Agenda item

To consider the Museum Curator's Quarterly Report for July to Septmeber 2018.

The Working Group considered the quarterly report from the Curator. The Curator drew to the Group’s attention the following specific points.

Staffing

The museum had returned to a full staffing team, there had been changes to implement an additional two permanent weekend posts, which were ring fenced for existing casual staff.  New arrangements would start in December to stabilise the opening hours.

Volunteers

A special thank you had been given to all the volunteers for their hard work.

Buildings and site

Contractors had been tasked with the carpark and driveway, the parking bays had been repainted and it is hoped this would encourage more consistent parking.   The rotten wood from the exterior of the windows had been removed and replaced.  There was a lot of ongoing work, including security to the building.

Health & Safety

A quotation was being sought to upgrade the fire alarm system to a ‘double knock’ system, currently the fire service doesn’t attend unless specifically called.

Collections

The ceramics gallery would be packed away for a few months to allow for decoration works, and the Museum had been loaned some packing crates from Audley End, English Heritage.

The Curator extended an invitation to the reception on the 30^th to hear the ‘piano hoard’ piano being played for the first time, between 6-7pm,

The fallen plaster frieze had since been repaired and replaced.

Visitor figures & Income

The Museum had been quiet in the heatwave.  This had been a common experience for a lot of museums across the region.  The visitor figures were 17% under target despite an active calendar.

School visits were not as abundant as desired, it was noted that a school visit was a strain financially and logistically for the schools themselves, and that the museum was unable to facilitate large school groups.

The shop income had increased, so those that were visiting were spending in the shop, the Museum were looking to move to Electronic Point of Sale (EPOS) and card reader in the future as more and more customers were expecting cashless transactions.

The Curator invited questions from the members.

Councillor Sell asked if it was possible to get a letter of thanks issued from the Museum to Mrs Mary Knight for recognition of her long service as a volunteer.

Councillor Sell asked that now the heatwave was over what the figures were starting to look like?

The Curator said she didn’t have access to up to date figures to advise.  She said that they had now had their last organised event of 2018 and that in particular schools were preparing for their end of term festivities.

Cllr Sell offered up some ideas for promotion of the museum with schools, local groups and care homes, and the Curator was invited to approach him outside the meeting to discuss further.  The Curator supplied a leaflet for all which has been sent to schools with a covering letter.

Councillor Sell asked about the age range of the group visitors, the Curator said that they had majority of primary school aged children however ages vary and they had hosted a WI group recently.

Councillor Light asked about the listings on page 7 of the report, and said that she could offer a link to the Saffron Walden bid as she was on the Steering Group, and would happily talk to them.

Councillor Chambers asked if the water issue at the store had been resolved, and the Curator confirmed that it had and that no damage had occurred.

Councillor Light asked about the Museum’s planned outdoor events, and the Curator advised her of the planned events, the Members discussed the logistics of trying to get people into the museum to pay for outdoor events when the access had to be maintained to the public for tennis courts.