Dear Gemmers,
ACE provides GEM with £168K of Museum Resilience Funding for new Learning and Sharing Centre
I’m delighted to write that thanks to £168,000 of Arts Council England (ACE) funding confirmed today, GEM will set up a new permanent LEARNING AND SHARING CENTRE (LSC) for all those in the cultural sector that are involved with education. Through a range of face-to-face meetings and online digital resources, the LSC will equip museum staff with the skills they need.
The LSC will build upon existing best practice to provide training and continuous professional development (CPD) at all levels. It will encourage the workforce to network, and share experiences, skills and knowledge, and provide mentors to support museum learning. The LSC will also develop distance learning courses, and set up a new online signpost to help staff find relevant training opportunities.
GEM’s partners in this project are the SW Museum Federation, Tyne & Wear Museums, engage, Association for Heritage Interpretation, and University College London. We will also collaborate with the Association of Independent Museums, CapeUK, other Bridges, Museum Federations and Development Services to ascertain training needs, and disseminate learning.
John Orna-Ornstein, Director of Museums at Arts Council England said: “The focus of our investment approach for museums in 2015-18 is on building a more resilient sector. The Museum Resilience fund is a key part of that, providing vital support to museums right across the country. It is really important that museum staff are equipped with the skills they need to be successful. And so we are really pleased to support GEM as it establishes the LSC.”
The ACE Museum Resilience Funding will not only fund the setting up of the LSC to meet the needs of today’s workforce, but it will also help to ensure that GEM has a sustainable future.
This funding is a ringing endorsement of GEM’s approach to professionalising the museum learning workforce, and GEM’s threefold approach of a competency framework, high-quality training and professional development at three levels and a professional membership scheme.
It is also, I believe, an endorsement of GEM members who have worked tirelessly (with often little reward) to deliver outstanding education programmes to a wide range of audiences. Your efforts have not gone unnoticed!
I shall be writing to GEM members later this week, telling you more about the project and explaining how you can be involved.
If you are not a GEM member, or your membership has lapsed, then now would be a very good time to join!
Kind regards
John
Dr John Stevenson
Trustee & Chief Executive (and LSC Project Director)
GEM, 54 Balmoral Road, Gillingham, Kent, ME7 4PG, UK
Tel/Fax: +44 (0) 1634 853424
Mob: +44 (0) 7917 565 342
GEM is a registered charity number 1090995 and a company limited by guarantee registered in England number 149246
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