RAF Museum Midlands
Work areas: activity planning, mentoring, evaluation, business planning
We mentored staff at the Royal Air Force Museum to develop an activity plan for a major Heritage Fund bid. The project will establish a new way of working with communities and ensure that collections are explored in new ways and remain relevant and dynamic in the future.
The engagement proposals represent a new way of working with communities, putting co-creation at the heart of engagement. The activity plan forms part of a £28m transformation project which will open up new opportunities across the site. We also developed the evaluation framework for the project and supported the development of the project business plan.
Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens
Work areas: activity planning
We supported the preparation of a development study for a £10m National Lottery Heritage Fund application for Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens. During 2022, we undertook a wide-reaching audience research and large-scale consultation exercise to inform proposals for the museum. This included consultation with visitors and non-visitors (including groups with specific needs and underrepresented groups), staff, volunteers, partners, local organisations, high level stakeholders, cultural partners, schools and communities in the most deprived areas of Sunderland.
We are now developing the Activity Plan for the project.
Nottingham Castle
Work areas: consultation, activity planning
We worked with Nottingham City Council to develop an Activity Plan for the £24 million redevelopment of Nottingham Castle, helping to secure funding for the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Our work started with developing a detailed understanding of current and potential audiences. This included on street consultation with local people, onsite activity, targeted focus groups, and work with staff and volunteers. We also looked at comparator sites and potential providers for inspiration.
The final activity plan had several activity strands, including awareness-raising during the capital works phase, a formal learning programme, volunteer development, public activities on site after relaunch, outreach with specific communities and special events. We structured the activities around a set of themes which linked tightly to the interpretation within the museum.
Wirksworth Heritage Centre
Work areas: consultation, activity planning
We developed the activity plan for this £1.46 million National Lottery Heritage Fund project in 2015-16. We supported them to develop a wider vision for the venue as a community hub for arts and heritage, evidencing the need and demand for this through extensive community consultation and developing partnerships with commercial and non-commercial organisations.
Clifton Park Museum
Work areas: evaluation, activity planning
We worked with staff at Clifton Park Museum on the evaluation of this exciting Young Roots project called Place Makers: Future Shapers which aimed to promote a sense of place and value of heritage amongst the young people of Rotherham. We worked with young people involved in the project to look at new and innovative evaluation methods that appeal to young people as well as gathering feedback in more traditional ways from surveys, feedback forms and comment cards. The evaluation process had to adapt to COVID-19 as the project progressed and included feedback via social media and online workshops. Being involved from the start of the project ensured that the young people themselves saw the value of the evaluation process.
National Justice Museum
Work areas: project management, NLHF applications, activity planning
We worked with the National Justice Museum in Nottingham to develop a first and second round National Lottery Heritage Fund bid to unlock the historic courthouse building and increase potential to attract visitors. The project provides a completely new visitor experience, opening up the complex historic building and providing new access to collections and the heritage.
Kelham Island Museum Redisplay Project
Work areas: business planning, exhibitions, interpretation planning, audience research
Following major flooding in 2007, we managed the conservation of the collections, the recovery of the industrial store and the re-creation of the main galleries at Kelham Island Industrial Museum. The new main galleries and the Hawley Gallery at Kelham Island Museum have been highly commended by museum visitors, key representitives of the Heritage Fund, the Chief Executive of the MLA, and by leading museum professionals.
DBA Consulting were responsible for developing all aspects of the main gallery redisplay project including the audience research, consultation, developing the interpretation plan, content creation, selection of and liaison with designers and project managing the installation.
The Millowners Arms at Kelham Island Museum
Work areas: project management, interpretation delivery
Kelham Island Museum's brewing gallery looks at the history of beer in Sheffield. Set up to look like an old-fashioned pub, it includes a functioning bar alongside exhibits from the city's brewing past.
We led on the development of the gallery, working with design company G+ Studio to make the exhibition a reality.
The Hawley Gallery at Kelham Island Museum
Work areas: business planning, interpretation planning, audience development
In 2010 the Ken Hawley Collection Trust (in partnership with Sheffield Industrial Museums Trust) launched its new gallery and storage facilities in what had been a derelict building.
The £700,000 project was funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund. DBA Consulting helped manage the application process and prepared an options appraisal, an audience development plan and a business plan. We also wrote the exhibition plan for the new gallery.
Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter
Work areas: business planning, project management, audience research
We worked with the Royal Albert Memorial Museum in Exeter over several years to to develop a major redevelopment programme for the museum and win £10.1 million of funding from the Heritage Fund.
As lead advisor for the project, we prepared many of the supporting documents for the funding application including the business plan and audience development plan. We also commissioned qualitative and quantitative research into the museum's audiences which were used as an evidence base for the audience development plan.