I am delighted to be able to share with you the news that ‘Photographing Wiltshire’s Treasures’, a collaborative project between ten independent museums and a local further education college, has won two awards at an event to celebrate the work of the voluntary and community sector in Wiltshire.

 
The Voluntary and Community Sector Award

The project, funded by a Renaissance South West Museum Development Fund grant, saw photography and media students from New College Swindon complete placements at museums across Wiltshire, most of which are run entirely by volunteers. During their placements the students received training in object handling and photographic techniques and were then able to work with staff and volunteers to select and professionally photograph items from the collections.

One of the award winning photographs...
A pair of clogs from the Kennet & Avon Canal Museum, Devizes

Judges at Wiltshire Council’s Voluntary and Community Sector awards on the 19^th of October presented the project with both the Innovation and Making a Difference overall winner awards. In doing so they recognised that the project demonstrated creative use of resources and made a big difference to creating stronger and more resilient communities.

 
Mike Asbury of Pewsey Heritage Centre and Simon Harris (the photographer who worked on the project) collecting an award

An exhibition of the finished work is now touring the county and can be seen online at www.newcollege.ac.uk/wiltshirestreasures

Partners in the project were:

Warminster Dewey Museum

Market Lavington Museum

Cricklade Museum

Kennet & Avon Canal Museum, Devizes

Pewsey Heritage Centre

Bradford on Avon Museum

New College, Swindon

Wiltshire Council Museums Advisory Service

Chippenham Museum

Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum

Edwin Young Collection, Salisbury

John Creasey Gallery, Salisbury

 
Tim Burge – Museums Officer