UK museums – here I come!
September 15, 2010
This is me at Flinders Medical Centre with a box of objects from a number of South Australian museums that are being used in an object handling study.
How do museums make meaningful connections with their communities, and what benefits can these connections have for both the museum and the wider community?
These are some of the questions I hope to explore over the next couple of months. I am an Australian museum professional (working for History SA in South Australia) who has been lucky enough to be awarded a Churchill Fellowship to travel to the UK to research museum outreach programs that respond to community need.
I am going to be in the UK for almost 8 weeks, leaving at the end of September 2010, and will be posting updates about the programs and projects that I discover on my travels.
I’ll be visiting museums in Great Yarmouth, Norwich, Cambridge, Manchester, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Leicester, London and Truro, hoping to get a handle on how we put museums at the heart of their communities: what kinds of programs are on offer, how are they funded, how are they planned and evaluated and who uses them. Hopefully I can pinch some good ideas to apply when I come home!
Museums and communities 
September 27, 2010 at 1:12 pm
Bon Voyage Allison! Looking forward to following your travels online.
October 4, 2010 at 3:38 pm
Hi Allison,
I found Time and Tide an interesting experience – there were bits of it I really enjoyed and bits where I thought ‘Why bother?’. I went with my mother on a day trip from Norwich and she had an almost opposite take to me, and we both liked The Street, so I guess that’s sign of success in some ways.
October 4, 2010 at 8:50 pm
Hi Rob,
Interesting – I wasn’t that engaged by The Street, but there were other parts that I loved. I gather from James that the street is one of the favourites with locals. I guess it brings back memories of a time that has passed.
Cheers
Allison