FORWARD PLANNING
The meeting trailed at both the Trust's AGM and in the September issue of 'Omnibus' to give members an opportunity to have an input into the Trust's plans for the next five years was held on the evening of Monday 20 October. The meeting was attended by fifteen members and four others submitted thoughts on paper. Dave Taylor reminded those assembled of the need for the Trust to have a Forward Plan and the mechanism for producing it, the main purpose of the meeting being to gather member's thoughts and ideas so these could be worked into a concise forward plan. He also reminded the meeting of the importance of having a credible forward plan in relation to the Museum achieving 'Accreditation' status.
After the initial introduction the meeting was divided into two phases, the first stage looking at what we do well and what we do badly, and then a second stage considering how we might address the weaknesses. Throughout the process Phil Ireland attempted to capture the points raised on flipcharts which then adorned the walls of the café. The lively discussion on the strengths and weaknesses ranged over a whole array of subjects and also enabled potential opportunities and threats to be identified, often with debate as to under which heading things should go. It would be pointless to try to list all the points raised here, suffice it to say that both the strengths and weaknesses produced a good long list, giving both the reassurance that we are getting a lot right but there is still much that could be done.
Having done this exercise the meeting moved on to what those present would like to see happen in the next five years. This generated a lot of discussion on how the Museum should develop physically, with vehicle restoration, with the utilisation of archives, and the attraction of visitors. A recurring theme during the discussion was that there is still a need for additional accommodation. This covered the housing of vehicles we might acquire in the future and improving space and facilities for working on them. The current location and separation of the café/shop from the Museum entry point were also seen as an issue to be addressed. The cost involved with major vehicle restoration was seen as stumbling block to tackling the several pre-war buses which have remained untouched for years, although adequate supervision of such work and whether it should be done on-site or off-site also generated healthy debate. Other significant issues debated concerned the development of the Museum's visitor numbers and the related issues of car parking and getting adequate numbers of volunteers to staff the Museum. The Museum has already embarked on an education programme to bolster visitor numbers in that area as this was part of the previous Forward Plan but further opportunities were seen for this and the development of group travel where coach operators bring in coach parties was also advocated. The need to make Museum archive material more accessible was recognised and opportunities to explore given the resources to do so were suggested.
This report on the meeting is not intended to be comprehensive but hopefully gives a flavour of the event. In the next couple of months the Trustees will be attempting to formulate a plan which will incorporate at least some of the aspirations raised both at this meeting and by those who wrote in with their thoughts. Perhaps it is worth remembering though that to achieve all the suggestions made it would take many times the Trust's financial reserves, require all volunteers to work unceasingly for the Museum and certainly not be complete in the next five years!
Phil Ireland
Chapel Lane, Wythall, Worcs B47 6JX
Tel : 01564 826471 e-mail us
A registered educational charity no 507191
