This document summarizes inspiring moments from museum professionals and trainees who worked to engage communities and new audiences. Several were inspired by seeing visitors and students fascinated by cultural heritage projects. Others found inspiration in working with diverse communities, seeing young people confidently share their culture, and new audiences engage with local history. The event celebrated the achievements of trainees in bringing people together and introducing them to the value of cultural heritage.
2. My most inspiring moment was seeing young people fascinated by musical heritage at
the A World in London: Live event which I produced in collaboration with the
Southbank Centre.
Melanie Wong, Cultural Co-operation
3. My most inspiring moment was seeing visitors’ reactions at a preview of
Defining Beauty, one of the projects I have worked on this year.
Joanne McAleer, British Museum
4. Photo courtesy of University of Cambridge Museums
It was inspiring to have been in the company of museum professionals from across
Europe to discuss their perspectives on public engagement.
Sana Khan, University of Cambridge Museums: Museum of Zoology
6. My most inspiring moment was working with the local Chinese community. They
helped me to focus on the needs of an audience and were the catalyst for
volunteer training, foreign language guides, visually impaired talks and an
access awareness day.
Vincent Wright, Foundling Museum
7. Time Explorers Challenge Celebration Week
My most inspiring moment was the Celebration Week I held at
Hampton Court Palace involving many different schools from across
London. I loved seeing how engaged they had become in the
project.
Elsa Brittain, Historic Royal Palaces
8. My most inspiring moment was when working with young people to come
up and deliver engaging activities for families.
Laura Murdoch, Historic Royal Palaces
9. Organizing the Black History Multi-Cultural Event was one of the best
moments of my trainee-ship. Being able to bring different
communities together to celebrate what they have accomplished to
better the community was great.
Dianna Djokey, National Museum of the Royal Navy
10. Black History Month Display, ‘Open to All’ Commissioned as a One day pop up for an event,
I negotiated extra budget and departmental input to have a month long display as well as a
pop up.
Rachael Minott, London Transport Museum
11. Risking harassment from the Sudanese government, members of the Sudanese
community volunteered to be interviewed about the Museum’s collection and its
importance to their heritage and culture. Their bravery was inspiring.
Navjot Mangat, National Army Museum
12. My most inspiring moment was introducing new
audiences to The National Trust using the musical
interpretation project I implemented at Ham House.
Shasti Lowton, National Trust: Ham House
13. Seeing the oral history volunteers I managed flourish in to
confident oral historians.
Zahra Hussain, National Trust: Rainham Hall
14. Seeing new people engage and become passionate about their local
heritage was my greatest inspiration this year.
Kelle Gallagher, Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums Service
15. My most inspiring moment was working in the Shadow Puppet School
project. It was amazing seeing children as well as parents build their
confidence and perform on a historic stage together.
Halema Khatun, Wilton’s Music Hall
16. I was most inspired to see children enthusiastically engage with their
lesser known histories, dressing up as First World War Indian soldiers in
community outreach workshops I helped to facilitate.
Kelly Ah Chin Kow, National Army Museum
17. Exploring the last 70 years of migration to the UK and how millions of
people have contributed to British art, culture and heritage was the
most rewarding project.
Chiedza Mhondoro, Southbank Centre
18. THANK YOU
TRAINEES
SOCL HERITAGE PARTNERS AND SUPERVISORS
TRAINING CENTRE TEAM
OUR COMMUNITIES and the
HERITAGE LOTTERY FUND
FOR A WONDERFUL YEAR OF
CHALLENGE, LEARNING AND CELEBRATION!
My most inspiring moment would be the Celebration Week which I held at Hampton Court Palace as part of Time Explorers Challenge. It was the culmination of a project which I had been running for the year involving many different schools from across London, some of the schools were invited to take part in activities at Hampton Court Palace. It was inspiring to see students getting to “meet” Anne Boleyn after having spent the whole year studying her, receiving their prizes for their hard work and getting to enjoy some Tudor activities! I loved seeing how engaged they had become in the project.