This week is the Welsh Museums Festival 2019, celebrating the work of museums across Wales. The Firing Line Museum of the Welsh Soldier is just one of those incredible museums celebrating this week, and as a volunteer there I got involved with the celebrations.
One of the many fabulous talks run at the museum is the helmet talk - from Roman times up to the Present Day. It was this talk, I had the pleasure of helping with during Welsh Museums Fest, even taking the lead on the talk for my very first time! I'm getting to grips with all the various elements of the helmet talk and keep learning new things from all the Museum Assistants to use when I do the talks.
Museum outreach is something very close to my heart as the many experiences I had in museums and on trips as a child set me on a path of studying history. Being involved with public engagement is a fantastic experience; being able to see people's faces as they hold a piece of history in their hands (even if it is a replica) and witness them fully engage with history is priceless.
It is wonderful to be involved with such a hands-on approach to history. Through this interactive learning, we can attract more people to museums and to engage with the collections. It is also a wonderful way to get young people involved and interested in history. Moving on from looking at objects in glass cases brings museums into the modern-day; utilising the technology at our fingertips for marketing to exhibits on tablets/tv screens all enables easier access to museums.
Running talks and handling sessions attracts people to the collections, enabling wider public engagement. This illustrates just how vital outreach is in the heritage sector, whether in house or taking it to people's clubs and schools. 'Living history' is becoming more and more popular and is bringing positive change to the public approach to history, museums and other heritage sites. It is a brilliant way of allowing the visitor to step into the past and encourages them to use their imagination to place themselves in the shoes of their ancestors.