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  • Summer 2017: Performance so far

    We’re half way through the Summer Holidays and although not as sunny as we would have liked, this all-important period to date has actually been quite a successful one.

    Visitor numbers for the first three weeks (Saturday 22 July to Sunday 13 August) are at 31,122, that’s bang on the budgeted attendance target and just a few hundred off the same period last year.

    But it’s not just our attendance figures that provide a good read; the number of 4 & 5 star reviews we’re seeing across Tripadvisor and Facebook, is also a testament to the excellent visitor experience that you, our staff & volunteers, provide – as one Tripadvisor reviewer puts it:

    “History is brought to life in a way no lesson or text book could.”

    Our all new Summer Evenings have also proved to be a welcome addition, especially to our Facebook followers (there’s over 87,000 of them now):

    “Enjoyed Friday evening. My little boy managed a full bag of fish & chips all to himself, and it was great to actually get into the bottle and glass pub for a few drinks! A fiver upon entry was a bargain. It’s something we would like to do every Friday evening!”

    We enter the last 3 weeks of the summer holiday period nearly 2% ahead of our visitor attendance budget year to date and ever so slightly ahead (0.2%) of the same point last year….and with fingers crossed for some dry weather!

  • Peaky Blinders- Volunteers Wanted!

    Peaky Blinders- Volunteers Wanted!

    Staff Volunteering – Peaky Blinders

    Our Peaky Blinders nights are upon us once again and this year we are hosting the event across four evenings, spanning two weekends. Like all of our highly anticipated events, Peaky Blinders is expected to be busy and bustling from start to finish so any help would be gratefully recieved. There are two opportunities available; in the week coming up to the first weekend we would like some help with transforming the site into a place worthy of the Peaky Blinders gang. During the evening events we will need support  across food and drink and  retail and admissions.

    If you are interested in lending a helping hand, please indicate where you would like to volunteer and what times you are available in the forms below. The deadline to sign up is 12 midday on Monday 28th August 2017. Whether for the whole evening or a couple of hours,  we would gladly accept any time you can offer to help make our event a success.

    There are two forms to register interest in volunteering. There is a Peaky Blinders Sign Up form to register interest in volunteering within food and drink or retail and admissions and there is a Peaky Blinders Prep Sign Up form, this is for those that are interested in assisting Jane Allcock during the day with the prep for the evening events and will involve set-dressing. Please ensure that the correct form is completed.

    The Volunteer Team

    Thank you.

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  • Useful Information – AEOM Conference Update

    From 21 – 25 August we will be hosting 130 international delegates for the biennial Association of European Open Air Museums Conference.

    Open Air Museum professionals from Europe, Australia, Canada, the US and the UK (including some of our own staff) will be taking part in a variety of workshops, presentations, dinners and guided tours at BCLM and Ironbridge Gorge Museums as they explore the key theme of the Conference, ‘The Resilient, Entrepreneurial Museum and Master Planning.

    The conference sessions taking place here have been added to the Museum-wide calendar and you can find further information about the programme in the Useful Information section of the Documents tab above.

    We look forward to welcoming our international colleagues to BCLM in just a couple of weeks’ time!

  • 2018: A Year of Celebrations – call out for events ideas

    Now we’re in full swing of our Let’s Get Sporty* summer, we’re beginning to turn our attention to how we can make our 2018 Events Programme the best yet and we need your help!

    2018 marks our Museum’s 40th anniversary (since opening to the public for the first time in 1978) and so the events programme will be set within an overarching context for the year of ‘Celebrations’.

    If you would like to see us celebrate something specific as part of our 2018 Events Programme please take the time to complete the Events Proposal Form below. The deadline for submitting completed forms is Noon on Wednesday 23 August. All submitted events proposals will then go to the next meeting of the Events Programming Group on Tuesday 29 August for consideration.

    Thanks in advance for your help.

     

    *Thanks to Rhiannon Adams, Hire & Hospitality Sales Manager for submitting the Sporty-themed idea for 2017’s Events Programme.

     

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  • Useful Information – Forging Ahead FAQs

    Useful Information – Forging Ahead FAQs

    In response to some excellent questions that staff and volunteers have been asking about BCLM: Forging Ahead, you’ll now find a Forging Ahead Frequently Asked Questions document in the ‘Useful Information’ section of the ‘Documents’ tab above.

    This will be updated as more questions come in but if you’d rather ask your own questions in person don’t forget that Lisa Cowley, Deputy Chief Executive (Visitor Engagement & Operations) is available on the last Wednesday of every month from 5.30pm – 6.30pm in the offices above Hartills. These sessions have now also been added to the Museum Calendar.

  • Museums Association Conference 2017

    Museums Association Conference – 16-18 November 2017

     

    The MA conference takes place in Manchester this year with a packed programme of events across the course of the three days.

     

    We are offering 2 staff the opportunity to attend this, with all travel and accommodation provided. All you need to do is complete an application and provide us with some information as to how you think this will be of benefit to you in your role here at BCLM.

     

    More information is available here.

     

    http://www.museumsassociation.org/news/27062017-manchester-2017-conference-guide-published?dm_i=2VBX,HMND,4AXWPV,1U20S,1

     

    If you are interested in attending, please complete the application form (the link is below)  and return to [email protected] by 5pm on Thursday 10 August 2017. Staff will be selected based on their application and informed w/c 14 August 2017.

     

    Museums Association Conference 2017    Application Form 

     

  • 1940s Weekend – thanks to all

    Dear Colleagues

    The 1940s weekend was one of the busiest weekends the Museum has ever had, and I’m not surprised the feedback from visitors was so positive – if you haven’t seen it, do check out our Facebook page,  Twitter feed and Tripadvisor reviews.  I think the range, quality and energy of what the Museum offered our visitors was exceptional. You’ll appreciate by now, that increasing the scale and ambition of our events programme is an important part of our continued and future success.  However, I do realise that many staff – in hot and humid weather – worked incredibly hard to make the weekend a success, and I want to take this opportunity to express my gratitude and admiration for the commitment shown.

    We now have another six very busy weeks ahead of us, when we can expect to welcome over seventy-thousand visitors to the Museum, to keep an already good year for us on track.  July has got off to a very good start, and although it represents hard work, I have every confidence that we will see that level of attendance over the weeks of the summer holiday.  This day-to-day success of providing great visitor experiences is as equally important as the physical development of the site; the planning for which goes on apace, with c90% of the necessary funding now in place.

    My thanks again.

    Andrew

  • BCLM: Forging Ahead – Visitor Welcome Architects announced

    BCLM: Forging Ahead – Visitor Welcome Architects announced

    After a highly competitive European-wide tender process which saw 24 architectural practices enter the design competition for our new Visitor Welcome facilities, we are now delighted to announce that Napier Clarke Architects Ltd have been selected.

    The Visitor Welcome is a key element of BCLM: Forging Ahead. It includes the relocation the Museum’s entrance to the higher southern end of the open-air site in order to create a physical link between BCLM, the other attractions at Castle Hill (including Dudley Zoo, Castle and Canal Trust) and the new access infrastructure that has recently been completed.  This will support the wider Dudley and Black Country strategies to create a tourism hub, capable of attracting 1m visitors per annum.

    The winning design proposed by Napier Clarke (see image above) will see the construction of a new contemporary Visitor Centre, which provides a fit-for-purpose admissions point for 5,000 visitors per day and an introductory exhibition, food & drink and retail facilities. This enables the current Rolfe Street entrance building to be repurposed as a dedicated Learning centre.

    Napier Clarke Architects Ltd, brought together a team of Donald McIntyre Design Ltd, BWB Consulting and Red Kite Network Ltd. Together they presented a robust and attractive design, and our selection panel felt that their approach and skills match the Museum’s requirements.

    We are looking forward to working with them on this essential aspect of the project and will keep you updated with progress on the design.

    Andrew Lovett

    Director and Chief Executive

  • Forge Ahead drop in

    Forge Ahead drop in

    Lisa Cowley (Deputy Chief Executive – Visitor Engagement & Operations) will be available for any staff that want to drop in to ask questions about BCLM: Forging Ahead the last Wednesday of each month from 5pm – 6.30pm in Hartills Offices.

    The sessions are for any staff or volunteers who are interested to find out more about the project.

  • Funding Success – Arts Council England, National Portfolio Organisation

    Funding Success – Arts Council England, National Portfolio Organisation

    I’m pleased to let you know that we have this morning received confirmation from Arts Council England (ACE) that our application for £2.2million of National Portfolio Organisation investment 2018/19 – 2021/22 has been successful.

    We will receive £550,000 for each of the four years of investment, a significant amount of which will support our major development project BCLM: Forging Ahead including the growth and development of our STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art & Maths) Learning Programme and Community Engagement Programme with communities across the Black Country.

    Our four years as a National Portfolio Organisation (NPO) will immediately follow our successful three years as an ACE funded Major Partner Museum (MPM). NPOs and MPMs now merge into one National Portfolio made up of 831 organisations including museums, libraries and arts organisations.

    In order to finalise the funding agreement, we must produce a number of action plans, including an Audience Engagement Plan and Digital Policy and Plan for submission in January 2018 in anticipation of investment beginning in April 2018.

    You can find out more about the new National Portfolio, including how else ACE is investing in our area, by visiting the Arts Council England website – www.artscouncil.org.uk/NPO

    In the meantime, if you have any questions about the portfolio or what this means for you or the Museum, please direct them to your line manager in the first instance.

    Andrew Lovett

    Director and Chief Executive