Category: Information Sharing

  • Closing date extended – Colleague Consultative Forum (Formerly Staff Consultative Forum)

    Closing date extended – Colleague Consultative Forum (Formerly Staff Consultative Forum)

    Following a review of the Constitution and Terms of Reference, the Staff Consultative Forum has been renamed the Colleague Consultative Forum (CCF) to reflect the decision to include volunteer representatives, in addition to employees and casual workers.

    The Museum recognises that effective and timely communications and consultations with its colleagues (which includes employees, casual workers and volunteers) are an essential part of managing a successful museum and will make a significant contribution to achieving the Museum’s vision and mission.

    Further information can be found in the updated Constitution and Terms of Reference.

    Elected CCF Representatives will come from the following constituents:

    • Salaried 2
    • Historic Characters 3
    • Visitor Welcome & Admissions 1
    • Enterprise 1
    • Cleaning & Recycling 1
    • Casuals 2*
    • Volunteers 2*

    *In the interest of ensuring a cross representation of the Museum, the 2 representatives in these constituencies cannot be from the same team.

    Please note that volunteer and casual representatives may be asked not to attend meetings where matters specific to employees only are to be discussed.

    Due to the introduction of a Volunteers consistency, we would like to invite nominations for volunteer representatives (x 2). In addition there are vacancies in the following constituencies; Salaried (x 1), Enterprise (x 1), Cleaning & Recycling (x 1) and Casuals (x 1). Please note that participation of volunteers on the CCF remains on a voluntary basis.

    If you would like to be considered as a CCF Representative, you will need a colleague from the same constituency as you to propose your nomination and the name of another colleague, again within the same constituency, who seconds the nomination. Unsure about which Constituency you fall under? Find out here.

    The closing date for nominations has been extended to Wednesday 24 July 2024. Elections will be held following this date if we have multiple candidates for a single role. In the event that a candidate for nomination is unopposed, their constituents will be invited to endorse their candidature.

    To put yourself forward, please complete and return a nomination form (which can be found here) 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].

    All employees (who have successfully completed their probationary period) are eligible to apply, with the exception of the Leadership Team. Casual workers may only apply

    to represent the Casuals constituency and volunteers may only apply to represent the Volunteers constituency. As a reminder, the current CCF Representatives are:

    Constituency – Representative(s): 

    Salaried: Elizabeth Peters, Lisa Bate*.

    Historic Characters: Emily Banks, Greg Dunn, Matthew Robinson.

    Visitor Welcome & Admissions: Lisa Edwards.

    Enterprise: 1 x vacancy.

    Cleaning & Recycling: 1 x vacancy.

    Casuals: David Ball, 1 x vacancy.

    Volunteers: 2 x vacancy.

    *First term coming to an end therefore constituent post up for nomination.

    Under the terms of the Colleague Consultative Forum Constitution, representatives can stand for two terms. Current representatives who are reaching the end of their first term and would like to stand for another term will be required to complete the usual nomination process and will be subject to election if necessary.

  • Inclusive Language Guide Launch

    Inclusive Language Guide Launch

    We are pleased to launch a new guidance document to enable colleagues to feel confident with sharing inclusive stories and engaging in inclusive conversations between colleagues.

    The Inclusive Storytelling Language Guide has been produced and aims to:

    1. Support colleagues with telling stories about a variety of communities and experiences
    2. Ensure all colleagues are using the most up-to-date terms and ensuring consistent language use across the Museum

    As the first part of the launch, managers will have an opportunity to attend support sessions with members of the Inclusive Storytelling Working Group. Subsequently, all colleagues will be provided with a paper copy of the current version of the document during training sessions along with an opportunity to ask any questions in the coming weeks.

    The guide has been written for all colleagues – while it is of particular importance for visitor-facing colleagues, it will be shared with everyone (including volunteers). It is our collective responsibility to ensure it is digested and implemented.

    The guide will always be available to download from the intranet, and paper copies of guides will be stationed in key areas around the Museum. Colleagues are encouraged to contact their line managers with any questions.

    View a copy of the Language Guide

  • This week – work on road between the Toll House and the Fairground

    This week – work on road between the Toll House and the Fairground

    We would like to inform colleagues about upcoming improvement works on the two horse paddocks, including the restoration of the area between the existing paddock and the Fairground.

    • Dates & Times:
      • Monday 8th to Friday 12th July (five days)
      • Monday 15th to Friday 19th July (five days)
      • Daily from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM

    The road between the Toll House and the Fairground will be closed off to pedestrians (including visitors) during the specified times, except on weekends. Please access the bottom end of site via the alternative route (past Jerushah).

  • May Half Term Staff Survey

    May Half Term Staff Survey

    Thank you to everyone who participated in our May Half Term programme – Made in the Black Country! We’ve had some great feedback from visitors! And, as part of this programme, we introduced our first D/deaf character (David Smith) and so feedback around this has been and will be extremely valuable for us. As well as feedback around the programme in general, as always. So please take a few minutes to fill in our staff survey with your responses to the programme.

    • 92% of visitors rated their overall experience of the programme as “good” or “excellent”
      87% of visitors said they learned something new about Black Country Heritage
      79% of visitors said they felt the museum represented their heritage
      22% of visitors said that they encountered our D/deaf characters or stories of D/deaf history

    Here are some comments from visitors (both positive and constructive) about the programme in general:

    • The man who acted as the director of Frankenstein was amazing to interact with and so good with the children. The bus driver and teacher were also great! The tour guide for the mines (an older fellow) was absolutely amazing.
    • I liked the variety of things on offer and how interactive it is. The school experience was great. We also made a rosette and participated in the march.
    • Children loved brick making and school.
    • It was very busy and the queues for something’s were long …then people shut for lunch so came back and found there was another break so did not get into 1949s and 50 s house ..mine sweet shop or chip shop
    • Some of the staff in character did not interact with the public openly, which was a shame. This missed a great opportunity to enhance the ambience, experience and overall feeling of the Black Country.
    • Make the shows/events available to more people by putting on extra timeslots. Many people were disappointed because they couldn’t experience (for instance) the coal mine or mothers’ meeting.

    And some additional comments from visitors about our new D/deaf characters:

    • The deaf character as we had a profoundly deaf person with us who really appreciated having a great conversation in signing. This is a wonderful thing to do and it made his day.
    • It was fantastic to see and engage with David and his friend. I learnt how to say hello and was given a leaflet which has now spurred me on to take sign language classes.
    • We found the encounter very interesting, understanding their difficulties, particularly before the birth of technology.
    • It would have been a much better idea to have based them (the D/deaf characters) somewhere rather than them ‘roaming round the 60’s street” – what we were told by the ticketing staff on admission. It would have been great to see them and we were very disappointed not to have that opportunity. Please can this be a feature in future.
  • Road closure information – A4123 Birmingham New Road UPDATED

    Road closure information – A4123 Birmingham New Road UPDATED

    Important update regarding ongoing road works at A4123 Birmingham New Road on either side of Hanson’s Ale Bridge: 

    Due to unforeseen circumstances, there has been a change in the plan for Friday 21 June 10pm – Monday 24 June 5am closure. During this period, the road will be completely closed to all traffic in both directions

    When planning your journey to the Museum please ensure you consider any delays to your journey as the closure is expected to affect journeys. A diversion will be in place for those directly affected.

    Please visit the Transport for West Midlands website for more information.

  • Reviewing for Arts Council England – get involved

    Reviewing for Arts Council England – get involved

    As a National Portfolio Organisation supported by Arts Council England, we are encouraged to participate in peer reviewing of events and programmes, both of our own and of other organisations. Read on to find out more how you can get involved, as well inviting peers in your network from the sector to come and review events and programmes here at the Museum.

     

    I want to be a peer reviewer and help other organisations – how do I sign up?

    As an employee of a participating cultural organisation, you can join the official register of ACE Peer Reviewers.

    ACE are looking for the following qualities in peer reviewers:

    • Someone with knowledge and expertise of an artform or specialist field (which, in our case, would be Museums, or could be any relevant previous experience from past roles).
    • Someone able and willing to make fair and honest judgements, and give constructive criticism and feedback to help support an organisation’s development.

    Joining as a peer reviewer enables other organisations to improve and critique their work, as well as to support artform innovation.

    To sign up as a peer reviewer, please follow this link:

    https://uk.culturecounts.cc/dashboard/ace/register-peer?referrer=567

     

    How can I invite arts professionals in my network to join our peer review database?

    We currently hold our own database of peer reviewers, and we are actively looking for new colleagues to sign up. If you have contacts or colleagues in other arts and cultural organisations (or those who work freelance with these types of organisations) we would love to hear from them.

    We have an email template which you can copy and paste to send to your network. Please double check the link to the Expression of Interest form is working in your invite email before you send it out.

    All terms and conditions for complimentary tickets for invited peer reviewers are outlined in the template email, so please do ensure you use this when contacting your networks.

    If you have any questions, please contact either Head of Public Programmes Janine Downes ([email protected]) or Audiences & Communications Manager Hannah Brown ([email protected]) for more information.

  • Access Your P60 for 2023/24

    Access Your P60 for 2023/24

    We’re pleased to inform you that your P60 for the tax year 2023/24 is now accessible for viewing and downloading on myePayWindow.

  • Free ‘Healthy Heart’ Health Checks

    Free ‘Healthy Heart’ Health Checks

    On Wednesday, 8 May 2024, Dudley Integrated Health & Care will be onsite, generously providing Free Health Checks to all colleagues.

    These comprehensive Health Checks encompass vital metrics such as Height, Weight, Blood Pressure, Pulse, Blood Sugar, and Blood Cholesterol levels (collected via fingerprick samples). Additionally there will be general health & lifestyle advice and guidance available.

    The initiative’s Healthy Heart Hub, focuses on educating individuals about monitoring their own blood pressure and understanding its pivotal role in cardiovascular health. Skilled health coaches will be on hand offering interventions tailored to individual needs.

    There will be two sessions available: a morning session from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm, and an afternoon session from 1:30 pm to 4:30 pm in the learning center, classroom 1.

    If you would like to sign up for a free check, please reach out to Susannah at [email protected] to reserve your preferred morning or afternoon slot. Rest assured, a 20 minute time slot will be allocated to you.

  • Easter – Spring In Your Step Visitor Feedback

    Easter – Spring In Your Step Visitor Feedback

    Thank you to all teams who made this year’s Easter programme a great success – scoring a satisfaction rating of 92%! We had 23,096 visitors over the course of the school holidays in spite of the sometimes rainy weather.

    Highlights:

    • Friendly, knowledgeable staff who stay “in character”
    • Easter activities, including choir, postman, photographer and mother, craft, and egg and spoon
    • Formal Demonstrations are proving to be particularly successful, including the Drift Mine tour, mothercraft class, school lesson, and Industrial Quarter
    • Immersive atmosphere “like stepping back in time”
    • New Forging Ahead buildings
    • 82% of visitors surveyed learnt something new about the Black Country

    Area of Improvement:

    • Queues – mine, food outlets
    • Food & Drink availability – offering the special Easter items in more locations
    • Varied levels of staff engagement

    Special mentions from the survey/feedback go to… Bryce, Richard, Mick, Kit, Lucy, Charlie and Steve.

    Please ensure you feedback your thoughts on the programme via staff surveys and the Historic Characters who will be attending the 6 week Programme Evaluation.

    For any questions, please contact [email protected]

  • Annual Aim Conference

    Annual Aim Conference

    The AIM (Association of Independent Museums) annual Conference will be held at Black Country Living Museum on 13 & 14 June 2024.

    This year’s conference theme of ‘Heritage: At the heart of the community’ will see colleagues from across the UK explore the vision for independent Museums as we explore the indispensable role that museums play in weaving our communities together, driving economic vitality, and nurturing an appreciation for our shared history.

    We’ll celebrate this pivotal role and ask, “How can heritage organisations contribute to the development of thriving communities?” 

    Sessions will cover innovative community engagement projects, growing your audience, co-curation and co-creation, dementia friendly programming, developing an effective public engagement strategy, improving storytelling, addressing challenging topics with care, ‘gamifying’ young volunteering, building your online community and much, much more. As ever with AIM Conference, delegates can look forward to a schedule packed with inspirational and practical advice, debate and discussion.

    As in previous years we are offering colleagues the opportunity to attend this year’s conference. 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 on the AIM website; https://aim-museums.co.uk/aim-conference-2024/

    If you are interested in attending, please complete the AIM application form by using: AIM Application 2024 and return to [email protected] by 5pm on Friday 26 April 2024. Staff will be selected based on their application and informed in early May.