Huge respect to the various arts and crafts events organisers making the most of making things without much to start off with.
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When I read about this, I instantly had a flashback to a similar an instance with a teacher and a full class of 30 kids, which I may now be tempted to render in cartoon....
This is absolutely, utterly, not a dig at the many thousands of volunteers without whom so many venues and services wouldn't be able to remain open and functioning.
This is a conglomerate of the tales I have been told where volunteer staffing has increased, and the existing paid staff have suffered with mismanaged hand overs, miscommunication and outright false promises. Paid staff with years of expertise, experience, stores of knowledge, thousands of pounds of education, seeing their positions packaged into chunks and those chunks handed over to volunteers (some of whom also posses all those qualities, yet can't get paid work) until they are left staffing tills, cleaning, and providing security detail. Paid staff reassuringly told that "we won't be replacing you, you will still have a job!" and slowly finding that their role now only features the tasks that managers can't attract volunteers to. Yes, many venues need the voluntary help, but it has to be properly, honestly, decently managed. If you're looking for a small local history museum, perfectly set up to bring in the locals, and inform the casual visitor, by golly Banbury Museum seems to be on form.
I took a short walk along the Oxford canal from Banbury train station, and just as I was starting to mentally grumble at the modern shopping centre unceremoniously dumped beside the canal, I found the museum café entrance. At this point I gave my grumble a quick realign, as there seems to have been a lot of thought put into making the museum an easily reached and enticing prospect for passers by, including the museum gift shop actually being inside the shopping centre. The building being packed with excited families, ambling couples, brunch munching OAPs and tea sipping dog walkers, the intentions seem to work. Display label is missing from display.
Can't insert head into the cabinet at the right angle to see if it's dropped behind the display plinth. Use phone to take a photo down the back of the plinth, to find the label is there. Dob blue tack onto name badge, and use phone camera feed to see where to aim it behind the plinth. Successfully stick name badge to display label and pull both out. Replace display label in correct location. Feel proud of ingenuity. Realise no-one is around to recognise achievement. Go and treat self to posh coffee to celebrate. |
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February 2023
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