Hi there Here at Valence House we have a fantastic team of volunteers who help us out in a variety of ways - with school children during our education visits, as welcome hosts in the Museum, researchers, fundraisers, cake bakers, event staff etc. As part of their continued development, and also as a thank you for their continuing dedication and hard work, we organise a series of lectures on various topics that they can attend and also arrange visits to other Museums, historic houses and archives, where they can see behind the scenes, learn how things are done in other places, and talk to other volunteers. Last year our volunteers visited Epping Forest District Museum and the City of Westminster Archives Centre, which they enjoyed immensely. The visit to Westminster Archives also resulted in some of our volunteers receiving free paper conservation training, which they are able to use in the work with our collections. My question to you is - can anyone recommend a good venue to visit next, in the London / Essex area? Or perhaps you would like to offer your venue for us to visit? Valence House comprises museum, archives and local studies, and is based within a medieval manor house. We have landscaped grounds containing a traditional fruit orchard, herb garden and WWII vegetable garden and Anderson shelter. We would, of course, be happy to return the offer. Many thanks in advance, Leeanne Westwood | Museum Curator, Heritage Services Valence House Museum | London Borough of Barking and Dagenham | Becontree Avenue | Dagenham | RM8 3HT Phone: 020 8227 5222 Email: [log in to unmask] | Web: www.barking-dagenham.gov.uk Facebook: www.facebook.com/barkinganddagenham | Twitter: http://twitter.com/lbbdcouncil Building a better life for all Host Borough for the London 2012 Games P Protect the environment and save trees; please only print . E-mail confidentiality notice. This message is intended for the addressees only. It may be private, confidential and may be covered by legal professional privilege or other confidentiality requirements. If you are not one of the intended recipients, please notify the sender immediately on +44 0 20-8215-3000 and delete the message from all locations in your computer network. Do not copy this email or use it for any purpose or disclose its contents to any person:to do so maybe unlawful. ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).