Fundraising for Cerebral Palsy Cymru

This month, two brave members of the team took part in a zip wire experience to raise money for Cerebral Palsy Cymru. Our Exhibitions Manager, Abigail Kenvyn, and our Project Co-ordinator, Bethan James, travelled at speeds of up to 70 miles per hour while suspended high above the Llyn Fawr reservoir. Bethan said,

‘The zip wire was one of the most exhilarating experiences I have ever had! Flying over a water filled quarry on a wire really is as exciting as it sounds - I recommend it! One of the most memorable parts of the day was how brilliant the members of staff were at Zip World, they were excellent at putting us at ease, making us laugh and relax. The safety procedures they went through were so reassuring and they really helped to make it a truly memorable event. Collectively raising over £3,500 for Cerebral Palsy Cymru was a terrific result and it was a wonderful experience all round.’

Platinum Jubilee reminiscence boxes

You may have read in recent newsletters about our ‘Museum in a Box’ care home project, which has already reached nearly 600 care homes across the length and breadth of the country. To celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee we have added another 30 boxes, to bring the total to 70 and expanded upon the items and audio-visual content included. The first two new boxes will soon be sent to the appropriately named Queen Elizabeth Care home in Bromley, Kent, and Jubilee Court Care home in Hucknall, Nottinghamshire.

The interactive sessions are centred around a free-to-loan electronic box which includes objects reflecting elements of the Jubilees of Her Majesty The Queen. Each object is fitted with a special micro-chip which, when placed on the box, plays audio clips to foster memories and conversations about times gone by. Content for the reminiscence box project has been developed with kind assistance from The National Museum of the Royal Navy, The Sainsbury Archive, The Postal Museum, The Royal Collection Trust and Hornby. In addition to this, many of the boxes will also receive the loan of a Toughbook laptop, kindly donated by Panasonic, to enhance the experience with Jubilee related video footage.

Care homes who have received the box have said,

“The reminiscence sessions are a fun and stimulating activity, giving care home residents the opportunity to talk about their memories of times gone by. Thanks to the Royal Mint Museum and all of their partners for the loan of the reminiscence box. It was lovely for the residents and staff to remember old times and make new memories with our own ‘street party’. This has been a very positive experience for everyone.”

To book a box for your care home contact borrowabox@royalmintmuseum.org.uk

STEM Cymru

The Royal Mint Museum’s Education Manager has been working with education charity STEM Cymru and a group of sixth form student from St John College, Cardiff, on their sixth form engineering project.

The students were tasked with researching and building a prototype for a seventeenth century edge lettering machine that would have been in use when the Mint was located in the Tower of London.

Recently, the group visited the Royal Mint Experience to present their work to Museum staff and a representative of STEM Cymru. The students had done a huge amount of work, including CAD animations, scale models and a full technical report. The Museum was very impressed with the standard of what the team had produced, and the students were able to benefit from the historical and technical expertise of the audience. We wish them the best of luck in showcasing their creation at the upcoming project awards.

Dambusters visit

This month the Museum’s Education Manager had the privilege of showing a group of military veterans around the Royal Mint Experience, one of whom was a member of the 617 Squadron, more widely known as the Dambusters. The visitors had a particular interest in looking at the array of military medals the Royal Mint has produced over the years, and many members of the group were happy to find medals that they themselves had been awarded.

The group were each given a commemorative Vera Lynn coin as a memento of their visit.