Sharing Skills is one of Renaissance South East’s core partnership initiatives, funded by the South East Hub, and managed by MLA South East. The programme aims to have a direct impact on the quality of museum provision and practice across the whole region, not just in the Hub museums, and involves paid and voluntary staff working in museums throughout the South East.
Sharing Skills focuses on developing and improving skills in key areas of need, and tests creative ways of sharing these through partnership working between Hub partners, non Hub museums in the region, MLA South East and the Museum Development Services. Strategic marketing and preventive conservation have been identified as priorities through a programme of research and consultation undertaken for 'Making the Connection : A Strategy for Museum Development in the South East 2004-2007'.
The Sharing Skills programme includes:
- An innovative new regional Skills Bank, listing people and organisations across the South East willing to share their skills in strategic marketing and preventive conservation
- Welcome Host training tailored to museum front of house staff
- Trainee journalists working with Museum Development Officers (MDOs) and museums to write features on museum activities and events
- Professional photographers working with museums to help publicise their services
- Training of MDOs to deliver access audits and reports to museums
- Grant aid for projects addressing preventive conservation and strategic marketing needs, operated through the MDOs grants programmes
- Sub-regional pilot projects developing and sharing skills in: contemporary collecting with young people; marketing to families; producing emergency plans; and improving care and use of archival collections
- A regional staff placement scheme
- Sub-regional emergency response units
For more information contact Helen Gibbons, Museum Development Manager, at: helen.gibbons@mlasoutheast.org.uk. For more information about using the Skills Bank please contact your local MDO.
