Category: Information Sharing

Action for Happiness: Mindful March

Action for Happiness is a movement of people committed to building a happier and more caring society.

Each month they release a “Monthly Action Calendar” which are packed with actions you can take to help create a happier and kinder world.

This month’s theme is Mindful March. Let’s pause, breathe and really take in what’s all around us.

Let’s all use their calendar below, or the Action for Happiness App, to do more good this month.

Find out more about Action for Happiness and view their previous monthly action calendars.

1 March 2022
BCLM’s latest TV appearances

BCLM has been featured on national TV several times this month!

It was our pleasure to welcome BBC’s The One Show and BBC Midlands presenter Trish Adudu to the Museum last week, to discuss the upcoming series of Peaky Blinders and its effect on culture and tourism in Birmingham and the Black Country. Our Director of Programmes Carol King spoke to Trish about the series’ lasting legacy with the Museum and the success of our Peaky Blinders Nights.

You can catch up with the episode, which originally aired on Friday 24 Feb, here which will be available for 1 month.

We also welcomed Tony Robinson to the Museum back in 2020 to film his latest series, a History of Britain. In the episode around the Edwardians, Tony discussed the history of chainmaking in Cradley Heath and celebrated the story of Patience Round. Historic character Carole Davies starred in the piece and did a fantastic job of introducing the history of the lady chainmakers. The Museum was also used as a location to help tell some of the other stories in the episode.

You can catch up on the episode, which originally aired on Saturday 12 Feb, here.

28 February 2022
People News Update 24/02/2022

Welcomes

We are pleased to welcome David Kruczek who has joined the Museum as our new Central Kitchen Manager. David brings over 10 years of hospitality experience and has a key role in supporting the Museum catering operation.

Claire Robinson has joined our Interpretation & Research Team, as an Interpretation Coordinator. Claire has relocated to the region from Scotland, where she worked as a Collections & Exhibitions Curator for the University of St Andrews.

Early next week, Laura Gibson will be joining the Collections Team as a Collections Coordinator. Laura brings a wealth of experience from the Science Museum Group where she worked with, reviewed, inventoried and researched their collection.

We are also pleased to welcome Martin Meads and Andrew Smith who will be supporting our Site Conservation, Transport & Maintenance team as Painter/Decorators. Both Martin & Andrew will be on site from early next week.

24 February 2022
Annual Leave – Important Information

Please find below an update in regards to the Museum’s annual leave policy and provisions.

Annual Leave Entitlement

We are pleased to confirm that the Museum will be honoring the additional bank holiday to mark the Queen’s Jubilee and this will be included in to the 2022/2023 annual leave entitlement. As a result, holiday entitlement for the 2022/2023 holiday year will increase to 34 days for full time staff and will be pro-rata for part time staff. We will reflect this against your leave entitlement on Myhrtoolkit and Planday.

Annual Leave Policy

The Annual Leave policy has been updated to include reference to Myhrtoolkit for annual leave requests for salaried staff and also provides greater clarity on potential exceptional circumstances for Carry Over of Annual Leave requests. You can view the policy here.

Annual Leave Buy & Sell Scheme

Employees are now able to submit requests to purchase additional annual leave or sell annual leave for the 2022/2023 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 2022/2023 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 salary. 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 11 March 2022.

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 usually need to be submitted 4 weeks prior to the of the leave year, however, it has been agreed outside of our usual policy that all requests are submitted by no later than Friday 11 March 2022.

If you have any queries in relation to the Museum’s annual leave policy or the Buy & Sell Scheme please contact the People & Culture team ([email protected])

24 February 2022
Important Update – Fri 18 Feb Museum Closure Due To Severe Weather

For Friday 18 February an amber weather warning has been issued for high winds for our area. Due to the risks posed by the severe weather warning we have taken the decision to close the Museum on this date. This isn’t a decision that we’ve taken lightly. However, the safety of our visitors and colleagues is our priority. Our neighbours at Dudley Canal and Tunnel Trust and Dudley Zoo have also taken the decision to close.

All front-facing hourly staff who are scheduled to work should not attend the Museum for their shift on Friday 18 February.

We are instructing all office-based salaried staff to work from home where possible on Friday 18 February. If it is not possible for you to carry out your work from home, please liaise with your line manager.

Please assume that we will re-open to visitors and staff once again on Saturday 19 February, unless otherwise instructed.

17 February 2022
BCLM is back on TikTok!

We’d like to thank everyone that has been involved in the relaunch of the Museum TikTok account! The first of a new series of videos was uploaded today and included a special Valentine’s message from our current TikTok characters. If you would like to put yourself forward to be in the videos, there’s still time to get involved! Please see the relevant intranet article about auditioning, or ask a member of the Marketing team for more details.

See our relaunch video here at: https://bit.ly/3oNB1Ci

14 February 2022
Filming on site – Tue 15 Feb

Please note that there is a large-scale production being filmed at the Museum on Tuesday 15 February from 7am until 8pm (with Monday 14 February as a set up day).

Car park

The production’s unit base will be at the bottom end of the car park and there will be around 50-60 other cars associated with the production, however you should still be able to park as normal in the top end of the car park.

Access to the Museum

Please enter the Museum in the morning via Rolfe Street and NOT the green side gate as they will be shooting at Bradburn & Wedge first thing until mid-morning.

In addition to Bradburn & Wedge, locations include the Workers’ Institute and the Cinema so these areas should be avoided. BCLM filming staff will be accompanying the production at all times.

Should you encounter the filming during the day, please act with discretion and do not take any photographs of the activity or any production personnel which would see us in breach of the location agreement.

Many thanks for your co-operation.

11 February 2022
Update – Forging Ahead

It is fantastic to see the rate and scale of which the Forging Ahead development is advancing. Our behind the hoardings tours have been very popular and with so much now happening, we would like to share our updated Forging Ahead Building Location Plan.

2 February 2022
Action for Happiness: Friendly February

Action for Happiness is a movement of people committed to building a happier and more caring society.

Each month they release a “Monthly Action Calendar” which are packed with actions you can take to help create a happier and kinder world.

This month’s theme is Friendly February, letting us focus on reaching out to connect with others and doing our best to be a good friend. In stressful times people around us may be feeling the strain, so let’s try to keep calm, take time to listen and show compassion.

Let’s all use their calendar below, or the Action for Happiness App, to do more good this month.

Find out more about Action for Happiness and view their previous monthly action calendars.

1 February 2022
Open audition call out – BCLM social media
The Audiences & Communications team will be re-launching the Museum’s TikTok account for 2022. The team plans on uploading one video per week (this may be subject to change) and intend to feature a mixture of informational and entertaining videos, all with an educational undertone.

The team would love to give everyone at the Museum the opportunity to submit their interest to take part in both Tiktok and the Museum’s other social media content. Types of content could include acting, lipsyncing (TikTok specifically) or voiceover work. To do so, the team is inviting you to submit audition videos for their consideration.

If you would like to be involved, the team is asking you to prepare a video of yourself performing the audition material below.

Please bear the following in mind when filming your video:
- Ensure your voice can be heard clearly (no need to add background music or additional sound)
- There’s no need to dress up in costume for the audition video as the team are looking at your performance
- Please film your video in your own time and not at the Museum during your working hours
- Think about how you physically perform as well as your delivery of the script
- Film your videos in portrait – mobile quality is fine, there’s no need to film on a camera unless you would prefer to
- Try to learn each line so that you’re not visibly reading the script
Submissions should be sent to the BCLM Marketing Team iPhone via whatsapp or text on 07563 074173 for Hannah and the A&C team to review. Alternatively you can email videos to [email protected].

Along with your video messages, please send your name, department and line manager’s name. If the team think you would be a good fit they will be in touch. Please note that involvement with all social media filming sessions are classed as paid shifts so staff will be paid for their involvement.

The cut-off date for auditions is Friday 18 February. Anything received after this time will not be accepted for this round of auditions. There may be may additional audition periods throughout the year in case people change their mind or to give new staff in the future an opportunity to express interest.

If you have any questions at all don’t hesitate to contact the A&C team via [email protected].

Please note that the team is currently only looking for expressions of interest for performers and is not looking for ideas on video content at this time.

Audition Script

Did you know that a lot of the food that working class Victorians ate was adulterated?

Bread was a staple food in the Victorian period and was consumed for almost every meal.

But most working-class Victorians that lived in back-to-backs like this, didn’t have the time or facilities to bake their own bread from scratch.

So, they relied on local bakers and retailers to get their bread.

The problem was that at every point in the supply chain adulterants like chalk, alum and plaster of paris were added.

These adulterants could build up to dangerous levels and left an already impoverished population very malnourished.

It could even have deadly consequences for babies.

The original video can be viewed on TikTok here.
31 January 2022