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Category: General News

  • Made In The Black Country: Summer 2022

    This year’s summer programme will run from 23rd July – 5th September 2022, and is named ‘Made In the Black Country’.

    Made In The Back Country is a celebration of what makes the Black Country Special, with the title referencing everything from industry and goods, to people.

     

    The site will be split into the following Zones with key messages:

    Newcomen Green/Colliery – Mining in the Black Country and its impact.

    Jerushah Green – Black Country people: highlighting their ingenuity, entrepreneurship and coping with hard times.

    Folkes Park – Black Country sporting heroes

    Old Birmingham Road – Immigration to the Black Country

    Village and Old Birmingham Road – Importing/exporting goods

    Boat Dock – Canals and industry

    Each Zone is listed on a leaflet that encourages visitors to ask questions and explore the museum.

     

    Characters

    We have two new key characters for this event:

    Gwen Lally – the pageant master, directed many pageants, including one performed in Dudley.

    Francis Brett-Young – A writer who based some of his books in the Black Country.

    These Characters will be encouraging visitors to help them research stories of the Black Country to include in their works, Gwen Lally as a director and Francis as a writer. Gwen Lally will also lead the ‘skit’ which will be performed on the Boat Dock.

     

    Activities

    For this programme, we will be giving out leaflets containing enquiry-based questions, similar to our school trail. They will be used to direct people around the site, encouraging visitors to speak to characters.

    Craft – We will be creating paper crates/cubes using scissors and glue and then using stencils to spray felt pen onto the side of the cubes. The stencils will say ‘Med In The Black Country’

    Games – We have a football penalty shootout and portable Tennis net to have out in the park for visitors to use.

     – Street Games will run as normal

    Performance/Skit – On the boat dock, we will perform a potted History of The Black Country, covering everything from the discovery of coal – through to the formation of the Museum. This will be a fast-paced light-hearted performance in the style of ‘Horrible Histories’ and will be performed 4 times each day at 12.30pm, 1.30pm, 2.30pm and 3.30pm.

  • Canalside Toilets – Update

    Canalside Toilets – Update

    Hi all,

    The toilets in Canalside have recently been closed off as the sewage pump is broken.

    An engineer examined the toilets on the 12th July and found that it had been jammed up with wipes and sanitary products that have been flushed down the toilets despite notices (and reminders from Maintenance) instructing people to use the bins provided. This pump takes waste only from the Canalside offices and was replaced in September 2021 at a cost of £2100.

    Please note that the previous pump lasted for 13 years. The pump will be replaced as soon as possible, and all wipes have now been removed from the toilets.

    Please do not flush anything other than toilet paper down the toilets.

    Thank you.

  • All Colleague Briefings

    As part of our continual programme of ensuring engagement and communication across the Museum’s operational and strategic activity, we will be holding briefings to update all colleagues on the Museum’s progress and the plans for the remainder of 2022, a critical year for the launch of the first of the Forging Ahead buildings. These briefings will take place on:

    • Wednesday 13 July 2022
    • Thursday 14 July 2022
    • Wednesday 20 July 2022

    All the briefings will be held in the WI and will commence at 9.15, finishing at 9.45.  Many of you will already be scheduled by your line managers to attend one of these sessions, please volunteer your name on the attached signup sheet if you have not yet been contacted.

    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.

    Refreshment will be provided in the WI.

    Can you please sign up using the following link: All Staff Briefings

    If you have any trouble signing up for the briefing 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.

     

  • People News Update (22/06/22)

    Welcomes

    This month we’re delighted to welcome Adam Craig as our new Museum Enterprises Manager. With over 20 years in catering and hospitality, Adam brings a wealth of experience to our Enterprise team, including senior management responsibility for a number of food & drink units at the university of Birmingham.

    We also welcomed Nathan Poole as a Site Cleaner, who has plenty of cleaning experience from his previous role in a  chain of dental practices.

    In addition we also welcomed a number of new casual colleagues within our Car Park team.

    A reminder that Carmel Roper joined our Duty Management team last month.

    Next month Claire Packer and Izzy Taylor will be joining us in the roles of Head of Audiences & Communications and Public Programme Producer respectively.

     

    Farewells

    Deborah Watkins, Collections Assistant, left earlier this month to take on a role at Bewdley Museum supporting their front-of-house function.

    Other leavers this month include Jenny Homeshaw (Corporate Development Manager).

     

    Other news

    Nadia Awal has now moved to full-time hours in the Interpretation & Research team.

    Sarah Bradshaw (Assistant Costume Manager) will be made full-time permanently from 1 July 2022.

  • Beat the heat!

    Beat the heat!

    Beat the heat this week!

    As we move into Summer, and with a forecast for high temperatures this week (temperatures are due to hit highs of 28 degrees this Friday), all staff are reminded to:

    • Dress appropriately for the weather and avoid heavy or tight fitting clothing,
    • Utilise shade from buildings, awnings or umbrellas wherever possible and especially between 11am and 3pm,
    • Use at least factor 30 sunscreen with a 4-star UVA rating if you are working outside and reapply during the day,
    • Drink plenty of water to keep yourself hydrated: water bottles can be refilled from any cold tap in kitchens/staff areas,
    • Open windows and doors (but not fire doors) to help create a breeze.

    In very hot weather Team Managers will bring round water bottles and sunscreen to their team as needed.

    If you have any questions, please get in touch with your Line Manager.

    Stay safe all.

  • Festival of Vehicles 2022

    This Father’s Day weekend (18th and 19th June) the Museum will be holding a Festival of Vehicles event, celebrating the region’s rich car-manufacturing history. The weekend will showcase a vast variety of vehicles manufactured in the West Midlands, including world-renowned marques such as Bean, Clyno, Guy, Sunbeam, AJS and Jensen.

    Visitors will be able to take a ride on a vintage motor bus or trolleybus, visit replica motor shops and garages that once existed in the region, as well as discover more about the record-breaking Black Country brands that took land speed records and TT races by storm.

    You can learn more about the Museum’s upcoming Festival of Vehicles event at https://bclm.com/festival-of-vehicles/

     

  • GOLD Winners at the National Tourism Awards for Excellence

    Following recent success at the West Midlands Tourism Awards, the Museum was shortlisted in the National awards which took place at the Central Library of Birmingham on the evening of Wed 8 June. With tough competition from  Severn Valley Railway and Chester Zoo, finalists in their own right who were winners in the category from their respective regional awards, it was an honour to be awarded Gold in the category for Resilience and Innovation. 

    The Museum was commended for the many ways that it was able to connect with audiences during the difficult year it faced in 2021. This included being able to provide a space for the NHS to distribute vaccines to the local community, connecting with worldwide audiences through TikTok, and hosting the production of a number of high profile filming projects.

    Andrew Lovett added:

    “The award recognised the Museum’s ability and readiness to evolve and improve how we engage visitors with history, bounce back strongly after the impact of covid and the uncharted territory this took us into. It showed how well we continued to keep in touch with audiences, nurture their loyalty and actually heighten our presence and reputation. We avoided making redundancies, didn’t take-on debt, kept our people and visitors safe, and had faith in the excellence of what we can do. It also demonstrated that the enormous financial support we received from tax-payers was a good investment. 

    It was a national award, very competitive, and everyone, The Board of Trustees, staff and volunteers can be proud of bringing it home to the Museum.”

    Gold, Silver and Bronze winners were selected from hundreds of tourism businesses across England including hotels, self-catering accommodation, B&Bs, glamping operators, attractions, restaurants, pubs and museums. The prestigious VisitEngland Awards for Excellence, running for more than 30 years, celebrate and champion innovation, quality and best practice across the industry recognising businesses and individuals who raise the bar of England’s tourism offer.

    As well as the Museum’s individual success in the Resilience and Innovation Category we were honoured to accept, alongside Lady Carnarvon of Highclere Castle, the 2022 Award for Outstanding Contribution to Tourism – on behalf of the English Period Drama.

    You can read VisitEngland’s full press release, along with all other categories and winners, here.

  • Staff Consultative Forum Nomination Open

    The Staff Consultative Forum (SCF) is a group of Museum wide colleagues to act as an important conduit and sounding board for many of the Museum’s key decisions around structure, policies, performance and wider activities that may impact staff. Chaired by the Museum’s Chief Executive/Chief Operating Officer, the Forum meets quarterly. The Forum’s members consist of an elected group of managers, front line colleagues and back office administrative staff to ensure representation of the whole Museum. Excluded from the membership are the Museum’s Leadership and People & Culture teams. The full terms of reference of the Forum can be found under the Documents tab here on the intranet (Documents/Information/Staff Consultative Forum (SCF)/Terms of Reference/Oct 2021).

    To ensure that the Forum remains fresh in its challenge and contribution, elected members can serve on the Forum for a maximum of two years per term and a maximum of two terms. As a result we would now like to invite nominations for the following post:

    • Administrative, Specialist & Managerial     x 1

    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.

    To put yourself forward, please complete and return a nomination form SCF Nomination Form to the People & Culture team (based at Canalside) either by hand, deposited in the black post box outside the People & Culture office, or via email to [email protected].

    The closing date for nominations is Wednesday 22 June . 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/Staff Consultative Forum (SCF)/Constituencies) or contact the People & Culture team.

    *All contracted colleagues, bar the Leadership and People & Culture teams, are eligible to be nominated for any of the above Constituencies, excluding the “Casuals” Constituency. Casual colleagues are eligible to be nominated for the “Casuals” Constituency only.

  • Museum Power Supply

    From Sun 12 – Thu 16 June, the Museum will be changing over power supplies and for a short period will be powered by generators.

    This should not cause any disruption to the Museum site or visitor offer, however should you have any concerns please speak with your Line Manager.

  • Did you enjoy our Bostin’ Jubilee Bash? – All Staff Survey

    We’re keen to hear from all our staff about their thoughts on our recent Bostin’ Jubilee Bash programme. Do you have any thoughts, opinions or things you think we could improve upon for next time?

    Please fill in the survey via the link below. We are hoping to hear from a wide range of staff, including those who worked, contributed to, or visited the event.

    Bostin Jubilee Bash Survey