Skills for the Future - Nurturing Worcestershire's Treasures

A Skills for the Future project

Laura Butland, Graduate Trainee at the Infirmary museum, University of Worcester City Campus and the Infirmary museum

Getting to grips with all aspects of conservation work has been one of the most rewarding aspects of the traineeship for me. We have a wide variety of objects in the collection, all with different handling and storage needs, and I’ve learnt so much by working with these artefacts on a daily basis.

Laura Butland, Graduate Trainee at the Infirmary museum, University of Worcester City Campus

Spending time cataloguing and organising objects can be one of the more mundane aspects of the traineeship, but the experience has been invaluable. These objects really illuminate the stories of the people whose lives we celebrate in the museum

Laura Butland, Graduate Trainee at the Infirmary museum, University of Worcester City Campus

Children and school groups love the gruesome side of the Museum. It’s always a good opportunity to get a bone saw out and really get people engaged in the history of medicine!

Laura Butland, Graduate Trainee at the George Marshall Medical Museum

Apothecaries and chemists can bring back a lot of memories for people, especially talking about home cures and their Mum’s remedies, so it’s a great talking point for visitors

Laura Butland, Graduate Trainee at the George Marshall Medical Museum

Sarah Baker, Graduate Trainee at the Elgar Birthplace Museum

The opportunity to take advantage of the Skills for the future offer: a mixture of academia, training sessions and ‘on the job’ training has been invaluable

Sarah Baker, Graduate Trainee at the Elgar Birthplace Museum

Meeting so many different people and gaining so many different contacts within the heritage sector has been a really important part of the traineeship

Sarah Baker, Graduate Trainee at the Elgar Birthplace Museum

Sarah Stretton, Graduate Trainee University of Worcester Research Collections and the Hurd Library

One of the most useful things I’ve taken from my traineeship is understanding how I work best and where my broad skills are, which is invaluable knowledge to have

Sarah Stretton, Graduate Trainee at the University of Worcester Research Collections

This traineeship appealed to me because I wanted to build upon my existing skills base and develop my interest in opening up history to wider audiences.

Sarah Stretton, Graduate Trainee at the University of Worcester Research Collections

Developing a blog for the Hurd Library was inspired by the fascinating details I was discovering daily, which I wanted to share with more people and record for future reference

Sarah Stretton, Graduate Trainee at the Hurd Library

Studying the Hurd letters has been a highlight for me - they give a fantastic overview of the life of Bishop Hurd from his early twenties until his eighties, painting a picture of a fascinating and influential man.

Sarah Stretton, Graduate Trainee at the Hurd LibrarySarah Stretton, Graduate Trainee

Shabeena Anait, Graduate Trainee at the Museum of Royal Worcester

The Victorian gallery is one of my favourite places in the Museum. The two richly gilded Thomas Bott Norman Conquest vases which can be found here command attention in the gallery, immediately catching the eye

Shabeena Anait, Graduate Trainee at the Museum of Royal Worcester

Handling exquisite pieces of Royal Worcester Porcelain has been a definite highlight of my work placement. I have picked up new skills by taking items of varied types and styles through the full process of museum documentation, care, display and interpretation.

Shabeena Anait, Graduate Trainee at the Museum of Royal Worcester

Shabeena Anait, Graduate Trainee at the Museum of Royal Worcester

When I joined the training programme I wanted to proactively challenge myself by working out of my comfort zone and to embrace new experiences at every turn. So far, my expectations have been met, if not exceeded!

Tamsin Rowe, Graduate Trainee at the Worcester Cathedral Library and Archive

Worcester Cathedral Library has 7,000 books. I have relished the opportunity to work with a nationally important collection.

Tamsin Rowe, Graduate Trainee at the Worcester Cathedral Library and Archive

I’ve been made to feel really at home in my placement; everyone has been so friendly and welcoming.

Tamsin Rowe, Graduate Trainee at the Worcester Cathedral Library and Archive

The modern day scriptorium

Tamsin Rowe, Graduate Trainee at the Worcester Cathedral Library and Archive