In brief

Insurance firm Ecclesiastical has reported a fall in claims relating to lead theft from church roofs, from £4.5m in 2011 to £1.8m in 2012. It said the drop was due to increased police vigilance and a fall in metal prices.


The Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in London is to host a six-month residency for a games designer to access specialist expertise and work with its collections. The successful applicant will also spend time at the University of Abertay Dundee working with the V&A Dundee. The residency provides a monthly bursary and budget for materials and equipment, as well as studio space.


Museums Galleries Scotland (MGS) has launched a second round of its internship programme, which is supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund’s Skills for the Future. Twenty paid one-year internships will have the opportunity to develop work-based skills in the sector. Joanne Orr, chief executive of MGS, said 85% of people who took part in 2012 secured roles or further study within three months of finishing their internship.


A new project will establish a network of natural science collections across Wales. Funded by the Esmée Fairbairn Collection, Linking Natural Science Collections aims to make collections more accessible to audiences and to train curators to use them in engaging ways. The project will build on the distributed national collection programme described in the Welsh Museums Strategy.