00:00 I forget, if I don't get it at the end of it now, thank both Steve, particularly Steve,
00:07 because not only his service at the museum, but his books and arranging all this, and
00:14 of course Mick, because they have effectively curated this exhibition. I think it's fair
00:22 to say they've got quite a lot of pleasure out of it, but it's also a lot of work. So
00:28 thanks to them. And just to reiterate before I continue, Steve's books are available over
00:35 there in the corner, and I think we were asking, what was it, a minimum of ÂŁ10? Because that
00:42 avoids us giving any change. So they are over there. If you haven't already had one, by
00:49 all means do go over and look, and hopefully buy it, and I'm sure Steve, as the author,
00:54 would sign it for you. But anyway, that's that. So I'll go on to the museum itself.
01:04 We're a little bit like the NHS in that it's free at the point of use, but unlike the NHS
01:11 we don't have the luxury of compulsory taxation, which would be handy. We are still partially
01:18 funded by Crawley Borough Council, and obviously we're grateful to them for that, but the funding
01:25 is being wound down, and now we're coming right towards the end of the funding. So I
01:32 would say we certainly have a need for funds, whether you would call it desperate or not,
01:40 we certainly need. Now, to that purpose, we have four green buckets around the room which
01:51 would accept cash donations, and for any of you who don't carry cash, or are so flush
01:58 that you want to donate tens of pounds, we have cart machines in the corner there by
02:05 the Crawley Museum sign. We also have Crawley Museum Board. I'm obviously hoping that you've
02:12 all been to the museum, but I know only too well from talking to people in town, some
02:17 even say to us, "Oh, does Crawley have a museum?" And the answer is, "Yes, we do."
02:23 So, yeah, please give generously if you can, and if you already have, thank you very much,
02:30 and I would urge you obviously to all come to the exhibition.
02:35 As soon as I don't have any questions from any of you about the museum, I will hand over
02:42 to our curator, Holly Parsons, who will talk to you not about this exhibition so much,
02:48 but about what else is at the museum.
02:51 That is the museum in town, and also Iffield Watermill, which is open seasonally over the
02:58 summer months. Jo, my colleague, was there yesterday. She says it's very cold. Don't
03:03 go there at the moment.
03:06 So, at the museum, we show Crawley history, dating from the present, and we go backwards
03:13 in time, all the way back to the Stone Age, including things like the Bronze Age sword
03:20 and the 1903 Retz 4 car.
03:24 As well as the permanent displays, we do a temporary exhibition programme. We have sits
03:29 a year, changing every two months. So, that's quite a lot of work for us and staff, but
03:35 it's great when people like Steve come and go, "Holly, I want to do this exhibition,"
03:39 and I go, "Excellent, great. Here's the date. Go and run with it," and he does.
03:45 So, that takes a lot of pressure off us to change every exhibition.
03:50 Next year, we are planning to hire in our second exhibition ever. So, this year, we
03:59 had a dinosaur skeleton, which the kids went wild for. It was half term. We had 400 people
04:06 in, in one day. I had to go home and lay down.
04:11 Next year, we are doing sci-fi film and TV costumes. So, a bit different again, but hopefully
04:19 it will spark some interest locally. Otherwise, we've got LGBT history. We've got the, I've
04:30 totally forgotten.
04:32 Nautical training courts.
04:34 Nautical training courts, thank you. And Crawley Art Society, diverse Crawley.
04:41 Crawley Irish.
04:44 Up for the water of the Irish population in Crawley. So, a nice diverse range of exhibitions
04:52 and it's the first time, four of the groups that are displaying this year haven't displayed
04:58 for us before. So, we're very excited about opening the doors to those new communities
05:04 within Crawley.
05:05 So, do come down and say hello. After this exhibition as well, we've always got something
05:10 new on. And over Christmas, we are doing Father Christmas visits on the weekends and on the
05:20 Victorian Christmas Day and the Football Family Funday. So, do come down.
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