Blackpool’s Treasure Trove was a Heritage Lottery and Blackpool Council funded community arts project which ran between 2013 and 2015. The project was run by the Community Heritage programme based at Volunteer Centre Blackpool, Wyre and Fylde on Stanley Park.
The aim of the project was to connect local residents with the rich entertainment heritage of the resort and offer community groups the opportunity to access that heritage, as well as the chance to work with regional artists to create something unique, fun and educational. During the two years, 7 community groups explored the local entertainment heritage through creative sessions led by artists and facilitated by the specially employed Community Heritage Assistant. The groups received access to archive collection and were given the opportunity to go on trips and tours of local and regional heritage sites and museums. During the creative sessions, the artists, supported by the Community Heritage Assistant, developed ideas with the groups which would eventually result in a pop-up museum. These mini mobile museums would be themed around an area of Blackpool’s entertainment heritage, based on each group’s interests and ideas.
After the pop-up museums were created and launched, they began on a tour of various venues, festivals and events, including Blackpool Museum Project’s Museum in the Making event in 2015 and Pride Festival 2015. Venues included North Pier, The Winter Gardens, Blackpool Zoo, Sainsbury’s and Mrs Johnson Wool Shop in South Shore.
Before the project was completed in December 2015, they were introduced to schools at both the 2014 and 2015 Schools Conference at the Winter Gardens and ‘popped up’ at a number of local schools. Each pop-up museum comes with its own unique classroom resource pack and an education game can be found on the Facebook page.
All 7 pop-up museums are available to loan free of charge to schools, as well as the use of the classroom resource pack. The pop-up museums are all fairly large and most would need a large car or a van to pick and drop them off, to be arranged by the school.
For more information on Blackpool’s Treasure Trove, visit the blog page and follow the project on Facebook and Twitter.
If you would like to borrow one (or more) of the pop-up museums, please contact the Community Heritage programme on 01253 301004 or by emailing communityheritage@blackpoolvolunteers.org.uk
Blackpool Cultural Education Hub 