With integrity being one of our core values, we are continually striving to improve our practices by acting on internal reflection, collaborative evaluation and listening to what we’re told – even if it’s not what we’d like to hear. We also aim to always act with transparency – not just with regards to our successes, but also with our failings.
This year we took part in the FailSpace programme – led by Leeds University and Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh – which felt wholly in keeping with our organisational ethos and culture.
Designed to enable the cultural sector to talk more productively about failure, the Failspace framework has given us the reflective stance we’ve been looking for to shape our understanding and admittance of failure. As a way to open the dialogue and to reflect and learn on our failings, here are the things that didn’t go to plan for us this year.
A large proportion of our year was focused on responding to and navigating a period of change in response to coming away from the NPO investment. Therefore, we were unable to provide as much direct support, fundraising and horizon scanning for new opportunities as we had hoped and planned. We are now presented with the challenge but also the prospect of seeking new long term investment opportunities, and a new framework for our offer and way of working.
We remain true to our values and recognise that stating we are driven by integrity means being held to account. There have been a couple of occasions this year where feedback from members of Cornwall’s marginalised communities has shown us that we’re not doing enough to uphold our commitment to inclusion and equity.
We’re grateful to those who have raised concerns and been willing to engage in difficult conversations to highlight where change needs to happen for us, to reflect and then act on our practices and approach. We’re committed to making sure those changes are embedded so that we can do better in the future.
Our work in partnership with Black Voices Cornwall and Museum X has been a highlight of the year but not without shortcomings. We’ve learnt the importance of prioritising and embedding wellbeing into project plans, and making sure there is resource dedicated to recovery time following sensitive work. It’s been integral to our development to work alongside experts such as Jean Campbell and Malcolm Phillips to ensure the wellbeing of both the project team and the participants was protected during our work. In the future it will be vital that we embed this planning and resource from the offset of projects dealing with sensitive content.
Entries to the Cornwall Heritage Awards confirmed that museums have a massive impact on the wellbeing of their audiences and communities, and it was obvious how hard staff and volunteers work to achieve this.
We recognise that the wellbeing of our sectors’ workforce is fundamental to the sustainability of our museums and have implemented a programme of regular free to attend wellbeing sessions for staff and volunteers.
We have also seen that volunteers in positions of responsibility on boards and committees have been under increasing pressure since the pandemic and we are looking for new ways to support them in addition to our one-to-one MD support and peer networks.
Our first experience of receiving a central government grant, from the Community Renewal Fund and managed by Cornwall Council, to deliver Tresorys Kernow was not without difficulties. A national delay in the grant meant that there were pressures and complications not just with the timeline for recruitment, internal task management and cashflow but also with regards to the quality of the project outcomes. The aim of the project was to drive footfall to highstreets in the shoulder seasons however, due to the six-month delay, we were consequently delivering activities during the holiday season which compromised the ambition of the work.
Last summer we undertook a listening exercise which was initiated and led by our new CEO Tamzyn Smith. The aim was to hear what people valued about CMP, what could be done differently, what should be prioritised and what were the concerns and challenges.
In a sector of over 70 museum and heritage settings with varying size, constitution, collections, staffing and offer, it was clear that CMP plays a critical role and is very much needed and valued.
This is what our stakeholders told us that we need to change, improve or continue doing:
- be clearer about what CMP offers and who can access it
- be responsive to practical needs and questions as well as horizon-scanning to respond to future trends and opportunities
- convening and providing networks to share challenges and solutions
- identify and provide routes to apply for, manage and unlock support and funding for more and different museums
- provide leadership and support to drive key areas of policy and professional practice.
Over the last year, this is how we’ve acted on what we heard:
We have implemented three clear strategic areas of work - to be there for the sector, to drive social change, and to make a positive and impactful contribution to Cornwall’s cultural ecosystem.
We continue to provide support through the hosting of the Museum Development Officer role, and this function is now being supported and delivered across the team.
Our supporting and convening of a range of networks has continued and this year we’ve established a West Cornwall Museums Group to ensure that this area of Cornwall was being served.
Our team has worked with museums more closely to provide in depth and prolonged support on specific issues and challenges. For example, we mentored a museum in their application to the NLHF Dynamic Collections, and we are also working closely with the team leading the new Museum and Cultural Centre for the Isles of Scilly.
We established our Environmental and Inclusivity Working Groups to provide leadership in our two strategic policy areas.