We are looking forward to meeting the Nottingham Macular Society when they visit BCLM on Tuesday 23 July.
The Community Engagement team, and collections, have developed a new touch tour for blind and partially sighted visitors.
Knobs and Knockers is one of the latest themes, and we will be expanding the offer as more visitors request specialist tours.
This handling session forms part of our future plans to transform the visitor journey and increase attendance.
Please note that the Annual Review and Report & Accounts for year ending 2018 are now available to view online.
It’s that time again for the Community Roadshow as we journey to Halesowen Carnival on 6th July and Stourbridge Carnival on 7th July!
We are interested to hear from anyone who remembers the Co-op on Stourbridge Road, to help us in our recreation as part of Forging Ahead. Researcher Clare Weston will be joining us and collecting real stories from real people.
For more information about the Halesowen and Hasbury Co-op contact [email protected] or call 0121 557 9643.
We’re rolling up our sleeves this weekend as we embark on a non-stop Community Roadshow journey. Join us at the following events starting on Friday 28 June at Celebrate Sandwell located in the West Bromwich Town Hall, Upper Gornal Fun day in the Recreation Ground on Saturday 29 June and finishing off at Himley Hall for our annual Armed Forces Day on Sunday.
BCLM will continue to call for memories of the Historic Gas Showroom which was located in West Bromwich High Street between 1940s-60s at Celebrate Sandwell and will collect memories for Stanton’s record and Music shop at Upper Gornal Fun Day.
We will be commemorating the lives of men and women in the Armed Forces on Sunday 30 June 11am-5pm. Armed Forces Day at Himley Hall is a FREE family event including vintage fairground rides, Punch and Judy shows and craft, food and vintage stalls. An array of Historical Characters will be attending this event courtesy of Black Country Players. There will also be paintballing, provided by Dudley Army Cadet Force and an archery range, provided by Kingswinford Air Cadet Squadron.
For more information about the Community Roadshow contact Community Engagement assistance [email protected]
As part of our ambitious BCLM: Forging Ahead development plans, we will be creating a new industrial area, telling the story of the Black Country from the 1940s to the 1960s. The industrial space will feature several well-known Black Country industries, including a translocation of part of the JH Lavender & Co. aluminium foundry from Hall Green, West Bromwich.
About Lavender’s
When John Herbert “Jack” Lavender founded his business in 1917, aluminium was an unusual material in Black Country foundries, which had traditionally worked with iron and steel. However, centuries of experience in metalworking and major engineering industry made the Black Country the ideal place for a foundry like Lavender’s. We will be translocating a small post-war building and original foundry equipment from Lavender’s site to the Museum, enabling us to demonstrate the sights, sounds and smells of a real 1960s foundry.
We will also be telling the social history of industrial work in the Black Country. Faced with a desperate labour shortage after the war, Black Country businesses recruited workers from all around the world to enable their foundries, forges and factories to operate to full capacity. Like many foundries in the region, Lavender’s employed foundrymen from the Caribbean, India, Pakistan and elsewhere, providing work and a home for a generation of Commonwealth citizens. Ninder Johal DL, Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership Board Member & CEO, tells us – “As a second generation British Asian child I recall my father telling me stories of his time working in the foundries in Smethwick. He spent his working life in smoky and hot furnaces and for my children and grandchildren visiting the Museum and seeing such industries depicted will provide a legacy enabling them to understand who they are and the role their grandfather and great grandfather played in the industrial landscape of the UK.”
Lavender’s is believed to be the oldest family-owned aluminium foundry in Britain. It was founded as Woden Aero Foundry on Stafford Street, Wednesbury in 1917 to supply components for the booming motorcycle and car industry in the Black Country and beyond – famous names including Sunbeam, AJS, Norton-Villiers, BSA and Triumph came to Lavender’s for their parts. It was estimated at one point that almost every single motorcycle produced in Britain featured a Lavender casting somewhere in its construction. Lavender himself died in 1957 but his legacy lives on – the foundry continues to produce aluminium castings for the motor industry to the present day.
Did you or anyone in your family work at Lavender’s in the 1940s-1960s? Do you remember the Lavender family in this period? Did you move to Britain to work in a Black Country industry in this period? Please get in touch with us by emailing [email protected] or call 0121 557 9643, select option 3 (collections).
Calling all staff and volunteers! Would you and your family like to appear in our summer promotional video for 2019?
We’ll be filming at various points across the Museum on Saturday 29 June during opening hours and want to capture families and other groups enjoying their day out. Your visit for the day will be free for all the family and we will only need you for a short time during your visit.
We are looking for:
The video will be used on our YouTube channel, on the Museum website and on our other social media channels.
If you’d like to get involved and all of those that will attend with you are happy to appear on film, please contact Hannah in the marketing team: [email protected]
I’m pleased to say that tomorrow (Wednesday 29 May) we will be making a public announcement that we have been given the final go ahead to begin our transformational £23m development project BCLM: Forging Ahead thanks to confirmation of £9.4m funding from National Lottery Heritage Fund.
We are hoping that the media will be as excited as we are so keep a lookout over the next few days in your local press, on local radio and hopefully on TV as we share this big news!
Thank you for your patience and confidentiality over the last few weeks – just one more day to go!
Carolyn Sankey, Deputy Chief Executive (Development)
Following extensive consultations the move to the new structure is nearing completion and will take effect from Monday 3 June. Following briefings with the new teams last week I am pleased to confirm colleagues in the following new roles:
Nicola Rowe, Head of Museum Operations
Management of all visitor-facing operations, events management, visitor and formal educational engagement, commercial activities, ICT, costume production, on-site transport, visitor admissions, security, car parking and duty management. Reports to Managing Director.
Mel Weatherley, Head of Programme Development
Originating programmes which effectively engage audiences in the history of the Black Country and its connections to and impacts on, contemporary life. Develop themes, topics subjects for Museum activity and the stories we tell, collaborating with colleagues across the Museum and developing external partnerships. Reports to Director of Programmes.
Hayley Merchant (nee McCafferty-David), Head of Collections Care & Management
Care, management and development of the Museum’s collections including collections strategy, developing external partnerships, maintaining Designation and Accreditation standards, management of Collections Care & Management team. Reports to Director of Programmes.
Jon White, Engagement Operations Manager
Manages the Museum’s visitor and formal educational engagement operations, duty management, security, on-site transport, costume production and car parking, to optimise customer service and visitor experience. Reports to Head of Museum Operations.
Giles Hammond, Museum Enterprises Manager
Leads on the Museum’s food&drink and retail activities, to optimise financial results, customer service and visitor experience. Reports to Head of Museum Operations.
Tim Shields, Transport Manager
Manages the Museum’s road and rail transport and other motorised equipment, including historic and modern vehicles. Reports to Head of Site Conservation, Transport & Maintenance
Liam Parkes, Engineering Manager
Project managing, advising on and overseeing the maintenance of the Museum’s historic mechanical, industrial and operational collections, including boats. Reports to Head of Site Conservation, Transport & Maintenance.
Clare Weston, Researcher
Research into the history of the Black Country and the Museum’s collections to inform programme development. Reports to Director of Programmes.
Helen Taylor, Collections Manager
Care, management and development of the Museum’s collections including for example access to collections, acquisitions, conservation, appropriate use and display. Reports to Head of Collections Care & Management.
Ricki Boden, People Administrator
Assists the People Administration & Support Manager to deliver effective Human Resources systems and administration such as recruitment, induction and training, payroll, pension and volunteers.
The new leadership, management and staffing structure can be viewed in full here.
A number of vacancies still remain which are/will be being recruited to in the coming weeks and months, internally first and externally if required. Do keep an eye on the intranet for these opportunities.
If you have any questions do get in touch with Helen Astill, [email protected] or on 219.
With thanks for your cooperation and patience during this process.
Andrew
Although the embargo on the news of our successful funding application to the National Lottery Heritage Fund is technically lifted tomorrow (3 May), owing to European elections and our plan to announce publicly in conjunction with NLHF, our announcement will not now take place until 29 May.
Your continued cooperation in keeping the news out of the public domain is appreciated. Should you receive any media enquiries at this time, please direct to Abby Bird in Comms team.
The P60 data for the tax year 6 April 2018 to 5 April 2019 is now available. Log in as you would for your payslip and you will see a P60 icon where the document can be accessed.
