July 2011
Dear Friends,
We all miss David’s presence at the Centre but, as he is now the President of the SHC Trust, his knowledge and advice are available to us as we go forward with the work of the Trust.
In David’s letter to you in May. He made an appeal for funds to enable the Trust to continue to employ a centre manager and I express my gratitude to those who generously responded to this appeal and who should, by now, have received a letter from me. At the time of writing this letter we are not yet near the figure mentioned in David’s letter. Our application to the Heritage Lottery Fund has been submitted and we await the result….with hope. I have also received some letters with ideas for raising the necessary funds and the board are considering these. Thank you again to everyone who responded to the appeal.
The last few weeks have been very busy ones with everyone working together and taking on extra jobs and responsibilities. At a recent Working Group meeting I asked if members would give some thought to Roadshows - i.e., could we improve them, make setting-up easier, display more items, change the balance, show a film etc. Lots of ideas came in and we are considering them all. The Roadshows will continue to give an enjoyable insight into Smethwick’s heritage and remain the happy events that they have always been; we are working to ensure that visitors will find something new and interesting at each one.
One of our members has designed a poster to advertise the Centre. It is A4 size, printed in colour and shows some interior views of the museum. The posters will be ready for distribution soon - - - and if you DON’T see any in your area (in libraries, shops, conmmunity notice-boards etc.,) please see if you can place some of these posters about. We do need to get the Smethwick Heritage Centre more widely known as we hear so often the comment “…oh, I didn’t know it was there.”
SHCT Christmas card.
We are producing a Christmas card this year. It will be on sale at the Roadshow on September 10th and afterwards from the Centre. I hope that as these cards fly across the country – or the world - to your friends and relatives, they will spread the word of the rather wonderful things once “Made in Smethwick”.
Finally, during August the display of photographs in the Exhibition Room will be of West Bromwich Albion & other local teams. (Remember, you can purchase copies of many of the photographs we display.)
With all good wishes,
Christine Round
Acting Chairman
