I am very interested in this subject, and would be happy to share
ideas with you.

I am the Museums Development Officer for Surrey, working to support
over 30 independent, military and local authority museums in the
county.  I am currently planning a three-year project to enhance young
people's use of museums (both greater take-up of what is already
there, and provision of new or improved services).  The project has
four foci: museums as places of education, museums as places as
recreation, museums as places to volunteer and museums as places of
employment.

I am only at the project drafting stage at the moment, and the work
planned for some areas is firmer than for others.  For education, it
will probably involve working with colleges to enhance delivery of
vocational qualifications in tourism and design, for recreation, it
may well be mostly marketing and staff training, for volunteering it
will probably be recruiting and supporting volunteers, and for
employment a combination of internships (virtually non-existent in
British museums) for people from communities currently
under-represented in the museum workforce.

Do you have access to the recent research in this area which has been
done in Britain?  What's been done in New Zealand?

Best wishes,


Pat Reynolds
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