Date: Monday 9th June
Release Date : Immediate
Jewish Museum launches London Volunteers in Museums Awards 2014
Guests including last year’s award winners’, professionals from national
organisations such as Collections Trust and NCVO and the Mayor’s Adviser for
Volunteering, Team London, Charities and Sponsorship, Veronica Wadley, were
invited to a sneak preview of the venue for this year’s London Volunteers in
Museums at The Jewish Museum .
The breakfast launch for this year’s awards, which will take place on Tuesday 16th
September 2014, was an opportunity for media and industry professionals to find
out more about the awards from the organisers and meet last year’s winners.
With over 9000 volunteers across London’s heritage sector, and some exciting
projects taking place this year, deciding the winners could prove difficult for the
judging panel which includes Sue Barnard , Relationship Manager, Museums at Arts
Council England, Adam Cooper who is part of the Mayor’s Culture Team at the GLA
and Clive Pankhurst former Chief Executive of Volunteer Centre Southwark, who
helped to launch their annual ‘Southwark Stars’ volunteer recognition event.
Last year, Handel House Museum won ‘Best Team’ for a group of volunteers
involved in the museum’s exhibition ‘A Year in the Life of Handel: 1713.’ Some of the
team including Ann Steppel, who was celebrating her birthday, came to the launch.
Veronica Wadley, Senior Advisor for Team London, Volunteering, Charities, and
Sponsorship, attended the event. She has visited the Jewish Museum on several
occasions before but had not seen the new exhibition. She said:
'London’s museums are among the best in the world and it is important we recognise
the important role that volunteers play in making sure they these attractions can
continue to enthral Londoners and visitors. Team London also provides opportunities
and encouragement for Londoners of all ages and backgrounds looking to support
their city and to better themselves, by giving up some of their time. We are proud
that already thousands of people are helping out in the capital, but we will always
welcome new volunteers who would like to get involved in the variety of interesting,
exciting, and challenging opportunities we have available.'
This will be the sixth year of the awards with organisation taken over last year by the
London Heritage Volunteer Managers Network (LHVMN). The awards offer a chance
to recognise those volunteers in a range of categories including ‘Best Team’,
‘Bringing Innovation’ and ‘Going the Extra Mile’ and a ‘Special Youth award’. Last
year’s event saw around 120 guests in attendance on HMS Belfast and this year it is
hoped to invite even more volunteers and supporters from the heritage community.
Jim Hutchinson, Volunteer Manager at the Imperial War Museum, who is the
current chair of LHVMN, said:
‘Since 2009 the London Volunteers in Museums Awards have been securing some
much deserved recognition for the work of thousands of volunteers across the
London museums and heritage sector. The wide ranging contributions to the
operations and development of their host organisations by volunteers enable greater
levels of progress and service provision than would be possible with paid staff alone.
The diverse and positive contribution of such a large group of supporting volunteers
is inspirational and the annual awards now help bring to light some amazing
examples of volunteer dedication and commitment within the heritage community….’
Emma Davies, Visitor Services Manager at The Jewish Museum who is coordinating this years’ award event says “we currently have around 120 volunteers
who are the lifeblood of the museum. They can be found in all of our public facing
roles and are a real asset; helping us to deliver a high level of visitor experience
every day. Volunteers undertake roles such as manning the welcome desk, dealing
with admissions and retail enquiries, invigilating the galleries and helping guide our
visitors.’
One of these volunteers, Yasmin Riley, won the ‘Special Youth award’ last year.
Yasmin really feels young people should get more involved in volunteering in
museums as it would help them develop more social and life skills. She is keen to
promote the awards and talk about her experience as a volunteer to encourage more
young people to take up volunteering opportunities. She was apprehensive at first,
especially as she applied for a role dealing with the public and was quite shy and
nervous. She says the team at the museum were really supportive and helped her
overcome these nerves.
Victor Wyatt – winner of the Going the Extra Mile category from Charles Dickens
Museum came to the breakfast launch and really enjoyed looking around the Jewish
Museum’s ‘For King and Country? The Jewish Experience of the First World War’
exhibition. Victor joined at a time when the museum was faced with making crucial
decisions about its future. As their book-keeper and treasurer he worked tirelessly to
help transform the museum into a thriving heritage attraction. Although he was only
volunteering for two days per week, he became a full-time volunteer and the
museum benefited from his experience and entrepreneurship. With his cheerful and
congenial manner, together with his desire to learn new skills and engage with
aspects of museum work with which he had not previously been familiar, Victor has
become a central figure in the museum and an important link between staff and the
volunteer community. They cannot imagine how the museum would have found its
new image, identity and success without him.
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, is supportive of the awards and said:
'London has an unrivalled range of museums, from world-class institutions to smaller
local treasures. They are an asset to our city and their success is in large part due to
the hard work and commitment of the dedicated volunteers who give their time, as
well as bring their knowledge and enthusiasm. Our own Team London volunteering
programme shines a light on the generosity and public spiritedness of Londoners
and I congratulate all the individuals who will be recognised at this year's London
Volunteers in Museums Awards.'
ENDS
For further information about the event contact:
Event Organiser – Emma Davies, Visitor Services Manager, The Jewish Museum
Email: Emma.Davies@jewishmuseum.org.uk
Tel: 020 7284 7373
Raymond Burton House, 129-131 Albert Street, London, NW1 7NB
www.jewishmuseum.org.uk
PR – Karen Webb-Green, Museum Development Officer, Regional Museums Team,
Museum of London, Docklands
Email: kwebbgreen@museumoflondon.org.uk
Tel: 07841206862
Photos:
1
The Mayors Adviser Veronica Wadley (centre) with last year’s winners, Anny
Squire, Emily Canetta, Ann Steppel, Ellen McDonald-Kramer, Victor Wyatt, Catriona
McGoogan and Yasmin Riley
2.
Guests including Kristen Stephenson Volunteer Management and Good
Practice Manager at NCVO enjoying the Jewish Museum’s ‘For King and Country?
The Jewish Experience of the First World War’ exhibition.
Background information:
The LHVMN exists to promote peer support and awareness of best practice in
volunteer management within the London Heritage sector. Membership is open to
anyone responsible for the management and development of a volunteer programme
within a museum or heritage sector organisation within the London and Greater
London Region
The Jewish Museum and its collection tell the story both of the Jewish religion (ritual
practice, worship, life cycle) and of Jews in Britain from 1066 to the present day. The
range of artefacts not only reflects the history of British Jews, but also the living faith
and community. The current temporary exhibition focuses on the Jewish experience
of WW1 in order to mark the Great War’s centenary
Museum Facts:
In London’s Museums:
There are around 9000 volunteers across London.
The Jewish Museum currently has around 120 volunteers. In the first quarter of 2014
alone, volunteers gave a priceless 2,220 hours of their time.
At the Horniman, the number of volunteers has grown from 15 in 2007 to over 350 in
2014 – with volunteers now giving over 18,000 hours of their time.
The Museum of London has around 200 volunteers who last year, contributed over
19,000 hours to both the Museum of London and the archaeological archive at
Mortimer Wheeler House
Islington Museum have 19 volunteers working Front of house and in learning roles.
Between them they volunteer over 100 hours a week to the museum. Islington
Museum has 19 volunteers involved in front of house and learning roles. Between
them they contribute over 100 hours a week to the Museum.
The Cinema Museum is run entirely by volunteers, as is Crossness Pumping Station,
who have over 300 volunteers caring for the steam engines and collection.
Without volunteers many museums could not offer users such fantastic learning and
cultural experiences within their sites.
Within Museums there are a range of volunteering opportunities, suitable for all
individuals including young people, volunteers who want to work with collections,
those who have a small amount of free time and people looking towards moving into
a career in museums