Did you know that April is Autism Awareness Month? Amgueddfa Cymru values all our visitors and it is important that we consider people with different needs to the majority of us so that everyone feels welcome in our spaces and as valued members of staff.

For our visitors, we are promoting our quieter times on our website for all of our sites and have highlighted areas that could cause sensory overload on our maps. The National Waterfront Museum also has a chill-out room for those who need some time away from a busy environment. More work is under way to improve our offering to visitors with disabilities – keep an eye out for these throughout the year.

David Enright is the Deputy Visitor Services Manager at National Museum Cardiff and sat down to tell us about his journey to becoming an Autism Awareness Trainer and to share how the untapped resource of skilled people are having a positive impact on the visitor experience at National Museum Cardiff.

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What’s great about working in such an institution as National Museum Cardiff is that everyone knows us and the amazing work that goes on here. This means that young people see it as an interesting and varied place to do their work experience because they get to try lots of different and varied things during their time with us. I’m passionate about giving young people opportunities in our spaces, and so I accommodate requests from schools and Careers Wales for work experience whenever I can.

About 12 years I ago, I noticed that there was an increase in people coming to us for work experience who were on the autistic spectrum. I wanted to make sure that in giving people the opportunity to come to us, that I was also able to support them and I saw understanding autism as being key to helping them thrive during their time with us. I was untrained in how autism would present itself and what the triggers might be, but I was full of good intentions.

After meeting some of the passionate people, and seeing how interested they were in the work we were doing at the museum, I began to wonder: “What happens to these people after they’ve done their two weeks work experience with us? Wouldn’t it be great if we could retain them and benefit from their inquisitive and interested nature?”

Autism is a developmental disability, and because of the ways that the disability can present itself – repetitive or restrictive behaviour, and social communication and social interaction challenges for example - people on the autistic spectrum sometimes find it difficult to find meaningful long-term work. But my experience working with people on the spectrum has been the total opposite to this – people with autism can be very employable with valuable skills and they are great colleagues to work with. 

I got in touch with the National Autistic Society and soon enough, I was trained in autism awareness. Feeling more prepared, I welcomed more people to our front of house team for work experience and for permanent or pool work on our team. We even started to become known by some specialist agencies for providing these opportunities for people with autism, which was a good sign that we were doing something right!

I later trained as an autism awareness trainer with the Welsh Local Government Association and I now run training at National Museum Cardiff which is open to everyone across Amgueddfa Cymru. 

Spring has arrived Bulb Buddies,

I’m sure we’ve all noticed signs of spring, including crocus and daffodil plants in full bloom! Have you ever wondered why these plants flower, and how to tell when they have flowered? Let's explore this together. 

Daffodils and crocuses are both bulb plants, which means that they grow from bulbs that are planted in the ground. These bulbs store energy for the plant to use when it's ready to grow. The bulbs stay dormant through most of the winter and begin to grow as the weather warms, which is when their shoots first emerge from the soil. Shoots appear first, so that the leaves can produce food for the plant through photosynthesis, where energy from sunlight is used to turn carbon dioxide and water into sugar and oxygen. The plants use the sugar as food, to provide energy to continue growing and to replenish their bulb ready for the following winter. As the plants continue to grow, they produce leaves, stems, and flowers.

You can tell when these plants have flowered by looking for the blossoms on the stem.  Daffodils usually have one yellow or white trumpet-shaped flower on a long stem, while crocuses have smaller, cup-shaped flowers that come in a variety of colours like purple, white, and yellow. These bright, colourful flowers attract pollinating insects like bees and butterflies. Pollen is sticky, so it attaches to pollinating insects and is taken by them to different flowers. Pollination happens when pollen from the male part of a flower (the stamen) is transferred to the female part of a flower (the pistil). Once this happens, the flower can produce seeds.

After the flowers have bloomed and the seeds have been produced, the plants start to die back. Our little bulbs will then go dormant again, until the next growing season.

Some schools have shared that their plants have flowered. You can see which schools have sent in flowering records by looking at the project map and the flower graphs. Remember, you can also look at results from previous years to compare. Why not have a look to see if your school has taken part in the project before? 

I’ve attached the Keeping Flower Records resource to the right of the page. This looks at how to take height measurements for your plants and how to tell when the flower has fully opened. It also lists some resources on the website, like the activity sheets for naming parts of plants. 

We ask that you note the date that your plant first flowers and the height of your plant on that date to your flowering chart. You can then upload this information to the website when next entering your weather data. Remember, we ask for measurements in mm. If you accidentally record your height in cm it will show on the website in mm. This means that a 15cm daffodil becomes a 15mm (1.5cm) daffodil! 

I’ve attached some botanical illustrations we’ve been sent by schools in previous years. Why not make a study of your plants and draw what you see? It can be interesting to make regular drawings of your plants, to see how they change over time. 

We’ve watched our plants from bulb to flower. I have seen from the comments that many of you have been fascinated by the changes you’ve seen. I’ve attached an activity sheet for creating an Origami booklet that explores the life of a bulb. There is a version that you can colour in yourself and a version that is already in colour. 

We are in the last week of weather data collection. We ask that schools upload all of their weather data to the website by 31 March. If your plants have flowered, please upload your flowering data by 31 March. If your plants have not yet flowered, please let us know in the comments. There is further guidance around this in the attached ‘Keeping Flower Records’ resource. 

Please share photos with us by email or Twitter, it’s always lovely to see the plants in bloom. Please share your thoughts on the project in the comments section when uploading your data, you could also let us know what you think the mystery bulbs were this year!

Keep up the good work Bulb Buddies,

Professor Plant & Baby Bulb

In April 2022, we launched Museums Inspiring Memories , a three year partnership project between Amgueddfa Cymru and Alzheimer’s Society Cymru. Funded by the National Lottery Community Fund, it aims to explore how we can use our seven museums and collections to improve the health and wellbeing of people  affected by dementia.

Why this project is important

 People living with dementia and those supporting and caring can often experience reduced social contact, social isolation, low confidence, anxiety and other mental health concerns. In response, research has shown that museum-based interventions are an important way of promoting the engagement and well-being of people living with dementia.[1]

“There are feelings and emotions I get from seeing things in museums, like the terraced houses here at St. Fagans. There is an overwhelming feeling you only get when you can physically touch or see real life things – like the memories of my grandparents that come back. Museums are so important for people with dementia. They are wonderful places and overwhelming at the same time.”

Person living with dementia

What has been done already?

Amgueddfa Cymru began it’s journey to become more dementia-friendly back in 2015. Between then and 2018, people affected by dementia were invited to take part in accessibility audits across three of our museums. Following this, our successful dementia -friendly underground tours at Big Pit were developed, both with and for people affected by dementia. Other pieces of work include a Young Onset Dementia Walking Group at St Fagans and an Intergenerational Group at Big Pit: National Coal Museum. 

This work reflects our commitment, made in Amgueddfa Cymru’s Strategy 2030, to support well-being through the creation of inspirational spaces and experiences, putting people at the heart of what we do so that our museums are inclusive and accessible places for everyone. 

Our Consultations

Between December 2022 and March 2023, the Museums Inspiring Memories team  have been inviting people living with dementia, carers (both unpaid and from the sector), colleagues from the heritage sector and from representative organisations to join us at gatherings both in our museums and at community venues across Wales. The team have also been out and about speaking with community groups and care home residents. So far, 183 people have joined us. 

These conversations have been a real opportunity to draw upon and capture the lived experiences of people affected by dementia and those within the heritage sector, finding out more about the barriers faced by people affected by dementia in engaging with museums, and looking at how we can develop our sites and staff to become more dementia supportive. 

Here are just a few quotes from those who joined us, when asked what they enjoyed about the consultation:

“Hearing the views of people living with dementia, their carers and those working with those with dementia, informative and thought-provoking" A member of a representative organisation

 “Meeting other people and comparing their needs and problems with ourselves” A person affected by dementia

 “I have enjoyed meeting everyone and the enthusiastic staff leading the project. I feel extremely pleased to have been able to contribute. I look forward to hearing how the project develops” A Carer

“The range of the project is impressive with all the facilities of the Museums available but I found that it was one simple object that triggered memories and conversations at the event I attended in Blaenavon. This was an old postcard with some photographs of Porthcawl on the front. This immediately opened up so many memories of summer holidays, Sunday school outings, day trips. One of the group remembered the taste of the deep fried donuts! One simple postcard and we were back there…all talking about it, carers and people affected by dementia alike.

“I hope this project thrives as it will make a difference to people’s lives. I am pleased to support and promote it when I work across South Wales.”

Chris Hodson, Information Worker at Alzheimer’s Society Cymru

Next steps

Over the next few months we will be inviting people to join our Dementia Voice in Heritage Group. This will include people living with dementia, unpaid carers, care sector staff, heritage sector colleagues , who together will help to steer and shape the work of the project over the next two years as we develop and deliver a meaningful programme of activities, both at our museums and within communities.

Who to contact

The Museums Inspiring Memories Team at Amgueddfa Cymru are: 

Sharon Ford – Programme Manager

Gareth Rees – Dementia Voice Lead

Fi Fenton – Administrative Officer

If you would like to learn more about the work of this project, or find out what opportunities there are to being involved, please email Gareth on gareth.rees@museumwales.ac.uk or phone 029 2057 3418, or you can email our team MIMS@museumwales.ac.uk 

 

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[1]  Zeilig, H, Dickens, L & Camic, P.M. “The psychological and social impacts of museum-based programmes for people with a mild-to-moderate dementia: a systematic review.” Int. J. of Ageing and Later Life, 2022 16 (2); 33-72

We hope you have enjoyed watching Lambcam 2023 so far.

The live stream from our lambing shed is due to come to an end tonight. Our ewes have lambed a bit slower than expected this year and we have over 140 lambs still to come.

So we’re not quite ready to finish just yet, and are pleased to confirm that we will be extending Lambcam until 8pm Friday 24^th March.

We’ll be back from 8am tomorrow morning to bring you the latest from the lambing shed.