Category: General News

  • Volunteer models for photoshoot – Monday 11 September

    Volunteer models for photoshoot – Monday 11 September

    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.

     

  • Safe Together: Sun Safety (September 2023)

    Safe Together: Sun Safety (September 2023)

    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:

    • Keep your skin covered as much as possible
    • Where you can wear a hat with a brim that covers the ears and the back of the neck
    • Stay in the shade whenever possible, including during your breaks and especially at lunchtime
    • Use a high-factor sunscreen of at least SPF15 and 4 or 5 stars on any exposed skin
    • Drink plenty of water to avoid dehydration
    • Check your skin regularly for any unusual moles or spots. See a doctor promptly if you find anything that is changing in shape, size or colour, itching or bleeding.

    Please read the Sun Safety Notice thoroughly.

    If you have any concerns please contact your Line Manager.

    Thank you.

     

     

  • Hobbs’ and Sons Fish and Chip Shop – update

    Hobbs’ and Sons Fish and Chip Shop – update

    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.

  • September Pay Date

    September Pay Date

    To support you in planning your finances, please note that the next pay date will be Friday 29 September 2023, resulting in a 5 week gap between August and September pay dates.

    As a reminder, the Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) can provide advice and tools on managing finances. You can access the EAP service by calling 0800 756 0861 and quoting ‘Perkbox’ or you can access the EAP portal via the Perkbox app/webpage. Through Perkbox, you can also access a wide range of discounts on the items you already buy, helping you to make your money go further.

    If you would like any further information on Perkbox please contact [email protected]

    Thank you.

  • Christmas Bank Holidays

    Christmas Bank Holidays

    Please note the Museum will be closed to both visitors and staff on Christmas Day (Monday, 25th December 2023) and Boxing Day (Tuesday, 26th December 2023).

    All employees (salaried and contracted hourly paid) for whom a Monday and/or Tuesday is a contractual working day are instructed that this must be taken as holiday. We will centrally amend your holiday account on Myhrtoolkit/Planday if you do not book this day off yourself.

    If Monday and/or Tuesday is a not a usual working day then your holiday allocation will not be impacted.

    The Museum will be open on Monday, 1st January 2024. If this is a contractual working day and you do not wish to work, you will need to submit an annual leave request to your line manager via Myhrtoolkit/Planday for approval.

    If you have any questions please speak to your line manager or the People & Culture team.

     

  • Trial of new policies – deliveries and Museum security

    Trial of new policies – deliveries and Museum security

    It has been some time since the opening of our dedicated Learning Centre, and it has been great to see educational groups and classes enjoying this new space.

    The Museum’s Business Welcome Administrators – Tracy and Lana – relocated from their temporary office to a space within the Learning Centre foyer to support both Museum Reception and Learning Centre visitors and activity.

    Having had opportunity to understand how this new space is best used, representatives from a range of departments have since collaborated in the preparation of three new policies aimed at improving how we manage a growing number of deliveries, as well as overall Museum security.

    These policies are the following, which will be trialled from Monday, 4th September 2023:

    These policies are available to view on the intranet and detail changes in process that are likely to impact most Museum teams.

    While it is important and therefore encouraged that individuals read each policy in full, a brief summary of each is provided below.

    Business Guest and Contractor Admission Policy

    • All contractors, and guests visiting the Museum for business purposes (and therefore without an entry ticket) must be pre-booked via an appointment request within the ‘receptionbookings’ Outlook calendar.
    • All such contractors and guests should be directed to attend the Business Reception upon arrival – signposted within the Rolfe Street Car Park.
    • Business Reception will verify the appointment before the contractor or guest is signed in, issued with lanyard credentials for the duration of their visit and asked to review key safety messaging for their time on site.
    • The attendee must then be escorted onto the Museum site by their dedicated host from the relevant department – Business Reception will not provide access to the Museum site without a host present.
    • The Admissions team within the Visitor Centre will deny access to any person attempting to enter the Museum site without BCLM lanyard credentials or a valid ticket of entry.

    Deliveries Policy

    • The majority of smaller deliveries can continue to be accepted without pre-booking, direct into the Business Reception within the Learning Centre.
    • Large deliveries (such as those on pallets), or any delivery being dropped on the main Museum site itself (such as catering deliveries) will now require pre-booking on the ‘receptionbookings’ outlook calendar by the person raising the order.
    • Business Reception will verify all large and on-site deliveries against appointments within the calendar before providing access to the Museum.
    • A suitable department colleague must be assigned, contactable and freely available to meet with large and on-site deliveries upon their arrival.

    Vehicular Access Policy

    • The compound gate is to be supervised at all times when it is open and until it has fully closed, which may be undertaken remotely via CCTV where required.
    • Aside from those operating official Museum vehicles and requiring use of the compound gate for that purpose, this gate should only be operated by, or under authorisation from, the Duty Manager or Business Reception.
    • Pedestrians must not attempt to enter or leave the Museum site via the compound gate, even when it is open for a vehicle movement.
    • A log of all non-Museum vehicles entering and exiting the main Museum site will be captured in records held within Business Reception.
    • Personal vehicles must not be brought onto the Museum site without authorisation from a department lead, with the awareness of the Duty Manager, and only for a legitimate business purpose.

    The Museum operations team appreciates the support of all colleagues in trialling these new policies, effective for all contractors, business guests, deliveries and vehicle access requests from Monday 4th September.

    Feedback can be provided direct to Nick Sellers, Head of Museum Operations.

  • Inclusive Story Training (Bronze)

    Inclusive Story Training (Bronze)

    You may be aware that the Museum has been hosting some quite detailed sessions with the Historic Characters and other front-line colleagues, around the topics below (for the opening of the new town). On the premise that everyone that works or volunteers at the Museum represents the Museum, it is important that all colleagues have a working knowledge of the below and can share this with colleagues, visitors and wider guests if needs be.

    We have opted for one combined session given the impact on the capacity of the Interpretation & Research team, who will be leading these and also to ensure that we can all support each other with a common level of understanding:

    Providing historical context on the inclusive stories we will be sharing as part of Forging Ahead

    Creating a wider understanding on the strategy and approach taken towards inclusive storytelling at the Museum

    Discussing challenges that have come and will come with moving into telling stories in living memory

    Discussing challenges related to diversifying our storytelling, and share our methods to address those challenges

    You are therefore invited to attend a training session on one of the following dates:

    Monday 4 September 5-6pm

    Wednesday 27 September 8.30-9.30am

    Friday 29 September 5-6pm

    All sessions will take place in the Museum Conference & Learning Centre, in Classroom 1. Many of you will already be scheduled by your line managers to attend one of these sessions. If you have not yet been scheduled, please contact your line manager. All contracted colleagues are mandated to attend these sessions. We would also strongly urge colleagues from both our volunteer and casual community to all attend.

    You only need to attend one of the briefing sessions.

    Refreshments will be provided in Museum Conference & Learning Centre, in Classroom 1.

    Can you please sign up using the following link: Colleague Bronze Training. If you have any trouble signing up for the sessions because you do not have a BCLM email address, please speak to your line manager who will be able to add your name for you. Could you please confirm your attendance by 2pm, Friday 1 September 2023.

    We hope the session will be informative, informal and interactive to ensure all colleagues have confidence and comfort in the information being shared.

    Kind regards

    People & Culture

  • Lea Road Infant Welfare Centre – no access to main hall this week

    Lea Road Infant Welfare Centre – no access to main hall this week

    The floors in the main hall of Lea Road Infant Welfare Centre are being treated from today, Tuesday 15 August. The main hall has been cleared but will not be accessible for the entire week. Please do not walk into or through the space.

    A set of wooden shelves has also been moved into the break space, which are spare modern shelves that we currently do not have space to accommodate anywhere else. For now, if historic characters would like to use the storage for their belongings, they are welcome to do so.

    If you have any questions, please email either [email protected] or [email protected]

    Thank you.

  • Visitor Attraction Quality Assurance Scheme 2023 – results

    The Museum has achieved a score of 91% in its most recent VisitEngland quality assessment (VAQAS); this is 1% higher than last year’s assessment.

    This is excellent news and follows a visit by a VisitEngland assessor in July.

    The assessment scores the Museum against a number of set criteria. Compared to last year’s results, improvements were seen in arrival, attraction, retail, and staff.

    The VAQAS scoring system is an important measure of success and helps us to benchmark how the things we’re doing in the Museum are being received by visitors. Achieving such a good score is down to a great team effort – well done, everyone!

    As always, the feedback given will be used to continue to improve our offer for all visitors.

  • We are the Black Country – introducing our new draft strategy

    Following the recent all-colleague briefings where the Museum’s draft strategy for 2024 – 28 was trailed, we hope you find this summary helpful in understanding our future direction and work.

    We’ve been working to develop this strategy since January and we are delighted that more than 1,500 people gave us their views, including colleagues, visitors and members, volunteers, Community Panel members and stakeholders like Arts Council England and West Midlands Growth Company. There was consensus that our vision and mission should have an external focus, and be about people and place which chimed with our desire to be ‘more than a museum’.

    We’re pleased to be able to share the headlines with you now but this will be a vital document for us to share with external audiences too in the new year, such as those who invest in us and work with us.

    New to this Strategy is a set of Guiding Principles that brings together the values prioritised by colleagues, volunteers and Trustees during the strategy consultation. We hope they will resonate with all of you, whatever your role or area of work, and that going forward they will be considered in all that we do.

    Next steps:

    • Leadership team and senior colleagues will shortly begin to work on more detailed delivery plans
    • During autumn, teams will use this as a basis on which to plan for 2024
    • Launched publically in early 2024.

    We’re happy to hear your comments or feedback on this draft either in person to any of the Leadership team or by email to [email protected].