All together now
A story of leadership, partnership, flexibility and unintended benefits,
all coming from responses to a really bad situation.
by Christine Johnstone
Introduction
I work as a heritage contractor, mainly managing fixed-term projects, often with
groups of museums. Before going freelance, I worked for local authorities, first as a
social history curator and then as the museum service manager.
One of my current projects involves managing the Rapid Response Network Training
Programme. The Rapid Response Network is a group of 37 organisations in the
Yorkshire and Humber region. They all have heritage collections, and they all work
together to improve emergency preparedness and planning.
The Training Programme is a scheme funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and
sponsored by YoMMS, the Yorkshire Medium Museum Services network. This is a
group of 12 museum services working together to improve services.
So what’s the history of the Rapid Response Network?
The ‘really bad situation’ referred to in the sub-title was the disastrous floods of
summer 2007, which affected 25 sites in Yorkshire and the Humber. At seven sites,
the floods were ‘major’, threatening both collections and continuity. Think about oily
water three feet deep in the permanent displays, or contaminated sewage a foot
deep in the stores. Many organisations faced difficulties far beyond their
imaginations or planning.
In many cases the help needed was just not there. Emergency plans did not take
account of the fact that in a hard-pressed flooded community, the immediate priority
will be homes, jobs and people, not heritage sites and collections.
Heritage organisations soon realised that they have to rely, at least in part, on their
own specialist networks for training and advice.
In autumn 2007, HLF in Yorkshire responded to the floods by organising two
‘Beyond the Deluge’ seminars for its grantees and other heritage organisations.
At both these meetings, there was clear support for the creation of a regional
network to improve organisations’ capacity to deal with a flood or similar
emergencies. Similar networks already existed in the East Midlands and the South
East., but not in our region.
YoMMS had seen two of its services badly affected by the floods, and knew that it
had not been able to offer practical and effective help. It was keen therefore to create
some practical resources and effective systems that all twelve of its members could
rely on in the future. Encouraged by HLF, YoMMS asked the other heritage
organisations who had attended the HLF seminars if they were interested in a selfhelp network, which could provide co-ordinated improvements within a year or two.
The answer was ‘Yes’!
This was the birth of the Rapid Response Network – a loose collective of museums,
specialist libraries and archives, with no constitution and no officers.
In autumn 2007, the RNN set up a small representative working party, who decided
that the network needed training and shared equipment. On behalf of the RRN,
YoMMS successfully bid to HLF for £50,000 towards a Rapid Response Network
Training Programme, with the £8,000 match funding provided entirely in kind
[facilitators for some of the training and space to store the equipment and materials].
Preparatory work started in September 2008 and the training programme runs from
March 2009 to March 2011.
And what are we doing?
By March 2009, we had purchased four identical sets of emergency kit, each costing
about £5,000. They are stored at Beverley [East Riding Museum Service], just
outside Leeds [Harewood House Trust], Rotherham [Rotherham Museum Service]
and just outside Wakefield [Yorkshire Sculpture Park].
The locations are organised so that each member is no more than one hour’s drive
from a kit, often less. Any member can use any kit in an emergency, free of charge,
but must replace or return everything they use.
The kits include boxes, crates, bags and packaging; absorbent rolls and blotting
paper; handling equipment and hand tools; pumps, generators and emergency
lighting; protective clothing; paper, pens, pencils and forms; safety signs and hazard
tape; and even a gazebo. The project funded included a freelancer who purchased
and delivered all the kit.
YoMMS has delivered three free training sessions for all the RRN members,
covering familiarisation with emergency equipment, use of emergency equipment,
sharing best practice and mock emergencies. These practical sessions were
designed to help staff and volunteers remember what to do and where to go in an
emergency, even if that emergency is in five years time.
We have also paid the Yorkshire Fed to deliver 10 free workshops for up to 30
people, on topics such as dealing with stress; clarifying responsibilities; insurance;
salvage techniques; risk management; continuity planning & disaster planning.
These sessions were designed to help organisations improve their emergency
planning.
The feedback from both types of training has been excellent.
In April this year, the network held its first annual members’ meeting. Members
agreed to
 open membership up to new members [since then it has gained eight members,
lost one and two have amalgamated]
 to introduce subscriptions [for sustainability after the HLF money runs out]
 to expand the training programme
 to share resources and staff/volunteers in emergencies
 and to encourage networking within the RRN
So what have we learnt?
Obviously, in part the Rapid Response Network is a regional response to regional
issues, and what works for Yorkshire and the Humber may not work somewhere
else. But I do think there are more general outcomes that apply in any region. These
centre on leadership, partnership, flexibility and unintended benefits.
Leadership
Neither the network nor the project would have got off the ground without leadership,
despite the obvious and acknowledged need for better responses to emergencies.
In this case leadership was shared by HLF and YoMMS.
The regional HLF pulled the disparate organisations together – no other organisation
was able to do this. The regional MLA was going through a period of massive
reorganisation which encouraged it to prioritise strategic decision-making and the
Renaissance museums were tasked with providing leadership just for museums, not
libraries and archives. HLF used its authority as a grant-giver to help a wide range of
organisations to start working together for the first time.
The Yorkshire Medium Museum Services network was prepared to lead the initial
explorations of common interest with many organisations that were neither medium –
sized nor museums, although they were all in Yorkshire and the Humber. YoMMS
was also prepared to write the HLF bid and be the organisation that made the
application, as, unlike the RRN, it had a constitution and a bank account.
Partnership
The Rapid Response Network is a partnership of organisations with different
interests.
HLF is interested in the protection of its previous investments, in training within the
heritage sector and in projects that have widely distributed benefits and demonstrate
value for money.
YoMMS is interested in practical self-help, and in the reputation of medium sized
museum services
The Yorkshire Fed is interested in representing the museum sector and training
museum staff and volunteers
Most, but not all, RRN members prioritise access to the emergency kits over training.
Some, but not all, RRN members are interested in networking and sharing
resources. Even the contact for each RRN member varies widely – it may be the
conservator, the registrar, the secretary, the service manager, the collections
manager, the archivist, the specialist librarian, or the chair.
I firmly believe that this wide variety of interests is strength, not a weakness, but it
only remains a strength if everyone is treated with respect. Open communications
and joint decision-making are crucial, and process and empathy are more important
than control. From the start, YoMMS and the RRN have focussed on producing a
democratic and collective process. No one person or organisation is ‘in charge’. It’s
one member, one vote, regardless of size or reputation!
As project manager, I maintain email contact lists for the representatives of each
RRN organisation; for everyone who has ever had any training; for people who want
to join etc. Through regular emails, working party meetings about three times a year
and the annual members meeting, I ensure that everyone knows what is happening,
and that every organisation is encouraged to participate in decision making.
Flexibility
Any network, and any project, has to be flexible and inclusive.
With careful thought and good research, you can write a HLF bid that turns out to
have a close resemblance to developing reality, but things will still change. The only
certainty is change!
Here are a few examples


At its inception, the members of RRN were more interested in sharing emergency
equipment and materials, than they were in training, but they amended their
priorities to more closely match HLF’s.
Until May 2009, my work on the RRN and its HLF-funded training programme
was part of my contribution to YoMMS as an employee at Wakefield [a YoMMS
member]. As such, it was carried out at no cost to the RRN or YoMMS. When I
left Wakefield, it became clear that no-one else from YoMMS was able to
manage the project. YoMMS therefore decided to pay me to continue with the

work, even though the whole project had originally been set up with no cash
contribution from YoMMS. YoMMS will continue to underwrite these costs until
the HLF project ends.
The Rapid Response Network is open to all organisations with heritage
collections in Yorkshire and the Humber. The unspoken assumption was that
these organisations would be museums, specialist libraries or archives. But along
came the Knitting and Crochet Guild, who are not a library, a museum nor an
archive, but who do have a large heritage collection of knitting and crochet. They
are now members, and are under no pressure from the RRN to ‘become’ a
certain sort of organisation.
Unintended benefits
The very fact that the RRN has so many diverse members, and works in an open
and consensual way, has had some unintended beneficial consequences.
Links have been established with English Heritage, and informal mutual help agreed.
English Heritage already have depots of emergency equipment and material in our
region, so don’t need to join the RRN. However, we have agreed that, if required,
RRN members can use their depots and English Heritage can use the RRN depots.
The RRN members have decided to put the network on a more formal footing, by
agreeing and adopting a constitution and opening a bank account. This will mean
that the network need not rely on YoMMS to make applications on its behalf.
RRN Members have also started offering to share their resources with other
members, when required. This includes teams of trained people in an emergency;
assessments by conservators after a disaster; free meeting rooms; and the use of a
walk-in freezer for waterlogged collections
So a really bad situation for a few organisations can result in real benefits for many
more organisations, as long as people take a long hard look at what they need,
identify the best sources of leadership, work together, and focus on achievable
improvements.
For more information on the Rapid Response Network, the Training Programme or
YoMMS, please email Christine Johnstone at cj97055@googlemail.com