It’s Wednesday, officially the hottest day of the year so far, and with the warmer weather the Museum has quite literally started to blossom.
In other news, we continue with the planning for re-opening. To aid this we will be asking for your thoughts on returning to work via a staff survey which will be sent out by email and planday in the next couple of weeks. Please do take this opportunity to tell us your thoughts, concerns and suggestions for how we can help you to feel confident and safe to return to work. We understand that this will be different for everyone and so we want hope to hear from as many people as possible. In addition we will also be sending out a survey to our visitors and members, to get a better understanding of their plans for re-visiting the Museum.
We submitted our application to Arts Council England’s Emergency Response Fund on Monday 18 May. A decision is expected on 30 June, and if successful this will provide financial assistance through to end of September. We continue to look for longer term sources of income of which will aid us through the winter period.
Tom and Abby continue to produce some excellent content about the Museum to put on our social media sites. As a reminder, here are the ways you can access this:
- History at Home. We have been producing interactive resources centred around current KS2 themes, including PowerPoints and videos on a range of topics. You may have seen this week that we have asked the public to vote for a building, and a short virtual tour of the winning building is being produced featuring our very own Kevin Cooksey. There will be a linked activity for kids to do at home. Resources can be found here: https://www.bclm.co.uk/history-at-home/history-at-home/1.htm
- Black Country Studies Centre – Lockdown Learning. From bricks to poetry, you can find short videos and blog posts from the experts here: http://blackcountrystudiescentre.co.uk/news.
In other news, some small bits of maintenance work have managed to continue whilst allowing for social distancing. Two workmen from Martin Evans Construction have been on site all week and have finished off the new compost bays, one at the back of the Trap Shop and the other in the wooded walkway at the rear of the additional horse paddock. These replace the bays which were previously in the compound behind Old Birmingham Road.
We are another week into the lockdown, and we hope that the slight easing of restrictions has lifted your spirits somewhat. If you are struggling at all, please remember that you can email [email protected] or utilise the Employee Assistance Programme. In addition, some of you may have a seen that a new 24 hour advice line has been launched to help people in the Black Country cope with the uncertainty of the Covid-19 outbreak. The advice line managed by the Wolverhampton Voluntary Sector Council (WVSC) in conjunction with the Black Country Healthcare Partnership will provide critical emotional support for local residents. For more information about this new service visit WVSC website.
Take care and keep safe.
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