On volunteering 

I'm Ubu or Ben Schorr-Kon. I started as a volunteer at Cambridge Museum of Technology in 2018–2019.
I was asked to paint some murals – Curator Pam Halls found out that I was a painter and asked me to decorate the shipping containers here – and also to help run some workshops. 

I think it's a really friendly place that anyone can come to if you're in Cambridge. 

On what the museum means to the community   

The museum’s history relates to the health of the city, employment and being part of what was one of the earliest industrial zones in Cambridge. 

This site is now of service to the people of Cambridge in perhaps a different way, as a generator of creativity; there are lot of creative workshops but at the same time it is very practical. 

It struck me when I first came here, the museum has these terrific engines that are rather like the heart of Cambridge (in an odd, metaphorical way!). 

We’ve got: 

a lovely situation, beautiful by the river, open to the public.

engineers who still work here to this day and keep the place going
links to the Darwin family and the Cambridge Scientific Company 
the Pye building, which brings us right up to the present day.

“Window into the past, inspiration for the future”   

I was educated in Cambridge, grew up here, part of which was home-schooled: I used to cycle around Cambridge as a teenager, going to the fantastic museums here and draw – and I was free to do that. 

So these museums, they can be a window into the past and give inspiration for the future. For example, when you see inside the Pye building and see the development of the company Pye through technology. 

The museum is a hub where ideas can be made practical. I’m very proud to be participating; I think it's a wonderful place. It means a lot to me that people can come here and there is a space for them to participate. It’s helped me progress along my own path in a very positive way, so thanks to Curator Pam Halls and the Museum! 