Page 187 - Rifles 2017 Issue No 3

News from Cornwall’s Regimental Museum, Bodmin
It’s been a very busy year at Cornwall’s Regimental Museum at The Keep in Bodmin. With our small staff team and numerous volunteers, we have been open every day of the week since Easter and have put on a lively programme of events. Our visitor numbers are up by around 80% on 2015 and our volunteer research team has helped over 300 researchers with their family history enquires.
In common with many other Army museums, Cornwall’s Regimental Museum is facing major changes in the coming years. The Trustees and Director are actively working on plans to transform the museum and secure its future for generations to come. In future we will need to be much more nancially self-reliant and in order for the museum to stay at The Keep and thrive for the long-term we’re going to have to improve our visitor experience and facilities, and generate much more income and support, including donations from the organisations and people who value our unique heritage and who are willing be our partners on the journey to a secure future.
We’re already starting to make good progress; in the past year we’ve seen a signi cant increase in visitor numbers and earned income and we are also building strong partnerships on a number of fronts. We’re now a member of Cornwall Museums Partnership, a group of 7 leading museums in the County. The group has been awarded funding by Arts Council England for the years 2018 – 2021 and this will mean we’ll be able to put on new exhibitions and do more work with schools and the community. We’re also working in partnership with other local attractions and organisations in Bodmin to raise our pro le and encourage more visitors.
To mark the end of the First World War, we have a really exciting partnership project lined up for 2018 which will involve a local theatre company, the nearby Bodmin and Wenford steam railway and our local secondary school among others. The project is called The Trench and it is being funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund.
The museum holds the collections of two regiments - the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry (DCLI) and The Light Infantry. To bring the national Light Infantry collection to life, and increase our archive of material which tells the stories of the regiment, we’re planning a project in partnership with ex-Light Infantrymen. This will gather the memories of soldiers and of cers, and incorporate them into the museum galleries, with new information panels and video screens. Look out for more details in our next e-newsletter!
We’re also developing new ways to enable our individual supporters to help us secure our long-term future at The Keep, including Legacies and In Memoriam giving, which we’ll be launching this autumn and announcing in our next e-news- letter.
From Easter 2018, we are delighted to be hosting a temporary exhibition from The Ri es Collection in
THE MUSEUM HOLDS THE COLLECTIONS OF TWO REGIMENTS
Armoury at Cornwall’s Regimental Museum