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Category: General News

  • Reminder: in-person consultation for our new strategy

    The Museum is currently developing a new Strategic Plan, which will set the direction of the Museum for the next five years, identifying what we want to achieve and allocating resources to make this happen. Our people, you, are our most valuable resource and we want to hear your thoughts and suggestions on what’s next for BCLM.

    The closing date for the in-person consultation on Tuesday 21 March is this coming Tuesday, 14 March. The session will consist of a number of groups undertaking different activities across the site for 2-3 hours between 10am and 4pm (exact times TBC). For those on casual or hourly paid contracts, if you wish to participate you will be paid for your time at your usual hourly rate.

    If you are unable to attend but would like to share your view, a short digital survey will be available via the intranet for completion over a two-week period from 27 March – 7 April. Paper copies of the survey will be available to complete and post in boxes dotted around the site.

    Carolyn Sankey & Vicki Stanley
    Co-Directors of Development

  • Forging Ahead buildings: Booking process for access

    Forging Ahead buildings: Booking process for access

    Two new calendars have been set up to help facilitate access for colleagues to the new Forging Ahead buildings, during the period from handover by Balfour Beatty, to opening the buildings to visitors.

    The calendars are:

    1. Forging Ahead Town
    2. Forging Ahead Industrial Quarter

    Following handover from Balfour Beatty, access inside buildings will need to be booked via these calendars.

    Duty Managers will be responsible for Managing the calendars and accepting  / declining access.

    Balfour are due to handover keys to the Town this Monday, 6 March, so bookings will be open from Tuesday 7 March.

    The Industrial Quarter is due to be handed over in a couple of weeks – exact date to be confirmed.

    Balfour will still be with us for the next few weeks, finishing off and snagging, so we do need to be careful when managing access. Please do not be disappointed if your access request is declined.

    When making your booking:

    • Please clearly state in the subject line which building(s) you require access to;
    • Please be accurate with the time you need access from / to;
    • Please include in your message the nature of the work you are doing and whether you need sole access, or if it might be possible for another Team to be working in the building alongside you.

    Keys for access will need to be collected from Duty Managers.

    Fire safety measures – e.g. extinguishers and signage will not initially be in place in all buildings. Your Teams will need to be familiar with the location for fire exits and how to raise the alarm in the event of an emergency. Please ask Duty Managers to brief you if you are unfamiliar with either of these points.

    Please note – we will not be providing contractors with keys. Duty Managers will be unlocking and locking for them. Please do not hand keys to any contractors.

    For more information, please contact Jonathan White (Engagement Operations Manager): [email protected]

  • Colleague Mine Tours!

    Thanks to the hard work of numerous colleagues across the Museum, we have now reopened our drift mine experience after four years!

    We now invite all colleagues to enjoy a guided tour of the mine!

    Sessions will last approximately an hour with a maximum of 25 colleagues at each session. Places will be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis.

    Attendance is voluntary and in your own time, with sessions taking place on;

    • Monday 6th March at 12, 1 & 2 p.m.
    • Tuesday 7th March at 12, 1 & 2 p.m.
    • Tuesday 21st March at 12, 1 & 2 p.m.

    Click here to sign up to one of the above session

    Please note that only colleagues with a BCLM email address will be able to access this online sign-up form. If you would like to attend one of the above sessions and do not have a BCLM email address, please contact your Line Manager or People & Culture, who will be able to sign up on your behalf. 

  • Have your say on our future strategy!

    As Andrew Lovett (Chief Executive) mentioned in the recent all-staff briefings, the Museum is developing a new Strategic Plan. The Strategic Plan will set the direction of the Museum for the next five years, identifying what we want to achieve and allocating resources to make this happen.

    Our people, you, are our most valuable resource and we want to hear your thoughts and suggestions on what’s next for BCLM.

    We will also be consulting with our external stakeholders from visitors and members to teachers, community partners, business partners and key funders.

    How can I get involved?

    • In-person consultation: We are looking for a representative cross-section of the Museum team to join a consultation day on Tuesday 21 March.  This will consist of a number of groups undertaking different activities across the site for 2-3 hours between 10am and 4pm (exact times TBC). For those on casual or hourly paid contracts, if you wish to participate you will be paid for your time at your usual hourly rate.
    • Online survey: A short digital survey will be available via the intranet for completion over a two-week period from 27 March – 7 April. Paper copies of the survey will be available to complete and post in boxes dotted around the site.
    • You can also get in touch with any other comments, suggestions or ideas by emailing [email protected]. We will keep you informed of progress over the coming months through updates on the intranet.

    What do I need to do next?

    • To take part in the in-person session on Tuesday 21 March, please indicate your interest by emailing your name, role and team to [email protected] by 5pm, Tuesday 14 March. We will confirm your attendance by email, later that week.
    • Details of the survey will be communicated in due course.

    We hope as many of you as possible take the opportunity to help shape our future and thank you in advance for your support.

    Carolyn Sankey & Vicki Stanley
    Co-Directors of Development

     

  • New Starters

    We would like to introduce Rory Shannon and Donna Cooper, as they start their journey at the Museum.

    Rory, who joins us as our Enterprise Manager, says:

    “Like most people in the West Midlands, I visited the Museum as a child and have loved it ever since. Getting the opportunity to join the Museum really is a dream job for me.

    “For the last 12 years, I have worked for the University of Birmingham, working across the Edgbaston campus within the Food & Beverage team. Previous to this, I worked at both Costa Coffee and Nandos. We have a great team here at the Museum and over the next few months, we hope to introduce new ideas and menus across the site, building on previous successes and signature offers, such as our famous fish and chips.”

    Donna, who has joined us as our Team Manager (Historic Characters), says:

    “I most recently worked at the Alexandra Theatre managing the Stage Door team, prior to that I worked for Warwick Castle in the Attractions & Shows department.”

    We wish you both all the best in the future.

     

  • Letter from the Museum’s Patron – HRH The Duke of Gloucester

    The Museum’s Patron, HRH The Duke of Gloucester, recently sent a letter to the Museum. In the letter, The Duke reflects on Forging Ahead and how the Museum has changed since he began his patronage, and how he hopes to reschedule his planned visit in September 2022 that could not take place due to the death of HM The Queen.

    The letter has been copied below, or you can read a scan of the letter.

    “It continues to be an immense privilege to be the Patron of the Black Country Living Museum; a role I have held since 1980, the very earliest days of the Museum. It is remarkable to reflect, 43 years-on, that the hopes of those active in the community who campaigned to establish the Museum, have been more than realised. That is a great source of pride for me, and I know it will be for you, and rightly so.

    “Last year, in mid-September, I was looking forward very much to visiting the Museum again but, with the sad death of Her Majesty The Queen, just a few days earlier, those arrangements had to be postponed. In conversation with Andrew during the second week of January this year, I was pleased to receive his renewed invitation to visit the Museum, and I dearly hope that will be possible during 2023. In this context, I am especially keen to see how the Museum is now embracing times closer to contemporary life, with buildings and features taking the story forward into the 1 940s, 1 950s and 1960s. Andrew also asked for my views about going forward even further, to ensure the Museum retains its relevance to modern living, and I can certainly see the merits of doing so. I think it is important for people to understand that history isn’t just something that takes place “somewhere else” but is relevant to all of us, whether we notice or not.

    “In the meantime, I want to express my gratitude to you all, whether a member of staff, volunteer or Trustee, for the commitment you all continue to show for the cause of the Museum, and the terrific impact it has on peoples’ lives. In the prolonged difficult times that so many of the people of our country face, your steadfastness and skill is never needed more. Thank you.

    “I hope I will be able to thank you all in person before too long.”

  • Seeking donations for the new Infant Welfare Centre

    Work is well underway on the Museum’s new 1960s mother and baby centre, which is a recreation of Wolverhampton’s Lea Road Infant Welfare Centre. But, before it opens later this year, donated objects are needed to bring the building to life.

    The Infant Welfare Centre will enable the Museum to tell the story of the birth of the NHS, the growing community of Commonwealth nurses and doctors who brought their skills to the Black Country in the 1950s and 60s, and the lives of young women and children in this period. It will also help inform visitors’ understanding of public health in the present day.

    In the Museum’s recreation, visitors will be able to explore the main hall, doctor’s surgery and dispensary, as well as meeting brand new characters who will share what life was like as doctors and midwives of the 1960s.

    To help complete the recreation, the Museum is seeking donations of objects from the late 1950s which would have been commonplace in the centre. This might include changing bags, nappies, food packaging (for example, orange juice or cod liver oil bottles, milk tins or rusk boxes) or even toys which would have been available for little ones to play with while their mothers consulted with the midwives.

    Nadia Awal, researcher, said: “The stories which we will be telling in the Infant Welfare Centre are hugely important to the history of the region and the NHS. Not only will it enable us to share the advances in childcare seen post-war, such as increased availability of vaccines, technology, and medicines, but it will also serve as an opportunity to showcase stories of doctors and nurses from the commonwealth who came to the Black Country to support the new health service. Seventy-five years ago this July, the NHS was born, and so the opening of the centre will enable us to mark this milestone when it opens later this year.”

    The centre was a hub for young families, for education and to provide goods to mothers. It was designed as somewhere for new and expectant mothers to meet, learn about their and their babies’ health, and have their children fed, weighed, and vaccinated. Most memorably, much like other clinics of the period, the centre distributed welfare foods: vitamins, bottles of thick, sticky orange juice, tins of National Dried Milk, and the much-hated cod liver oil.

    Having first been established in 1928, the centre became part of the brand-new NHS twenty years later. Visitors to Lea Road in the 1950s and 1960s would have found a busy environment, overseen by staff and volunteers. The main hall was a waiting room, which doubled up as a venue for ante-natal and “mothercraft” classes, baby clothes sales, and as a social gathering for new mothers – always with a fresh cup of tea in hand.

    The recreation of the Infant Welfare Centre has been made possible with investment from the Wellcome Trust, among other Forging Ahead project investors including National Lottery Heritage Fund, Arts Council England, Black Country LEP, West Midlands Combined Authority and the Cultural Capital Kickstart Fund.

    If you have any objects you would like to donate to the Museum, please speak to the Collections team. You can contact them via email on [email protected] or contact by telephone on 0121 521 5600.

  • Recycling – Canalside Offices

    To continue our drive to become a more sustainable and environmentally friendly place of work, a new set of bins have been placed in the Canalside kitchen area. These bins are to allow all staff to dispose of their waste via numerous streams inclusive of paper, cardboard, plastic and aluminium cans.

    These bins are coloured coded as follows:

    • Red – Plastic & Cans
    • Blue – Paper & Cardboard
    • Grey/Black – General Waste

    There is also a Paper & Cardboard bin placed by the Printer Room for all non-confidential paper waste. All confidential waste is still to be shredded.

    We ultimately want to work towards reducing our levels of general waste on a weekly basis and begin to segregate more recyclable material. This will not only help us achieve our objective of becoming more environmentally friendly, but also help us reduce our overall costs on waste disposal.

    So far, we have also introduced processes to remove food waste from the general waste stream and continue to develop this. We are also reviewing alternative ways to handle and dispose of other waste streams including glass, WEEE and hazardous materials.

    Further information on these items will be communicated out as and when relevant.

    Tom Law
    Cleaning & Porterage Manager

  • Annual Leave Information

    Annual Leave Entitlement

    We are pleased to confirm that the Museum will be honouring the additional bank holiday to mark the King’s Coronation (on Monday 8 May 2023) and this will be included in to the 2023/2024 annual leave entitlement. As a result, holiday entitlement for the 2023/2024 holiday year will increase to 34 days for full time employees and will be pro-rata for part time employees. This will be reflected against individual leave entitlements on Myhrtoolkit and Planday.

    Annual Leave Buy & Sell Scheme

    Employees are now able to submit requests to purchase additional annual leave or sell annual leave for the 2023/2024 leave year. Please note the maximum amount of annual leave an employee may buy or sell is the equivalent of one contractual week, however, the total holiday entitlement inclusive of any carry over or purchase of holiday cannot exceed 38 days for full time employees or the equivalent for part time employees. This means for the 2023/2024 leave year a full time employee who will be entitled to 34 days may only submit a request to purchase 4 days holiday.

    Employees who wish to make a request must familiarise themselves with the Museum’s Buying & Selling Annual Leave Scheme and complete a Buying & Selling Annual Leave Form which can be found here. Requests under the scheme will require approval from the employee’s Line Manager and the People & Culture team.

    If the request to buy or sell annual leave is approved, employees will be notified of the resulting change in their monthly pay. Adjustments in pay as a result of the scheme will commence from April, for a period of 12 months.

    Requests must be received by the People & Culture team by no later than Friday 10 March 2023.

    Requests to Carry Over Annual Leave

    As a reminder, ordinarily untaken leave cannot be carried forward into the next leave year and will be lost. However, in exceptional circumstances a maximum of one contractual week may be carried over from one holiday year to the next. Please note that the total holiday entitlement inclusive of carry over (if approved) cannot exceed 38 days for full time employees or the equivalent for part time employees.

    Approval must be sought from an employee’s line manager and the People & Culture team if an employee wishes to carry forward any annual leave into the next leave year. Employees should complete a Carry Over of Annual Leave Request Form which can be found here.

    All requests for carry over of annual leave need to be submitted 4 weeks prior to the end of the leave year.

    If you have any queries in relation to the above please contact the People & Culture team ([email protected])

  • Santa Hunts – staff feedback!

    Hello all,

    The Programming team are looking for staff feedback on Santa Hunts that took place in Dec 2022.

    Please share any feedback you may have, whether you worked the event, came as a visitor or would like to share constructive feedback – every little helps!

    ☞ Santa Hunts Survey

    Thank you.