Hello, I am Tim Burge and I’m a Museum and Heritage Consultant. Your Trustees have appointed me to project manage the 50 Years and Beyond project.
My first invoIvement with the museum was back in 2018, helping the trustees work through the implications of the Chard Regeneration project and the opportunities and challenges that would bring. One outcome was confirmation that whatever else might happen across the town the museum was keen to be a part of it and the current site at Godworthy House had the potential to become something really quite special.
Fast forward a couple of years and as Vince, the Chair updated in the last newsletter the museum now have choices to make about their future occupancy of Godworthy House. More importantly grant funding has been sourced to help pay for this work.
Over the next 6 months, I will be helping the museum team commission expert help to:
· Carry out a full building survey - identifying any likely risks and liabilities that might be on the horizon
· Carry out an Energy Survey – looking at how the museum performs now and more importantly get recommendations for improving energy efficiency and reducing cost
· Develop outline design ideas – identifying new ways that the physical spaces, collections and stories of Chard might be used to improve the museum experience
· Assess the business viability of the organisation - in particular the impact of possibly becoming freeholders of the building
We are at the beginning of the process. The first step has been taken and we have identified those external consultants we want to control. There will be lots going on behind the scenes over the autumn months. I will update you every month, through the newsletter, about how things are moving forward and share some of the findings as they emerge.
I look forward to meeting many of the Members and Supporters of the Museum as we work towards a decision on the Museums future sustainability and Beyond.