Volunteer Trip to Chartwell

We are planning our annual volunteer trip to Chartwell House in Kent for September. 

Chartwell is a beautiful National Trust property famous for being the family home of prime minister Winston Churchill. This will be a great opportunity to see the historic house, find out what they offer visitors and meet other volunteers.

You may have already taken part in a poll to find a date, however due to staff changes we are having to move the trip a bit later in the year.

The new proposed date will be one of:

 Sunday 11 September

 Sunday 18 September

 Sunday 25 September

Please follow the link to the doodle poll to let us know which dates you can do, before Wednesday 18 May. We'll pick the day most volunteers can make.

Vote for us!

Voting is open for the Connect! Competition.  

Fulham Palace has been shortlisted to host a unique event for Museums at Night in October.
Now we need your help. The venue with the most votes wins. Get all your work contacts, friends, families, neighbours…the man down the pub to vote for us too! You can only vote once from an email address, if you have more than one email use them all to vote!

Voting closes on Sat 14 May.

http://museumsatnight.org.uk/aowen-jin/#.VyMxv2H2YdX

If we win –

Artist Aowen Jin will be creating for us -

· Paintings inspired by our history that can only be viewed in darkened rooms with the use of UV torches.

· A temporary 3D installation that can also be explored with UV torches.

· Choreographed performances which challenge modern perception of beauty and aesthetics.

Aowen wrote this to inspire museums and galleries:

“Imagine a gallery that’s filled with magical figurative stories, like the Sistine Chapel, but that can only be seen using UV torches. As you move the torch around the museum in the dark, all of the paintings on the wall come to life, and they appear and disappear as your beam of light moves from one image to another. The paintings are inspired by the history and collections of the museum itself, reflected through the eyes of the viewers. I am also interested in using balloons to shape the space, painted with UV ink, which can then create a temporary 3D installation that can be explored with UV torches too."

This will be a new body of collaborative work that is not only created by the artist, but also invites the local community to take part and imprint their sensitivity of the museum onto the space they love. In a grand finale, Jin will choreograph performances which challenge modern perception of beauty and aesthetics. During the event, artist Aowen Jin will share her experiences through talks and offer a workshop in collaboration with local people to create art together for the project.

This would be an amazing opportunity for Fulham Palace.
So please vote now!

Did you miss or want a recap on the Start of Season Meetings?

Towards the end of March our Start of Season Meetings took place. This was an opportunity to find out all the upcoming plans for the year from each department and take part in some training. 

If you were not able to attend you can find the presentation from the session here.

 Do contact your supervisor or Volunteer Development Officer if you have any questions. 

BAFM Travel Award Bursary

The British Association of Friends of Museums is proud to announce an exciting new bi-annual travel award to be awarded for the first time in 2016.

Thanks to the most generous support of an anonymous donor there will be one or more awards totaling up to £2,000 in 2016, and again in 2018 and 2020.

Applications are invited from committed volunteers of any age (who devote many hours supporting a museum or gallery), or young professionals who are starting their careers in the museum world.

Funded travel could be within the UK or abroad and winners will spend time at their chosen destination working behind the scenes in order to extend their experience and make contacts for the future. Alternatively the travel could be in the form of a short duration internship or the chance to work alongside a respected specialist. For more information, and how to apply for the bursary, follow this link. 

Living Life on the Edge(ing)

It is now some 15 months since I started as a volunteer gardener at Fulham Palace. I'm lucky enough to be a member of the "Wednesday Team" (first among equals) namely, Sarah, Emily, Ronny, Michael, Michael and Theresa, and Julia. During this time I've had an enormous amount of fun and learned a lot of important lessons, namely:-

Lesson 1

"What a man needs in gardening is a cast-iron back, with a hinge in it". The wise words of Charles Dudley Adams (friend of Mark Twain and former President of the America Soil Association). Whatever activity you're up to - weeding, mulching, tree circling etc etc, you quickly come to appreciate the truth of this.

Lesson 2

(This only took about 5 minutes to sink in). Learn from the professionals. Fulham Palace is blessed to have such marvelous full time staff - Lucy our Head Gardener, the two Chrises, and our wonderful apprentices Sophie, Faye and Josh. I was recently helping out clearing a bed for the new fruit trees in the Walled Garden with the apprentices and their enthusiasm, speed and energy put me to shame.
Any question you have on horticulture will be received with a helpful and informative reply. (Tip: If you want to skive off for 20 minutes get Chris A to talk to you about compost!)

Lesson 3

Edgeing. I am now a world expert! There is nothing, but nothing, you can teach me about this - hoes, long handles, half moons etc are but as child's play to me now. Recently, I have adopted a more holistic approach and, abandoning gardening tools, gnaw on weeds, grass edges etc with my teeth like a rat (don't tell Lucy).

Lesson 4

The Barrow. When selling produce to the general public always remember to tell them that rather than putting money in the honesty box they can instead transfer funds to the J.Atwell Fund in the Cayman Islands (account details on request).

Lesson 5

Acquire some earplugs. Anyone passing the Bothy at lunchtime is guaranteed to hear a lot of laughter. Apart from making me deaf, this is a wonderful testament to the camaraderie of the group (both full time and volunteers).

Lesson 6

Shrinking violets should not be invited to look at the calendar in Lucy's office. I'll say no more.

Lesson 7 (and last)

That Bishop Waldhere was no fool - his acquisition of Fulham Palace was a stroke of genius. Long, long may it last! 

Jamie Atwell

Volunteer Gardener 

Palace Exhibition Extended

Our current exhibition From Bishop’s Home to People’s Palace has been extended until Monday 9 May. 

The exhibition covers the recent history of the Palace over the last 40 years.

If there are any volunteers yet to see the exhibition, do please drop in and feel free to add your own experiences of the Palace.

Miranda is keen to collect recent memories, which are all part of the rich history of the site.

Upcoming Palace Events

Evening Walk with the Head Gardener

Join Lucy Hart, Head Gardener, for an evening tour of the garden to learn about its history, ongoing projects and future plans.  

£6 per person

Click here to book.

Mrs Creighton: “a woman of strong personality”

Louise Creighton was a remarkable woman. A pioneer of women’s education, a published historian and a champion for women workers, she also managed to run the Bishop’s household and bring up seven children.

Curator Miranda Poliakoff will talk about Mrs Creighton’s life both at Fulham and in the wider world, eighty years after her death.

£10 per person, £9 for Fulham Palace Volunteer

Click here to book.