Juggling With Eggs
I did my first work experience at a local museum 30 years ago. Only the curator was paid.
Today my retired dad volunteers at the same museum. Same story. The volunteers are very dedicated, taking on weekly school tours and providing a key educational resource.
Resources are needed to preserve the buildings and collections. Without this local history deteriorates, is hidden and forgotten
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/oct/06/british-history-destroyed-museums-culture-wars-statues
Juggling With Eggs
But local museums cannot run entirely on fresh air and the goodwill of typically older people.
They have running costs that need to be paid to keep the doors open. There are ever rising heating bills and maintenance has to be carried out to prevent the damp and mould from creeping in.
In the scheme of things these sums are comparatively small, but they are eyed up for cuts when faced with exploding adult and child social care.
Who benefits from these cuts? Owners of private collections.
Juggling With Eggs
My connection to my local museum was strong as a child. I went to the monthly history club it ran…which felt like a social lifeline for me because I wasn’t sporty or into drama.
I discovered archeology there through the field trips they ran. I gained an understanding of my home town’s history back to before the Norman Conquest.
There was nowhere else to learn these things. This was before the internet and the public library was rubbish because of Tory meanness even in the 80’s and 90’s.
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