Success for First World War commemorations
Progress continues with our exciting activities for the HLF-funded Worcestershire World War 100 project. Big thanks to Mr. Eric White for helping us to secure a school in Upton-upon-Severn to work with. We will be engaging students with the history of the former First World War Voluntary Aid Detachment hospital at The Boynes, and hosting a large open day at the care home during spring 2017 for all to enjoy.
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Could you spare a few hours to help with our spring clean of the museum?
At this time of year, every year, we give our displays a thorough (but gentle) going-over. The death masks are dusted, objects and cases are cleaned, and the operating table gets a good wax and polish. This year, Louise will be undertaking this massive task in the George Marshall Medical Museum from 10am until 4pm on Saturday 2nd April, so whether you can spare a whole day, a morning, or just one hour, please do come along. It’s a very satisfying job, with something for everyone, and there’ll be some light refreshments (with cake!) available for well-deserved teabreaks.
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Collection Rationalisation
Like many museums with an important local story to tell, we have found ourselves with more objects than we can care for in perpetuity, including duplication of objects with little or no provenance. We are currently in the process of rationalising the collection, which is a brilliant way to find out precisely what we have and who gave it to us; duplicated objects with no known donor information could make their way into our handling collections, or could be offered to other accredited museums. We’d be delighted to hear from anyone who donated an object in or before 2003, so that we can add the all-important donor information to our unique and amazing collections.
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Why Social Media?
Many of you reading this will be doing so on a computer or handheld device. We wish to reduce our posted newsletters for cost, trees and we think the pictures look better on screen. Another less discussed reason for being digital are the opportunities to use social media to spread the word and engage with our audience, near and far. Word of mouth continues to be the most popular reason for people visiting The Infirmary and modern conversations happen through Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. We are experimenting with "Insta" at the moment and have discovered the image above as the most popular so far. If you are on social media and wish to join our conversations, please find us using the links or @InfirmaryWorc for Twitter and Instagram and TheInfirmaryWorcester for Facebook.
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We are going to build Powick Hospital
At least that is the hope. A ridiculous idea? Not if we do it in Minecraft, the block building online game, like online Lego. We are looking for young people to recreate the huge Powick Hospital. We will encourage young people to visit archives for plans, maps and using collection photographs to understand how the former hospital looked inside and out. After building they can explore and consider how it would feel to be a resident and question the Victorian's diagnoses of patients from the records we hold. Those who worked or lived nearby will also be invited to experience the creation and offer answers to the young people as they build it to help design the building based on personal memories. If you are interested in learning more or helping out, please get in touch.
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Work Experience
On January 25th I began my volunteering at the Infirmary museum. Since then I have been involved in both the practical and research elements of museum life. I have researched for an upcoming project to recreate heritage buildings on the video game Minecraft, which will utilise the gaming knowledge of young people and research on Worcester’s own heritage to replicate Powick Hospital. I have also been participating in the workshops given to local schools ran by student ambassadors at the university that will enhance both their medical and historic knowledge of Worcestershire. Keen to see how museums operate ‘behind the scenes’ and a chance to work more closely with young people in preparation for my future career in teaching - the chance to work alongside the staff at the Infirmary is an exciting opportunity.
~Leah Fradgley, History Student Work Placement~
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New and Revamped Workshops
For British Science Week we have developed a brand new workshop called Deadly Diseases and revamped Skeletons and Muscles. Deadly Diseases is a workshop for Key Stages 3 and 4 students and is all about how diseases are transmitted and treated and even includes a debate about antibiotic resistance. Muscles and Skeletons now has more hands on activities, assembling a skeleton, moving different joints in the body and becoming a muscle to see how muscles work in pairs. Both of these workshops have bookings for British Science Week and we are excited to see what schools think of them.
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Ambassador training
In February and March 11 Student Ambassadors from the University of Worcester attended training at The Infirmary and the George Marshall Medical Museum to enable them to deliver workshops and tours at both museums. The training has been very successful and all the participants have shown great enthusiasm for the project. During the training they have taken part in discussions and demonstrated their abilities to present parts of workshops. We can’t wait for them all to present their first workshops and tours!
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Education Resources on Website
Every week or two we are adding a new History or Science resource to the schools section of the website. These resources are designed to be used in schools in a variety of ways; they have a picture of an object from the collection along with a question to promote curiosity. They also contain information about the object and some ideas on how the resource could be used in the classroom. We are hoping to build up a catalogue of resources for teachers to use. If there is an object you would really like to see then please get in touch and we’ll make it happen!
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Pictured: Lewis, Susan, and Tiernan playing dress up in the gallery!
Lewis' progress so far...
Over the past 5 months, I have slowly come to realise just what is needed to run a museum. As I work in two very small museums, I have been able to have a go at practically everything there is to do when running a museum! Whilst I haven’t been able to do a few of the tasks presented, and I have had a good go at a lot of things now, I have enjoyed every minute of it! The opportunity to try all these jobs, both big and small, is wonderful.
One of my jobs, at the moment, is to develop a community engagement event! Whilst it was difficult to come up with ideas at first, I am now well away to planning a 4 session event centred on mental health and music! I am very interested in mental health, and how it affects young people, as I have a few personal ties to the subject. I am also a part-time musician, and believe that music is a powerful tool when helping people with mental health issues. I am hoping to engage with students at the university, and have someone to talk to them about this all. This project is currently going on in the background, behind all the other work I do for both museums, and is slowly taking shape.
In my previous post, I mentioned about going to partner museums to the Learning Museum scheme. So far, I have visited Edinburgh, Durham, and Oxford. In January, we hosted a training day too! The next two I will be attending will be the Imperial War Museum North, in March, and the Ipswich and Colchester museum service in April! Other locations, later in the year, include; Belfast, Nottingham, Worthing, and Liverpool. We are the smallest, both The Infirmary and the George Marshall Medical Museum, by far! The next few months will be brilliant, with many new projects to work on, and various other duties to do!
The picture was taken at our training day for the partner museums. Susan and Tiernan (Belfast and Worthing, respectively) were pretending to kill a cancer cell, me. We had to come up with a marketing campaign for an imaginary event, and ours was a talk about cancer.
~Lewis~
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Upcoming Events
The Infirmary:
- Reading and Recuperation at the infirmary: Frankenstein - 23rd March 7-8pm
A book group with a difference: revisit classic works through out knowledge of 21st century medicine and also history of medicine. Read the classic Frankenstein by Mary Shelly through the eyes of medical history. What knowledge did she have of the human body? What stories of her day might have inspired her macabre creation? What do you know about transplants and prosthetics that she didn't?
- First Saturday Summer Tours: 4th June, 2nd July and 6th August. Tours take place at 11am, 12pm and 1pm
Take a walk around the old Worcester Royal Infirmary original building. An experienced guide will take you round for a 40 minute tour and visit key rooms and learn more abut Worcester;s significance in the history of medicine.
- Natural Born Killers: The Immune Cell vs Cancer - 23rd June, 7-8pm
Talk by Dr Steven Coles, Institute of Science and the Environment, University of Worcester.
Cancer is a very challenging disease, with over 300,000 new cases diagnosed in the UK each year. Natural Killer Cells are a special type f immune cell with a cancer killing capability. This talk explores the way in which cancer evolves to resist Natural Killer cell killing and how bio-medical research at the University of Worcester aims to address this issue.
Pictured: One of the first interns at The Infirmary and George Marshall Medical Museum, Alex!
George Marshall Medical Museum:
- Explore the First World War at Hartlebury Castle: 28th March 11am-4pm
We’ll be at Hartlebury Castle helping to share stories of Worcestershire’s First World War. Talk to recovering soldiers and nurses in their replica bell tent, discover their new exhibition about Hartlebury’s time as a VAD hospital and enjoy live music of the era. For more information: http://www.worcestershire.gov.uk/museums/site/scripts/events_info.php?location=County+Museum+at+Hartlebury
- The BIG Spring Clean: 2nd April 10am-4pm
Could you spare a few hours to help us ensure the life of our fabulous collection? Get in touch to help with this important job.
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This new newsletter will be sent up to four times a year and more information can always be found on the website and social media channels for each venue below.
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