Reflecting on Making Waves Together

Making Waves Together is a 3-year National Lottery Heritage Fund programme that has worked to promote unity, pride, health and wellbeing in the communities it serves. It continues to bring the towns of Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft together by giving people the opportunity to participate and engage in a wide variety of art and heritage. Project Officer Patricia Day reflects on the past year’s achievements…

Making Waves was delighted to represent both museums at many local events this year, this undoubtedly raised the profile of the town’s culture and heritage. These activities, alongside groundwork carried out last year, really started to show results and family days saw many of last summer’s visitors return.

At Lowestoft museum we chose to showcase prehistory during Stone Age Sundays which included story-telling, shelter making, fossil identification and flint knapping demonstrations. Visitor comments were very positive and attendance figures, compared to the equivalent days in 2018, showed an increase of 47%.  

At Lowestoft Martitime Museum we worked closely with Lowestoft Town Council to coordinate event days in Sparrow’s Nest. A team of volunteers was recruited to lead craft activities and support the new Captain Crabbe adventure trails.  This was mutually beneficial and not only boosted footfall in the park but also increased our targeted younger visitors to the museum by 21%. In addition, both preschool and KS1/2 educational resources were revised and relaunched and the response of teachers at CPD events was encouraging. In October, the team were delighted to accept the AFSM Family Friendly Museum of the Year Award in recognition of their family and school-friendly engagements.

As the project draws to a close both museums are well placed to build on the legacy of Making Waves. During the autumn, adult and children’s workshops at Lowestoft Museum focused on the porcelain collection which is central to the museum’s long-term plan. After negotiations with local councils an outline proposal to extend capacity within the museum was drafted and can be used as the basis for future strategic development.  Meanwhile, encouraged by their success, volunteers at  the maritime museum added a fishergirl and lifeboat person to the cast of family friendly characters, each with their own bundle of resources. These new characters, along with volunteers at both museums are well prepared and very much looking forward to seizing opportunities in the seasons ahead.