Posts Tagged: museum

Kids London — No Comments
11
May 10

Florence Nightingale Museum Reopens on Her Birthday

The Florence Nightingale Museum, located on London’s South Bank, will open tomorrow, 12 May 2010, on the anniversary of her birthday.

Following a £1.4million redevelopment, the Florence Nightingale Museum has been transformed and its reopening marks the centenary of Florence’s death, telling the real story of the woman behind the legend as well as how modern nursing began.

Situated in the grounds of St Thomas’ Hospital on the site where Florence established her very first Nightingale Training School for Nurses, the Museum tells her story via three pavilions, focusing on her Victorian childhood, the Crimean War and her later years as an ardent campaigner for health reform. The Museum also celebrates the profession of nursing and explores Florence’s legacy to today’s nursing practice.

The Museum features an unparalleled collection of Nightingalia, with highlights including the writing slate Florence used as a child; the medicine chest she took to the Crimean war; a rare Register of Nurses which lists the women who served under her in the military hospitals in Turkey and the Crimean; and her pet little Owl Athena who travelled everywhere in her pocket.

The highly visual and engaging interpretation features interactive and touchscreen exhibits, films, a creative programme of free arts activities for children, and regular contemporary art exhibitions which will see artists respond to different aspects of Florence’s life and legacy. Visitors even use a pair of stethoscopes to hear the audio tour.

Caroline Worthington, Director, Florence Nightingale Museum, “This is a special year for Florence and the new Museum is a very fitting tribute to someone who has contributed so much to modern day nursing. Florence has inspired so many men and women to join a profession which we all rely on and it is fascinating to see that the issues she tackled such as hospital hygiene, caring for soldiers and the training of nurses are still hugely relevant today. We are excited about welcoming a wide range of audiences to discover more about this iconic Briton.”

The project has been funded by a number of funders including The Wellcome Trust, Guy’s & St Thomas’ Charity, and Garfield Weston Foundation.

To find out more about the museum visit www.florence-nightingale.co.uk

Share
Kids Nottinghamshire — No Comments
25
Apr 10

The Villainous Sheriff of Nottingham Night Tour

On May 14th, as part of the national Museums at Night campaign and also as part of Nottingham’s Robin Hood Month, the Galleries of Justice Museum will be running special evening tours led by the Villainous Sheriff through all the galleries followed by a curator led object-handling session in their Robin Hood exhibition.

The Villainous Sheriff will take visitors on a guided tour of the building focusing on the role of the Sheriff in the courts and prison, with a gruesome emphasis on his attendance at executions and talks about some of the real villainous Sheriffs of Nottingham, the tour will include a special introduction of the Oubliette deep down in the Sheriff’s dungeon.

Tours take place on 14th May 2010 from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm and are £6.75 per person subject to availability. To book call 0115 9520 555.

Share
Kids West Midlands — No Comments
20
Apr 10

The Most Family Friendly Museum of 2010

The Guardian has awarded the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum in Coventry the accolade of being the most family-friendly museum of the year. The prize for the museum is 500 activity sheets illustrated by Quentin Blake.

The Guardian Family Friendly Museum awards began in 2004, driven by the journalist Dea Birkett, who was horrified to be turfed out of the Royal Academy’s Aztec exhibition when her son pointed at a scary exhibit and shouted: “Monster!”. Now every year, undercover trips are made to a number of museums by a team of judges with their children.

The Herbert beat a shortlist that included the Great North Museum, in Newcastle, the National Trust’s Beningbrough Hall and Gardens, in York, the Highland Folk Museum, in Newtonmore, the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery, in Stoke, and the St Nicholas Priory, in Exeter.

The Herbert has eight permanent galleries exploring local history, from Lady Godiva to the Blitz, natural history and art. Apparently, “It’s meeting families on an equal footing at the museum door that won the Herbert this award.”

Previous winners include the Killhope mining museum, in County Durham, some Oxford museums, the Falmouth Art Gallery and Weston Park, in Sheffield.

Ludo Keston, the chief executive of the Herbert, declared the win a vindication of the museum’s efforts to be as welcoming to families as possible.

Well done The Herbert! I will definitely be adding it to the main site when it is up and running again.

Share