Kegworth Heritage Centre
There's Life in the Old Place Yet!
Hover over the pictures for the captions!
It’s now been almost five months since we reopened the doors at KHC and time to report back. We have been absolutely delighted with the support from the village (and way beyond!) and the fantastic feedback we have received - more on that in a moment.
Museums may be a reflection of the past but they have to be forward looking, dynamic and reactive to the needs of their visitors. That has been a huge driver in how we’ve reimagined KHC and how we’re moving forward.
Kegworth has changed dramatically since I first came here in 1980 as a student at Sutton Bonington (some of you will be pleased to know that I have as well!). Whilst the village retains much of its charm and character, it has grown in size and is almost buried by the industrial landscape that seems to encroach on an almost daily basis. And whilst the village has always been a transportation hub - many of the old pubs were coaching inns - Kegworth is now a convenient commuter hub with spokes pushing out in all directions. Our demographics have also changed. Our community now attracts more EastWinders than ever - some transient, but many who, like me, chose to make this our home. We’ve lost many of the old characters who were so instrumental in the formation of the current Kegworth. But new characters now live amongst us, taking their places in the future of our community.
As the curators of our heritage we are mindful of this and we understand that there are fine lines between past, present and future, and that we need to appeal to many different groups if we wish to continue to grow and build on our legacy.
So many of you who have been to visit have commented on the positive differences - the brighter and more open feel seems to have resonated especially. You’ve clearly enjoyed being able to step back further in time than ever before with the fantastic Robert Williams collection. And it’s been wonderful to see our younger visitors taking part in the Kaggi activity and the quizzes.
All your feedback has been logged and some of the suggestions are already being planned and will be in place for next year.
Over 90% of running a museum is completely unseen by our visitors, and even our volunteers to a certain extent. None of us has professional experience in the Heritage sector so everyday is a learning experience. We recently applied to join a support programme run by Museum Development Midlands (MDM) and were really excited to be accepted. It means we get to work with an amazing museum consultant, Tonia Collett, and be able to network with other museums that have similar problems so we can support each other. This was only possible because we opened! At our first meeting at KHC not only did Tonia join us, she brought along most of the MDM executive team. It really felt like we were on the map!
We’ve always maintained that Kegworth groups should try much harder to work together rather than fight for the limited resources we have in a small community, and I’m delighted that we are starting to make that happen. We’re partnering up with the RBL to help bring more awareness to Remembrance Week and supporting the UKSPF team in hosting and building the webpages associated with the buildings that were selected to display a Kegworth Plaque.
All of this activity keeps us busy. Too busy. We desperately need more people to help us, and in particular people who are comfortable using technology. We need people who can do research, help us put grant applications together, and a myriad of other things. We are currently being stretched too much and in too many directions. It’s our own fault because we are driven to make KHC an amazing place, and we’re trying to do it as quickly as possible!
We are continuing to build for the future but we need your help (and money!) now. If you'd like to get involved, please either drop in to see se us during our opening hours, or pop by on a Wednesday afternoon, or contact us via email or on Facebook. There are many things that can be done remotely if you have a computer and access to the internet! So, even if you're based hundeds of miles away (like I am!) we can still use your skills,enthusiasm and passion!
On that note, I'd like to welcome our latest volunteers, Kim Hilsdon, Brenda Wallis, and Tinashe Mawodza. Brenda and Tinashe are primarily helping with much needed stewarding support during our opening hours, and Kim is currently helping Pat to digitise the Collection Catalogue according to the latest Spectrum standard, starting with the Robert Williams Collection.
Finally - a special thank you to Lovage Homes for their very generous donation which has finally enabled us to buy a laptop which will help us catalogue The Collection!
Ally Gill, Chairman KHC
Prague, August 2024