BAFM SOUTH WEST AREA
SOUTH WEST AREA REP: LAWRIE THORNE
I have had extensive work experience in Art Education. For seven years I was Hon. Secretary for the Friends of Plymouth City Museum & Art Gallery. Now I am a volunteer researcher within the museum. Taking on the role of the South West Area Coordinator seemed a further extension of volunteering. This is an exciting time for BAFM. I look forward to taking part in discussions about its future, keeping SW members informed and meeting as many members as possible.
Conference Report 2011 - by Carol Richardson-Bunbury
The Friends of Lyme Regis Philpot Museum, supported by museum staff and volunteers, ran a successful and well attended conference day held in the Masonic Hall. Lawrie Thorne, our newly elected BAFM South West Co-ordinator, was introduced and then Mary Godwin, Philpot Museum Curator, talked on ‘A shared effort’. Mary’s declaration that she only talks about Lyme Regis museum was true but deceptive. Common sense and practicality ran all through her entertaining talk and she made many points that apply to most, if not all, of our organisations.
Each museum and area has its own ingredients and, as in cooking, it is essential to look at the ingredients and see what can be done with them. Lyme is an irresistible and unique gem. Fossils are a big draw internationally, particularly dinosaurs, and Lyme is a major literary and artistic destination. Visitors arrive with the books under their arms!
The Philpot Museum has maximised these advantages by developing a hybrid system of working using staff, volunteers and Friends. Success breeds success and success brings support. Several times Mary stressed the need for the right people with the right skills to do what interests them. Volunteers all have different requirements that need to be kept in mind. They are not used as support staff, they are given jobs and left to get on with them. Young volunteer come, get jobs elsewhere and go, but often retain their interest and loyalty to the Philpot. Friends like to see tangible results. And parties are important, otherwise staff and volunteers, working on different days in different places, and Friends may never meet!
As Chairman of the Friends, Margaret Rose is a Trustee, along with other influential and knowledgeable people, and Margaret by taking the initiative and asking has recruited an incredibly high profile group of Patrons with passionate interests linked to the museum. The Friends have also been successful in soliciting grants, in one case getting a much larger grant than originally requested!
Mary Godwin’s imaginative but practical ideas shine through in the quality of the Philpot Museum and in the enthusiasm of staff, volunteers and Friends and in the welcome they gave us. We can all learn from them.
Our second speaker, Richard Edmonds is Earth Sciences Manager for the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site, in other words, he said, he manages rocks, which usually look after themselves! Nothing is that simple. The geology of the Jurassic Coast is such that 185 Million years of geology are exposed, showing the rise and fall of the dinosaurs as one travels from west to east. This means that the museums along the coast, while having a common theme, can represent different periods of geological development. Perhaps more of our institutions could exploit common themes while highlighting their own unique contributions. The museums’ collections of fossils play an important part in the advancement of science and their photographic collections chart the erosion of the coast. Erosion is essential to expose new fossils and volunteer collectors are essential to gather them quickly before the sea destroys them, but Graham also has to consider conservation of the coast where possible and necessary.
How can we make the voice of Friends and Volunteers heard? This was the main question discussed in open session. Hedley Swain, ‘our man’ at the Arts Council says he can’t hear us! Friends and Volunteers are part of the local community and represent a huge body of people, we should have a powerful voice.
Clive Fisher, a committee member of the South West Federation of Museums, asked that BAFM provide a representative for the Fed committee to give us a voice and strength to their committee. After discussion with Lawrie Thorne it was agreed that Mary Bailey’s offer to stand should be gratefully accepted. Mary has recently retired from the chairmanship of the Friends of Bristol Museums & Art Gallery.
South West initiative? It has been suggested that BAFM SW raise its profile by outlining a SW initiative, perhaps a geologically based, to acquire funding for a feasibility study.
Discussed over a delicious lunch at The Royal Lion Hotel, generously given at cost by the owner. Recording Friends hours? Friends spend many hours working on behalf of their institutions to raise funds, hours that are not recorded. Should Friend contribution be counted as ‘Funds Raised plus time spent’?
After lunch we split into groups, each group enjoyed two of three tours offered: Guided Museum Visit, Tour of the Town, Fossil Session.
Back in the Masonic Hall we gathered for tea and delicious cakes, thank yous and goodbyes. Lawrie Thorne received a warm welcome and I am sure she will receive as much help, support and friendship as I have over the past years as a member of BAFM Council. The Friends of the Philpot presented me with a beautiful basket of flowers, for which I felt honoured and grateful.
Postscript: NEWS!
As you will most likely know the Museums Libraries and Archives Council has had its responsibilities transfered to Arts Council England (ACE). Since the SW Conference day we have learnt that Mary Godwin, who was the Director of the Lyme Regis Philpot Museum for three years and a keynote speaker at the Conference, is ‘our woman’ at ACE. Mary is working with all the museums in the SW in her new role from the ACE office in Exeter. Aren’t we lucky!
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