​​Project Time Machine: Littlehampton Museum offers cataloguing and research volunteering opportunities

It is an opportunity to be part of a team that is helping to reveal hidden histories in the town - with the added bonus of free tea and biscuits!

From October 2024, the second part of the project will involve volunteers working in the gallery, cataloguing and researching the social history collections, capturing rich new context and hopefully uncovering some currently hidden histories.

Cataloguing assistants will work in the Hearne Gallery to assist in the creation of new detailed records, by entering vital data on to the collections management system, and checking these against historic written records.

Research assistants will look into this history and background of museum objects, Littlehampton’s people and places, to add vital detail to these new records.

If you would like to get involved, contact 01903 738100 or [email protected] for an informal chat about available opportunities.

The museum revealed in May that it had been awarded a National Lottery Unlocking Collections grant to fund a new community project, putting local people at the heart of its service.

Project Time Machine blasted off with an online survey asking local people what they wanted from their museum. The views of as many people as possible, both visitors and non-visitors, were gathered in order to learn how the museum’s collections could be used to engage and represent the whole community.

Littlehampton mayor Sean Lee said the community consultation, which was completed online and in person, would help the museum to plan its future, how to engage with and include the whole of our community.

He added: "Focusing on people’s working and home lives, the museum’s social history collection can help to foster a sense of place, a link to the past and a pride in our town."

The final report detailing the findings of the consultation is currently being collated and will be shared soon.