Chair: Susan Eddisford
Community Museums Officer, Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Bradninch Offices, Bradninch Place, Exeter EX4 3LS
T: 01392 265967, E: susan.eddisford@exeter.gov.uk
Administrator: Theresa Jaeschke TheresaJ_DMG@outlook.com
MINUTES
Meeting held 18.04.2013 at the Museum of British Surfing, Braunton
Present:
Susan Eddisford, DMG Chair & CMO, RAMM;
Katherine Lacey, Tiverton Museum of Mid Devon Life
Ed Donohue, Crownhill Fort;
Alison Mills, Museum of Barnstaple & North Devon; Roger
Helena Jaeschke, CDO, South West;
Ferrar, Lyn and Exmoor Museum
John Claxton, Topsham Museum;
Andy Chapman, 1010 Media
Jan Betteridge, Topsham Museum;
Peter Robinson, Museum of British Surfing;
Catriona Batty, Topsham Museum
Chris Done, North Devon Maritime Museum;
John Brodribb, South Devon Railway Museum;
Mary Godwin, ACE;
Jo Cairns, National Trust;
Sarah Hodson, Illfracombe Museum;
Anita Steed, Combe Martin Museum;
Hugh Frith, Mortehoe Museum;
Anita Smale, Combe Martin Museum;
Kate Frith, Mortehoe Museum;
Val Morris, Great Torrington Museum;
Tony Nicholson, Lynton and Barnstaple Railway Trust;
Peter Morris, Great Torrington Museum;
Alison Rix, South Molton and District Museum
Sue West, FFAVA scheme manager, DCC;
1. Apologies:
Mike Rickard, Bill Douglas Centre;
Abi Gray, DMG Administrator;
Alan Langmaid, Totnes Elizabethan House Museum;
Sonia Stone, DMG Treasurer & Exmouth Museum;
Jane Harrold, Britannia Museum;
Pat Chesterton, Combe Martin Museum;
Richard Porter, Britannia Museum;
Barbara Wood, National Trust;
Anne Balkwill, Cookworthy Museum;
Braunton Museum;
Grenville Taylor, Cookworthy Museum
Holsworthy Museum;
Brian Carpenter, Devon Heritage Centre, DCC.
2. Reminiscence and working with FFAVA (Family Friends and Volunteers Activities)
Sue West, FFAVA Volunteers Scheme Manager, outlined opportunities for museums (and individuals) to work with this
volunteer scheme to provide stimulating activities for residents in Devon County Council’s older people’s residential
homes.
Volunteers across Devon go into 23 council-run old peoples’ residential homes and do activities of their choice. Some of
the residents have dementia. The scheme would be interested in co-working with museums. Sue would like to visit
museums and talk about how to take this forward. Just putting a poster up about FFAVA in your museum would be a
help.
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The volunteers get comprehensive induction training. Museum volunteers can be part of the scheme.
Sue’s office is in Tiverton at The Old Bakery, 44 Westexe South, Tiverton, EX16 5DH,
Tel: 07855 381173
Email: sue.west@devon.gov.uk
Leaflets were distributed at the meeting.
Mary Godwin (MG) Arts Council will be funding arts for older people – will commission about 4 big organisations (e.g.
Age Concern) who will be looking for smaller partners at the local level. Mary Godwin will send more news as soon as it
develops.
Catriona Batty – Topsham Museum was asked to put together a folder of photos for old people’s coffee mornings. One
of the GP surgeries was doing oral reminiscence work too.
Susan Eddisford (SE) some museums already work with memory cafés and there is scope for working with special
interest groups (retired workers etc).
Tiverton Museum has been working with Janet Jones from www.Thinklife.org.uk
A list of the Devon Council run homes will be circulated with the minutes.
Minutes Of The Last Meeting
The minutes of the last meeting were agreed, proposed by Catriona Batty, seconded John Brodribb
Matters Arising

The electronic copy of the form “Tell Us Your News” was not available, so hasn’t been uploaded to Devon
museums.net website yet. No update report on the PR campaign.
Devon Museums Group Issues
Treasurer’s Report (Report on the website, to be circulated with minutes.) Balance looks healthy, but much of it is
restricted funds e.g. £5000 for the brochure.
Report from the Chair circulated at the meeting. Will be uploaded (Exeter IT problems delayed this)
It is really important that museums send in their Annual Data Return by 31st April! This is how we justify the continued
funding for museum development – you can fill it in on line on SWFed website or by post. The new contact is
Tom.Newman@bristol.gcsx.gov.uk
The form has been emailed to groups by MDO and is on Devon Museums.net website members’ area.

Brochure is now printed. The design work is done by the RAMM designer and is free. We will be distributing
brochures on the RAMM stand at the Devon County Show.

Abi has been the DMG administrator for 5 years but now has a full-time work commitment, so will have to
withdraw. Do you know of anyone who might do it? It pays about £8 or hour, work from home and paid
expenses for travel to meetings.

Family Friendly Museums – do put your museum in for this.

There have been changes to Gift Aid – please check the website link in the report.

Disclosure and Barring Service – transferable certificate if holder subscribes to the service £10 p.a. Most
volunteers won’t need a certificate.
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
World War One centenary – MDOs met with rep from Imperial War Museum which is leading on this. You can
register as a partner museum at www.1914.org There will be resources museums can download and use such
as timelines, film footage, collection items, templates for exhibitions and booklets, Facebook page. Small
grants for projects involving young people.

Memorabilia pack company doing a WW1 pack with an introductory small order offer.
DMG Forum 2013: Museums: The Next Generation, Working with Young People
20th May 2013, Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery £15 (to cover catering cost)
Lowell Black, Head of Youth programmes at Museum of London is key speaker, also HLF Young Roots programme
speaker. (This programme is undersubscribed). Lots of information, case studies.
Booking form and draft programme will be on DM.net website.
Devonmuseums.net
Where we are now at the end of the ACE funded digital development project?
Andy Chapman – web developer

There is lots more content and ways of showcasing your museum.

Matrix shows what museums are doing – e.g. participating on Twitter, Facebook, Youtube – you can click on it
and see what each museum is doing.

You can upload up to 12 audio files per museum, which can be made available to download on iTunes as a
podcast. Could then change them the following season. (Make sure you have the necessary permissions.)

There is a guide to copyright issues on the website members’ area.

There is a separate section for listing exhibitions now as well as events.

Events are tweeted automatically and forwarded them to Culture24 events listing and BBC Things To Do and
MumsNet websites, so getting good coverage. Because events are being listed further afield museums need to
make sure that events listed are one of events of interest to the general public, not just museum meetings.

Make sure your titles and description are eye-catching and informative – and fit with the prefixes that are used
for the automatic tweets.
news:
Interesting story about
Find out more about
Breaking news
Our latest story
Want to know about
events:
Looking for something to dd
An interesting event taking place
Don't miss
Did we tell you about
Make time to visit

We are creating some trails with wider interest – e.g. celebrities (Vivien Leigh, Muse, Agatha Christie, Coldplay,
Kirstie Allsop, Damien Hirst...) Other ideas for the future include haunted Devon, weird and wacky objects, films
as well as more museum related special interest topics such as trains and railways or wool.
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The online shop is set up – really easy to sell items or services (e.g. an hour’s research)

Enquiries received via the site go directly to the museums now which saves a lot of time.

Trying to find sponsors to use banner space – e.g. Museums have individual banners that can be offered to a
supplier if they help the museum in some way – discount, publicity at local café, or on a financial basis

Museums and Heritage website will have feature on the site this week. www.museumsandheritage.com
Regional Reports
ACE Update

ACE update - Mary Godwin – In 2011 the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council was closed in the “bonfire
of the quangos”, and administration of government funding for this sector was transferred to Arts Council
England in 2012.This pays for most of the museums development officers, the conservation development
officer, accreditation, the Museum Skills training courses run by SWFed and various projects. 10 new projects
(£2m) announced recently for medium sized museums or a partnership of smaller ones e.g. Trowbridge
Museum, SS Great Britain, Torbay, Jurassic Coast. Museums (or an artist) can apply for funding to work
together. ACE has just been restructured, so things are changing at the moment. Arts Award (like a Duke of
Edinburgh award for arts) for young people – good way to link up with secondary schools, youth centres etc.
Sign up as a partner on the website www.artsaward.org.uk. (There will be a session on this at the DMG Forum).
Devon Heritage Centre: Devon County Council

Devon Heritage Centre is the new title for the amalgamated Devon records Office and West country Studies
Library.

Report received after the meeting. Will be circulated with the minutes and posted on the devonmuseums.net
website.
SWFed News

Susan is the Devon County rep, Helena Jaeschke is the membership secretary. Individuals and small museums
pay only £15 p.a. (larger museums proportionally more) which entitles you to free entry to £160-worth of
charging museums plus 2 newsletters a year. SWFed organises meetings, training sessions (Museum Skills
programme) and has lots of resources on the website www.swfed.org.
Museum updates

Barnstaple and North Devon – 5 museums accredited under the new scheme in N Devon. Fisheries Local
Action group has funding for reminiscence work, improvised drama with old salmon boat and identifying knitting
patterns of old jerseys. Get in touch if you have anything to do with fishing heritage please get in touch. Will
have a Fish-tival. Hope to do project building on Darwin work.

Combe Martin – productive year. TIC coming into museum, funded by Leader4, Sense of Place and various
tourist agencies. Braunton Museum has helped with advice. Grant from AONB to put Makaton widget symbols
on displays for people who use this sign language. Also Penfriend talking pen and iPad for people with visual
difficulties. Will have WW1 display next year and apply for accreditation next year.

Crownhill Fort - limited opening but good visitor levels. Geo-cache has excited huge interest.
(Ed Donahue has posted information about how your museum can attract visitors by participating in geocaching
in the members area of devonmuseums.net.)
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
Great Torrington – council is now supporting museum and has bought a site in the centre near the pannier
market. 14 South Street. Will have May Fair exhibition. Torrington Glove factory on Greg Wallace programme
last September.

Ilfracombe - Gift Aid is going well. Peter from Surfing Museum advised. Damien Hirst statue Verity has helped
bring visitors to the town.

Lyn and Exmoor

Lynton and Barnstaple Railway

Mortehoe

Museum of British Surfing – second year, lots of new visitors his year. Poor year for tourism and Braunton flood
made life difficult last year. Shortlisted for museums and heritage sustainability award last year. Collections
Trust award last year. Trying to get office space in the town and looking for more supporters. May have a
mobile unit to take part of the collection to schools and beaches etc. Next year 125th anniversary of first
documented surfing on British beaches. Had a free day for locals – 130 visitors. 98% take up on GiftAid and a
real boost to income.

National Trust – Arlington Court hoping to be come a Subject Specialist Network for carriages – do contact
Paula Martin who’s the manager there. Castle Drogo large HLF grant to make it watertight, so very different
exhibition. Buckland Abbey had 1.5 m tweets about their Rembrandt discovery. Several renewing accreditation,
Greenway applying as well.

South Devon Railway

South Molton

Tiverton – evening talks have been sold out. Photo exhibition this summer. 30 schools are members of the
museum. Katherine Lacey (is the new Liz Shepherd).

Topsham – Who Do You Think You Are magazine has a feature in the latest issue. Contact magazines if you
have something they might be interested in. Suffragists may have a march and tea in the town on 4th July (part
of a march through the West Country). Vivien Leigh centenary exhibition Aug - Oct.

Totnes Elizabethan House Museum – plan to incorporate TIC has been rejected, space too small, problems as
it is a Grade 1 listed building. Easter visits good. Paranormal group visits have dwindled. £12,000 electrical
work. Had a bequest and donations.
Date and venue of next meeting
The next meeting will take place on Tuesday 16th July 2013 at 10.30am Topsham Museum
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