Following the success of the first Ipswich Museum “community takeover” by the Cake & Revolution WI group, local groups are again being invited to take over the Museum or Christchurch Mansion for an evening.
The takeover will coincide with the national “Museums at Night” initiative at the end of October and will give local societies, organisations and even groups of friends the opportunity to put on their own event after normal opening hours.
All you have to do is tell the Museums Service your ideas and you are in with a chance of winning the competition.
Councillor Carole Jones, Ipswich Borough Council’s Museums Service portfolio-holder, said: “This is a great opportunity to do something different for two or three hours and to build closer links with our wonderful Museum or with the beautiful Mansion. The event could be private, ticketed or open to the public and could take place in one room or several rooms. Talk to us and share your ideas – it is your Museum Service and we would love the local community to use the buildings more.”
So, if you want to stage a talk, presentation, performance or social occasion, on Thursday 26th October from 7pm until 10pm, submit your application for consideration by noon on Friday 11th August.
The successful group will be supported by Museums Service staff, who will ensure the safety and security of the building, collections and visitors. The team will also assist with publicity for the event.
The takeover certainly worked in March for Cake & Revolution, a new WI group that calls itself “more Prosecco and body confidence than jam and Jerusalem”. An events committee member said: “The whole experience was amazing - we enjoyed both the organisation and the event itself. Such an iconic Ipswich building was certainly one of the draws of our event. Selling 300 tickets via social media was an achievement and I believe that eating, drinking and dancing in a museum at night was one novelty that helped our event to work.”
Complete a form available from museums@ipswich.gov.uk or Ipswich Museum reception and return it the same way. Applications must be in by noon on Friday 11th August.
For further comment:
Cllr Carole Jones, tel: 07824 430158
Cllr Nadia Cenci, opposition Conservative Group Leader, tel: 01473 682760
Cllr Inga Lockington, opposition Liberal Democrat Group Leader, tel: 01473 213444
