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Following our recent triumph at the VisitEngland Awards for Excellence, weâre hosting an exciting Celebration Weekend on Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 July. This public event will be filled with summer fun, freebies, and a whole lot of bostinâ Black Country spirit for our visitors!
Here’s what our visitors can look forward to this weekend:
Plus, in case you missed our last post, we’ll be celebrating with colleagues too with a dedicated staff celebration in the Autumn – more details on this to follow.
As a sincere thank you for your incredible dedication, the Leadership Team and Trustees are delighted to share that weâll be hosting a Colleague Thank You Event this September.
This event is a chance to celebrate and recognise the amazing achievements youâve made possible, including:
Your commitment, creativity and teamwork have been outstanding, and we want to take this opportunity to show our deep appreciation for everything you do.
More details about the event will follow soon â but for now, please know how much your efforts mean to all of us.
đ Weâve done it â National Gold for Black Country Living Museum!
Announced last night at the VisitEngland Awards for Excellence
Weâre absolutely thrilled to announce that Black Country Living Museum has been awarded Gold for Large Visitor Attraction of the Year at the national VisitEngland Awards for Excellence!
This is a huge honourâand a moment of real pride not just for the Museum, but for the entire Black Country. It recognises the stories we tell, the unique experience we offer, and the heart and soul our people put into every visit.
đ Top spot in a tough field
We were proud to be named a national finalist alongside two outstanding attractions:
To then be awarded Gold ahead of these incredible venues makes this recognition even more special.
This yearâs competition was fierce, with over 1,800 entries across the country at the start of the journey to the final. To come out on top is a remarkable achievement.
đ This award belongs to you
This success is only possible because of youâour dedicated staff and volunteers. Whether you’re working front of house, behind the scenes, or anywhere in between, your passion, hard work, and warmth shape every visitorâs experience.
We know how much pride and care you bring to what you do, and this award is a clear reflection of that.
đ¤ Powered by the bostin promise
At the core of this win is our Bostin Promiseâour commitment to providing a consistently outstanding visitor experience. This recognition reinforces how important that promise is and the difference it makes every day.
đŁ More to come…
Weâll be sharing more in the coming days on how we plan to celebrate this news and communicate it with visitors, partners, and the wider community. Keep an eye out for updates!
For nowâthank you and congratulations. This win is yours, and itâs something we can all be immensely proud of.
When visiting the Museum as a visitor â whether for general daytime entry using complimentary tickets, or attending a ticketed event (e.g. 1960s Evening, Peaky Blinders, Halloween, etc.) â please ensure you queue and enter through the visitor entrance as normal.
We have recently been made aware of some colleagues using their BCLM pass to enter through the black pedestrian gate, that runs across the road between the Visitor Centre and Learning Centre, when attending events. While this may be done with good intentions, it creates a number of challenges:
â Health & safety: Bypassing the main entrance means we don’t have an accurate count of who is on site, which poses a potential safety risk in an emergency.
â Reporting: Accurate visitor numbers are essential for evaluating the success of our daily offer and ticketed events. Inaccurate numbers affect the data we rely on to improve future experiences.
â Visitor experience: Seeing someone use an alternate entrance can cause confusion or frustration for visitors who are being asked to queue in the normal way. This not only affects the visitor experience but can also lead to uncomfortable situations for our Admissions staff, who are then required to explain why the same âentranceâ is not available to everyone.
If you or anyone in your party has a specific need that means queuing or navigating large crowds is challenging, please let the Admissions team know in advance by calling 0121 557 9643. Weâll do our best to make your entry as smooth and comfortable as possible, while still ensuring youâre checked in through the proper process.
When coming in to work or volunteer, you can continue to access the site via your usual route.
Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.
Dr Paul Belford retired as Chair and Trustee of the Museum Board at the end of April. Paul had served on the Board since March 2014 and took on the role of Chair in December 2020. He has stepped down to focus on his growing freelance archaeology consultancy, which now includes an increasing amount of international work. We thank Paul for his many years of thoughtful leadership and service to the Museum.
At its meeting on 24 April, the Board approved the appointment of Duncan Bedhall as Interim Chair. Duncan joined the Board in January 2018 and has chaired the Museum Enterprises Company since April 2021 â a role he will continue to hold. He is also a member of the Museumâs Financial Performance Scrutiny Committee.
The Board has engaged Saxton Bampfylde, a leading executive search and leadership consultancy, to support the recruitment of a new Chair. Their extensive networks and sector expertise will help ensure we attract a wide and diverse field of high-calibre candidates. This search is a significant strategic priority for the Museum, and several of our current and incoming Trustees will be closely involved in the process. We aim to make an appointment by the end of July.
Following an open recruitment process, we are pleased to announce that six new Trustees will join the Museum Board this year. Hasan Afzal, Dileep Marway, and Caroline Southall will begin their terms in June. Nicky Guy will join in August, and Emma Norris and Janet Chapman in October. We look forward to welcoming them and to the experience and insight they will bring. Youâll be able to learn more about our new trustees on our Board page online as they join the team.
As part of a broader commitment to transparency and engagement, the Board is also looking at ways to create more opportunities for staff to present directly at Board and Committee meetings. This will help ensure a broader range of voices are heard in strategic discussions.
Following the conclusion of the nomination process, nominations have been received for the following constituent posts;
As the above nominations are unopposed, in accordance with the constitution and terms of reference, constituents are invited to endorse their candidature. Constituents are therefore asked to email [email protected] by Wednesday 7 May 2025 if they have any reason to oppose the nomination of the above-named individual for their constituency.
Vacancies remain for the following constituent posts;
The closing date for nominations for the above posts has been extended to Wednesday 7 May 2025.
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. To put yourself forward, please complete and return a 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 Association of Independent Museums Annual Conference returns on 18 & 19 June, with the theme “Museums in Motion: Building Resilience for a Changing World”. The conference will be taking place at the Mary Rose Museum in Portsmouth. The conference also includes an optional social event on the Tuesday evening.
We are able to provide three tickets for colleagues. If you are interested in attending the conference, please check in with your line manager for approval and express your interest directly via Jo Turner ([email protected]) by Friday 25 April.
Details about the programme of the conference can be found on the AIM website.
Unfortunately, the Museum’s main contractor for the reconstruction of Woodside Library has ceased trading and gone into administration. Despite this set back, we remain committed to completing the outstanding works and opening the library as soon as possible, to enable its stories to be told. We are currently working up alternative arrangements to complete the building and will share an updated opening timeline in due course.
Due to a number of colleagues leaving the Museum over the next month, and an elected representativeâs term coming to an end, there are a number of vacancies on the CCF.
We would therefore like to invite nominations for the following constituent posts;
There also remain open positions for the following representatives;
(Please note that participation of volunteers on the CCF remains on a voluntary basis)
The CCF plays a key communication and discussion role in many significant matters affecting all colleagues across the Museum. Further information on the role of the CCF can be found in the Colleague Consultative Forum Constitution Terms of Reference.
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 is 21 April 2025. 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. In the interest of ensuring a cross representation of the Museum, the 2 representatives in the Casual and Volunteer constituencies cannot be from the same team.
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 | Lisa Evans |
| Cleaning & Recycling | 1 x vacancy |
| Casuals | David Ball*
1 x vacancy |
| Volunteers | Karen Griffiths
1 x vacancy |
| *Constituent post up for nomination. | |
