The Friends of Museums
John Holt finds out how good neighbours become good Friends
Whether they help to raise funds for capital projects, acquisitions or conservation work, keep everyone up to date with newsletters, volunteer at the front desk or lead guided tours, Friends play a vital role in many museums and galleries.
These independent charitable bodies have a proud record in providing the passionate support, advice and general bonhomie that museums historically rely on. In more recent times though, Friends have been taking a more active role on the frontline, as museum budgets and workforce numbers continue to shrink.
Michael Brightman
Friends of Marsh Mill, Thornton, Lancashire
“Marsh Mill has been, in effect, a northern powerhouse since 1794,” says Michael Brightman. The landmark tower windmill still houses much of the original machinery that helped feed the county during the Industrial Revolution. But it was a very 21st- century challenge that led to the formation of the Friends group four years ago.
“The mill has never sat comfortably within the local authority, which sold it to developers who built a village of shops and offices,” he says. “After a public outcry, the council leased back the windmill but have never really known what to do with it. We border Blackpool, which has tons of heritage, but there’s not much else around here.
“The Friends group was formed to act as the independent voice of the mill, to keep it on the council’s agenda and to focus on long-term planning. We also provide the communication between the council and the volunteers, since the windmill has no staff.”
The council, says Brightman, has an obligation to keep the mill repaired and insured; a small Heritage Lottery Fund grant was recently secured to explore new options for ownership in financially uncertain times. “With Fleetwood Museum and the Queen Street Mill having closed around here, we are working with the council to keep costs to a minimum and to show that the mill is an asset rather than a liability.”
To that end, the Friends run a pro-gramme of events including weekend openings, heritage open days and one-off festivals to ensure that the mill is enjoyed and cherished by families as well as by interested locals and engineering enthusiasts.
As a lecturer at the University of Central Lancashire, Brightman researches the real- life economics of the built heritage in the absence of proven business models.
“Pre-Victorian mills and lighthouses are the result of people at that time actively solving problems,” says Brightman. “Nowadays, we tend to put cost and time barriers in the way. We’re also trying to save everything old instead of simply preserving the best.
“In the future, we’ll have a glut of buildings that we’ll struggle to maintain,” Bright- man warns.
Erica Burrows
Friends of Ipswich Museums, Suffolk
As a proud Ipswich woman, Erica Burrows was keen to learn more about local history. So when her husband sold his business, where she was employed, she began volunteering in her local museum service.
“Initially, I was one of those people who sit in rooms telling people not to touch anything,” says Burrows, who had known both Ipswich Museum (see p32) and Christchurch Mansion – the town’s Tudor merchant’s house – since she was a child.
“I remember my first visit to the man- sion at the age of two, when I was scared out of my wits by a tiger-skin rug. Years later, I was delighted to train as a guide to give tours around the house. As Friends we all feel strongly about our museums as well as being interested in art. We had an art school in the town for many years and a lot of our members are ex-pupils.”
Like most Friends groups, the Ipswich membership of around 300 consists mainly of older, recently retired people with time on their hands and a desire to do their bit for local heritage and culture.
“Fundraising is increasingly important, and the museums come to us in the first instance because local support often triggers other funding bodies to become involved,” says Burrows. “Two years ago, an early oil sketch by John Constable – made when he was working in Suffolk – came up for sale and we were asked to contribute, after which other organisations pitched in.”
A Lime Kiln with Lime Kiln Cottages Beyond, beside the River Stour, between Dedham and Stratford, St. Mary, now hangs in the mansion, which houses part of the largest Constable collection outside London. The mansion runs guided tours that raise some £3,000 a year for museum funds.
Friends carry out a variety of roles within the museums. “Some of us even work in the conservation lab under supervision. Friends take some of the donkey work away since permanent staff have been cut.”
Burrows, who spent two years producing a mansion tour booklet, is keen to continue learning about her town through Ipswich Museums’ extensive collections.
“A few years ago, Captain Oates’s spare sledge for his South Pole expedition of 1911- 12, which was made by a local firm, was brought out of storage and put on display. Who else has got one of those?”
Jasmine Farram
Youth Ambassador for the British Association of Friends of Museums, and project co-ordinator for Tunbridge Wells Museum & Art Gallery
Jasmine Farram won the British Association of Friends of Museums’ (BAfM) Robert Logan Award, which promotes the work of people under 30 in the heritage sector, for her project, Selfie. For it, Farram set up a series of workshops to help teenagers create their own self-portrait, inspired by the portraiture at Tunbridge Wells Museum & Art Gallery. She was then invited to take up the role of Youth Ambassador for BAfM.
“I see my role as coordinating and encouraging the youth experience across the sector through exchange of information, examples of good practice and networking,” says 25-year-old Farram. “There is a misconception that ‘young people’ will only attend events that have alcohol and music attached to them, which is not true. My friends and I enjoy visiting lots of museums and galleries, hearing talks and having tours.
“But younger people, especially in today’s employment climate, are always looking for things to put on their CV to make them stand out, so professional development opportunities, like museum Friends schemes, are very appealing. It is important to have a diverse Friends group, and young people look at the world with a fresh pair of eyes and can often bring enthusiasm and a drive to achieve.”
Francesca Makins
Chair of Friends of Norwich Museums
Among the oldest such groups in the country, the Friends of Norwich Museums celebrates its centenary in 2021.
It all began in the late-19th century when the great and the good of the city decided its castle, no longer needed as a prison, should become a museum, replacing the cramped museum on nearby St Andrew’s Street.
After some famous Norfolk families donated some significant antiquities to the cause, what was then called the Friends of the Castle Museum was founded to support the new institution and help use the collections to entertain and educate local people.
In those early days, the Friends tried to prevent treasures being lost from the people of Norfolk, as well as helping with the acquisition of objects. That remains an important function today in a county where surprising archaeological finds are regularly unearthed.
“It’s important that when the museum approaches funding bodies, our name is there and we’re seen to be supporting them financially,” says Francesca Makins, the chair of the Friends of Norwich Museums. “We are one of the lead names, for example, on the bid for a second tranche of Heritage Lottery Fund money to help the museum transform the castle back to its original Nor- man state.”
Makins believes that the work of Friends groups across the country proves that giving one’s time freely is embedded in the nation’s DNA. “Whether we’re talking about Friends of hospitals, country parks or music traditions, everyone involved believes firmly in the cause and pitches in without hesitation,” Makins says. “Every charity depends fully on its volunteers.”
Gill Crook
Friends of the Whitworth Art Gallery, University of Manchester
Having been fond of the Whitworth since her student days, Gill Crook was delighted to return as a volunteer and tour guide after a globe-trotting stint in journalism.
She is now one of some 600 Friends who, she says, “have fun, learn about and raise money for the gallery”. She also edits the Friends’ Perspective newsletter.
The Friends organisation – established in 1933 – recently hit new heights when its Capital Development Appeal raised more than £150,000 toward the gallery’s transformation. The Friends have helped to buy work by, among others, Auerbach, Bawden, Paolozzi, Hockney, Lowry, Picasso and Freud. “As supporters of the gallery, we are pretty proud of that list,” says Crook. There are also Friends’ overseas trips. “We’ve been to South Africa, Germany, Sweden, Iran and more,” Crook says.
John Larke
Friends of the Rural Life Centre, Tilford, Surrey
Mystery surrounds John Larke’s first steps into museum friendship. As a member of a Surrey-based amateur dramatic society put- ting on performances of Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile, Larke visited the Rural Life Centre in search of a much-needed period prop – a flit spray, which is a hand- pumped insecticide gun.
At the centre he met a former colleague from his days in BT engineering, who immediately asked him to do odd jobs around the Rural Life Centre. This was no mean feat – the 10-acre site comprises fields, barns full of machinery, as well as a vintage pub and post office that together tell the social history of 150 years of farming and village life.
“He knew I was handy at carpentry so he gave me a few things to repair,” says Larke.
“Then there was a problem with the PA system and the mains electricity and he said: ‘You know about telephones don’t you. Can you sort these out?’
“I just got sucked in, really, as I had recently retired and was looking to work with another community of people. When you’re suddenly on your own, you can feel a little vulnerable.”
Larke rose to every task set before him and was welcomed into the group of 150 volunteers known since its formation 40 years ago as the Rustics. Members of the Rural Life Centre are subject to approval by the committee, who are all active volunteers and long-term supporters of the museum.
Everyone pitches in to keep the place ticking over, carrying out tasks ranging from building renovation to tending gardens and pruning trees, maintaining displays and organising school visits to accessioning, archiving and – most importantly, given dwindling support from the local council – applying for grants and fundraising.
“Money was secured, for example, to bring an old cycle workshop to the site from a nearby village – it was taken apart and transported over brick by brick,” says Larke, who also helps out at the centre’s regular activity days and annual Rustic Sun- day when the group hosts family-friendly craft demonstrations.
“It’s lovely working here in the summer,” he adds, “but it can get a bit bleak in the winter. You learn how to dress appropriately.”
Alison Hems
Chair of the British Association of Friends of Museums
Established in 1973, the British Association of Friends of Museums (BAfM) represents some 200,000 Friends and volunteers across the UK, says Alison Hems. “They give time, energy and enthusiasm, raising money, running events and, in some instances, taking over the running of the museum.”
“Museum Friends respond to cuts and closures, and to shifting patterns of provision for museums and galleries,” Hems says. “Museums have changed since 1973, and so has the nature of their Friends. In some cases organisations have given way to membership or patrons’ groups. In others, wider engagement and the need to involve new audiences has led to the creation of advisory panels or focus groups and to co-curated or co-created projects. The Friends’ group is one voice among many – but museums need their Friends now more than ever.”
These independent charitable bodies have a proud record in providing the passionate support, advice and general bonhomie that museums historically rely on. In more recent times though, Friends have been taking a more active role on the frontline, as museum budgets and workforce numbers continue to shrink.
Michael Brightman
Friends of Marsh Mill, Thornton, Lancashire
“Marsh Mill has been, in effect, a northern powerhouse since 1794,” says Michael Brightman. The landmark tower windmill still houses much of the original machinery that helped feed the county during the Industrial Revolution. But it was a very 21st- century challenge that led to the formation of the Friends group four years ago.
“The mill has never sat comfortably within the local authority, which sold it to developers who built a village of shops and offices,” he says. “After a public outcry, the council leased back the windmill but have never really known what to do with it. We border Blackpool, which has tons of heritage, but there’s not much else around here.
“The Friends group was formed to act as the independent voice of the mill, to keep it on the council’s agenda and to focus on long-term planning. We also provide the communication between the council and the volunteers, since the windmill has no staff.”
The council, says Brightman, has an obligation to keep the mill repaired and insured; a small Heritage Lottery Fund grant was recently secured to explore new options for ownership in financially uncertain times. “With Fleetwood Museum and the Queen Street Mill having closed around here, we are working with the council to keep costs to a minimum and to show that the mill is an asset rather than a liability.”
To that end, the Friends run a pro-gramme of events including weekend openings, heritage open days and one-off festivals to ensure that the mill is enjoyed and cherished by families as well as by interested locals and engineering enthusiasts.
As a lecturer at the University of Central Lancashire, Brightman researches the real- life economics of the built heritage in the absence of proven business models.
“Pre-Victorian mills and lighthouses are the result of people at that time actively solving problems,” says Brightman. “Nowadays, we tend to put cost and time barriers in the way. We’re also trying to save everything old instead of simply preserving the best.
“In the future, we’ll have a glut of buildings that we’ll struggle to maintain,” Bright- man warns.
Erica Burrows
Friends of Ipswich Museums, Suffolk
As a proud Ipswich woman, Erica Burrows was keen to learn more about local history. So when her husband sold his business, where she was employed, she began volunteering in her local museum service.
“Initially, I was one of those people who sit in rooms telling people not to touch anything,” says Burrows, who had known both Ipswich Museum (see p32) and Christchurch Mansion – the town’s Tudor merchant’s house – since she was a child.
“I remember my first visit to the man- sion at the age of two, when I was scared out of my wits by a tiger-skin rug. Years later, I was delighted to train as a guide to give tours around the house. As Friends we all feel strongly about our museums as well as being interested in art. We had an art school in the town for many years and a lot of our members are ex-pupils.”
Like most Friends groups, the Ipswich membership of around 300 consists mainly of older, recently retired people with time on their hands and a desire to do their bit for local heritage and culture.
“Fundraising is increasingly important, and the museums come to us in the first instance because local support often triggers other funding bodies to become involved,” says Burrows. “Two years ago, an early oil sketch by John Constable – made when he was working in Suffolk – came up for sale and we were asked to contribute, after which other organisations pitched in.”
A Lime Kiln with Lime Kiln Cottages Beyond, beside the River Stour, between Dedham and Stratford, St. Mary, now hangs in the mansion, which houses part of the largest Constable collection outside London. The mansion runs guided tours that raise some £3,000 a year for museum funds.
Friends carry out a variety of roles within the museums. “Some of us even work in the conservation lab under supervision. Friends take some of the donkey work away since permanent staff have been cut.”
Burrows, who spent two years producing a mansion tour booklet, is keen to continue learning about her town through Ipswich Museums’ extensive collections.
“A few years ago, Captain Oates’s spare sledge for his South Pole expedition of 1911- 12, which was made by a local firm, was brought out of storage and put on display. Who else has got one of those?”
Jasmine Farram
Youth Ambassador for the British Association of Friends of Museums, and project co-ordinator for Tunbridge Wells Museum & Art Gallery
Jasmine Farram won the British Association of Friends of Museums’ (BAfM) Robert Logan Award, which promotes the work of people under 30 in the heritage sector, for her project, Selfie. For it, Farram set up a series of workshops to help teenagers create their own self-portrait, inspired by the portraiture at Tunbridge Wells Museum & Art Gallery. She was then invited to take up the role of Youth Ambassador for BAfM.
“I see my role as coordinating and encouraging the youth experience across the sector through exchange of information, examples of good practice and networking,” says 25-year-old Farram. “There is a misconception that ‘young people’ will only attend events that have alcohol and music attached to them, which is not true. My friends and I enjoy visiting lots of museums and galleries, hearing talks and having tours.
“But younger people, especially in today’s employment climate, are always looking for things to put on their CV to make them stand out, so professional development opportunities, like museum Friends schemes, are very appealing. It is important to have a diverse Friends group, and young people look at the world with a fresh pair of eyes and can often bring enthusiasm and a drive to achieve.”
Francesca Makins
Chair of Friends of Norwich Museums
Among the oldest such groups in the country, the Friends of Norwich Museums celebrates its centenary in 2021.
It all began in the late-19th century when the great and the good of the city decided its castle, no longer needed as a prison, should become a museum, replacing the cramped museum on nearby St Andrew’s Street.
After some famous Norfolk families donated some significant antiquities to the cause, what was then called the Friends of the Castle Museum was founded to support the new institution and help use the collections to entertain and educate local people.
In those early days, the Friends tried to prevent treasures being lost from the people of Norfolk, as well as helping with the acquisition of objects. That remains an important function today in a county where surprising archaeological finds are regularly unearthed.
“It’s important that when the museum approaches funding bodies, our name is there and we’re seen to be supporting them financially,” says Francesca Makins, the chair of the Friends of Norwich Museums. “We are one of the lead names, for example, on the bid for a second tranche of Heritage Lottery Fund money to help the museum transform the castle back to its original Nor- man state.”
Makins believes that the work of Friends groups across the country proves that giving one’s time freely is embedded in the nation’s DNA. “Whether we’re talking about Friends of hospitals, country parks or music traditions, everyone involved believes firmly in the cause and pitches in without hesitation,” Makins says. “Every charity depends fully on its volunteers.”
Gill Crook
Friends of the Whitworth Art Gallery, University of Manchester
Having been fond of the Whitworth since her student days, Gill Crook was delighted to return as a volunteer and tour guide after a globe-trotting stint in journalism.
She is now one of some 600 Friends who, she says, “have fun, learn about and raise money for the gallery”. She also edits the Friends’ Perspective newsletter.
The Friends organisation – established in 1933 – recently hit new heights when its Capital Development Appeal raised more than £150,000 toward the gallery’s transformation. The Friends have helped to buy work by, among others, Auerbach, Bawden, Paolozzi, Hockney, Lowry, Picasso and Freud. “As supporters of the gallery, we are pretty proud of that list,” says Crook. There are also Friends’ overseas trips. “We’ve been to South Africa, Germany, Sweden, Iran and more,” Crook says.
John Larke
Friends of the Rural Life Centre, Tilford, Surrey
Mystery surrounds John Larke’s first steps into museum friendship. As a member of a Surrey-based amateur dramatic society put- ting on performances of Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile, Larke visited the Rural Life Centre in search of a much-needed period prop – a flit spray, which is a hand- pumped insecticide gun.
At the centre he met a former colleague from his days in BT engineering, who immediately asked him to do odd jobs around the Rural Life Centre. This was no mean feat – the 10-acre site comprises fields, barns full of machinery, as well as a vintage pub and post office that together tell the social history of 150 years of farming and village life.
“He knew I was handy at carpentry so he gave me a few things to repair,” says Larke.
“Then there was a problem with the PA system and the mains electricity and he said: ‘You know about telephones don’t you. Can you sort these out?’
“I just got sucked in, really, as I had recently retired and was looking to work with another community of people. When you’re suddenly on your own, you can feel a little vulnerable.”
Larke rose to every task set before him and was welcomed into the group of 150 volunteers known since its formation 40 years ago as the Rustics. Members of the Rural Life Centre are subject to approval by the committee, who are all active volunteers and long-term supporters of the museum.
Everyone pitches in to keep the place ticking over, carrying out tasks ranging from building renovation to tending gardens and pruning trees, maintaining displays and organising school visits to accessioning, archiving and – most importantly, given dwindling support from the local council – applying for grants and fundraising.
“Money was secured, for example, to bring an old cycle workshop to the site from a nearby village – it was taken apart and transported over brick by brick,” says Larke, who also helps out at the centre’s regular activity days and annual Rustic Sun- day when the group hosts family-friendly craft demonstrations.
“It’s lovely working here in the summer,” he adds, “but it can get a bit bleak in the winter. You learn how to dress appropriately.”
Alison Hems
Chair of the British Association of Friends of Museums
Established in 1973, the British Association of Friends of Museums (BAfM) represents some 200,000 Friends and volunteers across the UK, says Alison Hems. “They give time, energy and enthusiasm, raising money, running events and, in some instances, taking over the running of the museum.”
“Museum Friends respond to cuts and closures, and to shifting patterns of provision for museums and galleries,” Hems says. “Museums have changed since 1973, and so has the nature of their Friends. In some cases organisations have given way to membership or patrons’ groups. In others, wider engagement and the need to involve new audiences has led to the creation of advisory panels or focus groups and to co-curated or co-created projects. The Friends’ group is one voice among many – but museums need their Friends now more than ever.”