October was a busy month at the Museum, with several events and visiting groups. However, we are still hard at work on the Museum's redevelopment project as we pack the collections and continue to fundraise.
We need your votes!
We have applied to the Aviva Community Fund for a £25,000 grant. In order to reach the finals, where a judging panel will award the funds, we need votes. Please have a look at our project and vote for us. Voting is open until midday on 21st November.
You can also support us financially through our Charity Choice page or through JustGiving.
About the project
What has happened recently
We are excited to announce that we are launching an Adopt an Object scheme! Through this, you can support the Museum’s redevelopment by adopting an object for a small fee. The objects to choose from vary from the last working Hathorn Davey steam engines of their type in the world to a printing press bought by Cambridge University Press in 1893 to a medal awarded to Cambridge Scientific Instrument Company at the Exposition Universelle Internationale in Paris, 1900. All adopters will receive a certificate, their name in an online gallery, and digital postcards updating them on any conservation, movement, and display of the object. Exclusive adopters will also receive an invitation to the Museum’s grand re-opening in 2019. You can hear Assistant Curator, Morgan Bell, talk about the scheme on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire's Jeremy Sallis Show on 20th November, 2:15 - 2:45pm. Learn about the objects and adopt one here: www.museumoftechnology.com/adopt-an-object
During half term, the Collections Team did an intensive week in the Museum store. Three new volunteers joined the existing team to review and pack the collection. The SHARE Museums East-funded collections review will help the Museum better understand and care for its objects, which means they can be used for displays, learning, and research more effectively in the redeveloped Museum. The expanded team made huge progress over the week and the Museum is much closer to completing its collections review and having all objects packed to be moved and stored off-site during the Museum's building work.
The Curator has also had an intensive month of grant writing. The Museum is still fundraising for the final parts of the redevelopment project and the staff are looking at varied sources of funding.
The exhibition designers, Richard Fowler Associates, presented their detailed designs to the Trustees and Management Committee. These designs will now go out for consultation with Museum volunteers, local communities, teachers, access groups, and members of the public as part of our ongoing consultation process.
Meanwhile... The Museum is switching to its winter opening hours and will be open to the public on the first Sunday of the month. In the last month, we have also welcomed U3A members and a visit from former Allen Engineering employees, hosted a scouts group for an evening of code-breaking activities, and held two successful rehearsed reading events.
