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Category: General News

  • Visitor Attraction Quality Assurance Scheme 2018 – Results

    The Museum has achieved a score of 87% in its most recent Visit England quality assessment (VAQAS); this is 2% higher than last year’s assessment.

    This is excellent news and follows a visit by a Visit England assessor in early October.

    The assessment scores the Museum against a number of set criteria. Compared to last year’s results, improvements were seen in customer care, retail, catering and cleanliness.

    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.

     

  • Access the BCLM intranet from anywhere!

    Access the BCLM intranet from anywhere!

    From now on you can keep up to date with what’s going at the Museum wherever you are and whenever you want to.

    To access the intranet just go to http://pmm.d88.mywebsitetransfer.com in your internet browser and enter the password fishandchips

    N.B. If you’re on the museum network there is no password prompt.

  • Voice actors needed!

    Voice actors needed!

    Ever wondered what it would be like to hear yourself on the radio?

    We’re currently looking for voice actors to feature in various radio ads in the upcoming months, as well as to record snippets of conversation that will appear across various sound points within the Museum over Christmas.

    This will be paid work that we’ll try to fit in with your current working schedule. You may also be required to undertake paid travel to Birmingham City Centre to record in a studio, depending on the opportunity.

    All are welcome to register their interest, a Black Country accent is of course welcome but by no means necessary.

    How to register your interest

    To register your interest as a voice actor, simply drop an email to [email protected] or talk to your line manager.

    A  member of the marketing team will then arrange to meet with you to record some sample scripts for your audition piece. This will be at a time that’s suitable, most likely before or after you start your shift.

  • 2019 Opening Times Published

    2019 Opening Times Published

    Opening dates and times have now been set for 2019.

    These are listed below along with a reminder about the rest of this year’s opening dates and times.

    A copy can also be found in the useful information folder within the Documents tab above.

     

    2018 Opening Times – Autumn & Winter

    Dates Times
    Now until Sun 4 Nov Daily, 10am – 5pm
    Mon 5 Nov – Sun 23 Dec Wed-Sun, 10am – 4pm
    Mon 24 Dec Daily, 10am – 4pm
    Tue 25 & Wed 26 Dec Closed
    Thu 27 Dec – Sun 6 Jan 2019 Daily, 10am – 4pm
    Mon 7 Jan – Tue 22 Jan 2019 Closed

     

    2019 Opening Times

    Dates Times
    Wed 23 Jan 2019 – Sun 31 Mar Wed – Sun, 10am – 4pm
    Sat 16 – Sun 24 Feb Daily, 10am – 4pm
    Mon 1 Apr – Sun 3 Nov Daily, 10am – 5pm
    Mon 4 Nov – Sun 22 Dec Wed-Sun, 10am – 4pm
    Mon 23 & Tue 24 Dec Daily, 10am  – 4pm
    Wed 25 Dec & Thu 26 Dec Closed

  • Get ready for Planday

    As you are aware When to Work will soon stop functioning, ceasing all operations in Europe on the 1st of October.
    Staff responsible for rotas have been working hard getting everything set up in Planday. We’re now ready to roll it out to everybody and help you get setup on the new system.

    Instructions on how to access and use the new system will be placed around site, on staff notice boards and at the bottom of this page.

    Andy will be in the guide hut Monday to Thursday next week (24th-27th September) from 5pm to answer your questions and help get you setup.

    Here’s some quick pointers:

    • You will receive an email from Planday, please follow the instructions and get yourself setup. Do not ignore or delete this email.
    • You can access from any computer by visiting bclm.planday.com  
    • There is a Planday app available on Google Play Store and Apple App Store.
    • From the 24th to 28th of September When to Work and Planday will run side by side and rotas on both systems will match.
    • When to Work will stop operating on the 1st of October.

     

    If you have any questions about the new system please direct them to your line manager or ask Andy in the guide hut next week.

     

    Click here to view the latest Planday staff user guide

  • BCLM: Forging Ahead – Woodside Library Call Out

    We’ll be launching our public call-out for memories of Woodside Library – one of the largest translocation projects within BCLM: Forging Ahead – on Wednesday 19 September. Do you have any personal stories or a family connection with the Library? Did you borrow there, study there, or dance there? If you do have anything you would like to share to help our interpretation of the library, please pop in and see the Collections team in the Rolfe Street offices.

     

    A bit about Woodside Library

    The library was opened in 1894 to serve the south west part of Dudley. The land for the library and Woodside Park were donated by the Earl of Dudley, who also offered help with the funds to build the library out of the takings from his fetes at Dudley Castle. As such the library, and the adjacent police-houses and fire station, were constructed with a covenant limiting it to public use only. The opening ceremony for this, and Netherton library, built at the same time, was on 24th July 1894. The Earl and Countess of Dudley, along with many local dignitaries, processed from Dudley Central Library, to Netherton, to Woodside. The building featured a Reading Room and Lending Library on the ground floor, and a Recreation Room and Retiring Room upstairs, and was intended for the benefit of the working people of the Woodside area. At the beginning, the library was “closed stack” – visitors had to request books from the librarian – but converted to open access in 1934.

    After World War Two, libraries began to modernise and Dudley libraries were at the forefront – they increased their book stocks by 15,000 a year, included paperbacks for the first time and gramophone records, mostly classical music and language learning tools. The upstairs rooms were used for a variety of clubs and societies, and dances hosted by local compere Horace Robinson. The building was refurbished in the early 1970s and operated until 2008.

    Why Woodside Library?

    The building is currently in very poor condition and because of the covenant, has proved very difficult to repurpose. We are therefore proud to be able to salvage this beautiful building and give it a new lease of life. Woodside Library also enables us to continue stories of education and children’s lives, social life and the role of local authorities in everyday life in the Black Country. It will complement some of the other buildings by showing civic life in the post-war period, and provide an architecturally impressive sight in the midst of the new development.

  • Summer Holiday – Results

    Summer Holiday – Results

    I don’t need to tell you how important the summer holiday period is for us if we are to achieve the financial results we set ourselves, but I’m delighted to tell you that this summer was our best on record for the number of visitors welcomed.

    Between Saturday 21 July and Sunday 2 September, we welcomed 73,036, compared to 68,335 for the same period last year; that’s growth of over 6%.

    Year-to-date it means we’re nearly 7% ahead of both 2017 and our forecast as we head towards the Autumn/Winter events programme.

    Visitors of all ages seemed to get in the spirit of the Historic Holiday Fun activities and it was great to see the late-night Fridays growing in popularity in this, their second year.

    I particularly enjoyed the further trials of the first person performances and I’ll be interested to see the results of the visitor evaluation we’ve been doing around these and the Friday evening Black Country Touring performances.

    Such success is, as ever, down to a huge team effort, whatever your role, and I want to thank everyone for their commitment to the Visitor Promise, even during such a busy (and at times, very hot) six week period.

    Thank you

    Andrew

  • Staff Winter Events Tickets On Sale 3 Sep

    Tickets for our Winter events go on sale to the general public at 10am on Monday 3 September.

    As usual, from this date 50 staff tickets will be available for each of the Christmas evening events until two weeks before the date of the event (Santa Hunts excluded).

    Staff will receive 50% discount off the price of each evening event ticket.

    Each member of staff may purchase up to 4 tickets (of any combination) per event at the discounted rate and may purchase a maximum of 10 additional tickets at the
    standard rate.

    Please refer to the ‘Staff Tickets for Events Policy’ in the documents tab of the intranet for more information about when and how to purchase staff event tickets.

  • BSL Filming Volunteers Needed!

    Would you like to be featured in a new welcome video for the museum? And learn a new language all at the same time?

    On Saturday 1 September, Chantelle our Community Engagement Assistant and Emma, British Sign Language interpreter will be on site filming a welcome video for the deaf community.  Filming will commence at 10am until 12pm with some of our staff to introduce those who will be on the BSL Tours at the Museum.

    Emma is a specialist in British Sign Language and has taught a few of our staff Level 1 & 2 in BSL already. She will be present behind the camera teaching you BSL to ensure you are ready for your close up.

    If you would like to get involved and want learn some basic British sign Language feel free to email [email protected] or call on ext 209.

  • Ordering stationery and office supplies

    Quality Business Supplies is our preferred supplier for all of the Museum’s purchases of stationery and office supplies.

    To enable the Museum to fully track all orders, purchases should only be made using the Quality Business Supplies online ordering system and not via the telephone.

    The HR/Administration team will ensure that the stationery cupboard is appropriately stocked. If an item is low in stock, please inform the team so they can ensure it is appropriately restocked.

    If you have a purchase requirement for stationery and/or office supplies which is specific for your department, Ben Careless in the HR/Administration team is the dedicated individual to place purchases using the online ordering system. (In his absence, Jordan, Dawn and Michaela can also place orders on the online ordering system). For such purchases, you will be required to raise the necessary Purchase Order on Opera.

    With Quality Business Supplies, we have a contract arrangement with them which gives us added discount on certain items. Therefore it is important that purchases are made from items on the Contract List. The Contract List can be found in the internet in the “How tos and Guides” folder under Documents.

    If you believe that an item which we order regularly is missing from the Contract List, please contact Craig Edmondson.