I wish you a very Happy Christmas wherever you are, and whoever you can be with and I hope for better times in the new year. Thanks very much.”

  • December opening – an invitation to colleagues

    December opening – an invitation to colleagues

    This is an invitation for you and your household to join us on our December opening days

    If you’d like to visit the Museum on any of our open days in December, all colleagues are welcome to do so from 1.30pm onwards.

    As a reminder, we’ll be open for an outdoor-only experience on Sat 12, Sun 13, Sat 19, Sun 20 and then between Mon 21 and Wed 23 December inclusive.

    Attendance is free for all colleagues (both staff and volunteers) and their immediate household.  You will not need to use your allocation of staff tickets to attend, but please note that this invitation extends to you and your household only (you must be in attendance). 

    Please remember that you must adhere to all Tier 3 restrictions/guidance required of our visitors (including the Rule of Six and face coverings in Rolfe St) and that you will be unable to access staff areas during your visit.

    On the day, anyone who wishes to visit will need to join the public admission queue and register at admissions so that we can count your attendance and details in line with our legal obligations under NHS track and trace.

    In addition to being able to see the Museum at Christmas, colleagues visiting on an open day will be able to enjoy an enhanced festive discount with 25% off on gift shop purchases (excluding alcohol and Peaky Blinders-branded merchandise).

    We look forward to seeing you!

  • Pre-Christmas Outdoor-Only Opening: An Update for All Staff

    Pre-Christmas Outdoor-Only Opening: An Update for All Staff

    As you will be aware, due to Dudley being placed under Tier 3 restrictions we’re unable to proceed with our Christmas programme as originally intended – both for our Enchanted Christmas special event and our Unwrapping Christmas general admission visit.

    However, we want to play a role in supporting the health and wellbeing of our community in the run up to Christmas.  Therefore, as a heritage site, and line with current Tier 3 rules, we are able to open with an outdoor-only offer in December.

    How will outdoor-only opening work?

    On Sat 12, Sun 13, Sat 19, Sun 20, and then from Mon 21 to Wed 23 December inclusive, we will be able to welcome visitors who adhere to the Rule of Six to the Museum for an outdoor-only experience.

    Visitors will be welcome to visit and enjoy the Museum grounds and explore our outdoor site.  Opening in line with Tier 3 rules means:

    • There will be no visitor access to historic buildings, or any other indoor areas that are considered to be a visitor attraction
    • Indoor areas that can be accessed are limited to: Admissions, the Gift Shop, Catering on a takeaway only basis (including Hobb’s), and Toilets
    • The Bottle & Glass Inn will also remain closed as we are unable to offer a takeaway alcohol service on-site

    Visitors will be able to enter the Museum via a pre-booked ticket. Entry fees will be:

    • BCLM Members, UnChained Passholders, Business Partners can visit for free
    • Adults (16+) required to pay for entry can visit for £5 per adult
    • All children (15 yrs and under) will be admitted for free
    • All car parking charges are suspended during this period

    We believe the above offer makes visiting the Museum accessible, and good value for our local community at a time when many people may be looking for respite at this busy time of year. This limited-time visitor offer is designed to make the Museum a welcoming outside space where people can spend some time together in a Covid-safe manner.  It is not intended to be a like-for-like replacement of our full visitor programme. 

    We intend to send out public communications about the outdoor visit tomorrow and for bookings to open before the end of the week.

    How will staffing work for the outdoor only opening?

    Consequently, staffing during our open days will operate on a minimum basis in order to deliver an efficient admissions experience, the ability to operate a limited enterprise offer and, crucially, to ensure the safety of our visitors and colleagues on-site. 

    In addition to these core admissions and enterprise roles, we will deploy colleagues as uniformed stewards to help visitors to navigate the outdoor site.  The focus of the stewarding role will be on wayfinding and visitor safety, rather than storytelling related to the historic aspects of the site.  This means we will not deploy the costumed Historic Character role on outdoor-only days.  Nevertheless, there will be an opportunity for front-of-house staff – including members of the Historic Character team – to indicate their availability for stewarding shifts, should they wish to. Comms via PlanDay to follow.

    When will we be updated on arrangements for furlough and holiday?

    The People & Culture team are in the process of writing to all colleagues today with details of how furlough arrangements will work for each individual and the process for requesting annual leave over December and January.  Letters will be sent via email and physical post.  A member of your management team will contact you to agree a working pattern should you be required to work during this period and we will keep working patterns under continuous review. Should you have any questions arising from your letter, or if you have any other questions or concerns please email [email protected] and a member of the Museum team will respond.

    As well as being a time for joy, we know that Christmas can also be a difficult and emotionally-charged time of year.  This is likely to be particularly so for 2020, as everyone is faced with the consequences of the pandemic.  This is reminder that the Museum offers access to Employee Assistance Programme counselling service if you would like to talk to a trained counsellor about any worries you may be having concerning the impact of Coronavirus, whether work-related or not.

    When will the Museum close to visitors for 2020?  What’s happening about January shutdown?

    The Museum will close to visitors at 4pm on Wed 23 December and with a planned public re-opening on Sat 23 Jan 2021.  Further details on the Museum’s shutdown plans and training will be shared with all colleagues later this week.

    In the meantime, thank you to everyone for your hard work and continued perseverance.

  • Christmas Programme – important update

    Following the latest government announcement that the Black Country and surrounding areas are to be placed under ‘Tier 3’ restrictions, we are now unable to run our Christmas programme in the way that we had originally anticipated.

    Therefore, we’ve had to take the decision to cancel our Christmas programme – including both our ‘Enchanted Christmas’ event and the Unwrapping Christmas daytime offer.

    We know that many of you were looking forward to welcoming visitors to the Museum over the Christmas period.  Therefore, we’re looking at the possible ways that we can be here for our community in the lead up to Christmas with an alternative daytime opening that can operate under Tier 3 restrictions. 

    The Museum will now not re-open on Sat 5 Dec as originally planned, but we do intend to be open at some point later in the month. We’ll update colleagues with further details on this pre-Christmas opening plan as soon as possible.  Additionally, will write to all colleagues individually early next week to confirm the arrangements that will apply to furlough, pay, and holiday for December 2020.