Museum’s efforts to woo locals paying off

THE Bowes Museum’s new director says initial steps to encourage more locals are proving a success.
When she took over as director in May, Hannah Fox pledged to put the museum back at the heart of the community.
Since then, there have been a number of initiatives aimed at dale residents.
Membership for local people is now the cheapest way to visit the museum – for £12.50 a resident gets unlimited entry to The Bowes Museum for 13 months, compared to £14.50 for a non-resident. Under-18s, full-time students and carers get in for free.
The museum opened its doors for Heritage Open Days in September.
Ms Fox said: “We had about 1,000 people who came in for free. Nearly half of those have taken up membership.”
She added: “The past five months have whizzed by. I have been learning about the organisation and challenges the museum has faced over the past two or three years and what it means to be a community organisation – we have a beautiful building but it does throw up some barriers.”
Meanwhile, The Bowes Museum will again hold its Christmas weekend markets from Friday, December 16, to Sunday, December 18.
The museum’s first summer market was held this year and plans are in place for a second one in 2023.
Ms Fox, who has previously helped to transform The Silk Mill, in Derby, was speaking at last week’s meeting of Barnard Castle Town Council’s partnership meeting.
Chairwoman Cllr Fiona Turnbull said: “A lot of people I have spoken to welcome making it more accessible to local people.”
Suzanne Wallace, operations manager of The Witham, agreed that breaking down the barriers for arts organisations was vital.
She said: “We’re also looking at a membership scheme. There is still an issue with arts and culture being high brow but we have been welcoming community groups such as the Influence Church.”
Ms Wallace said having an arts programme to suit all tastes was paying dividends for The Witham.
“We have something for everyone and we are looking to encourage a family audience with lots of groups – some of those groups are free,” she said.
Family activities include baby and toddler classes and “little heroes” sessions.
She added: “We’re doing a similar thing with films – we have started to look at what the community wants. That’s nearly trebled our numbers for films.”
The Witham has also applied for a grant from Durham County Council to become a “warm space” for people struggling to pay heating bills.
Ms Wallace said: “We want to implement that in early November to open our doors on Mondays so people don’t have to have their heating on. They can come in and enjoy The Witham.”