Introduction to Helena Gillis

Thank you to all the other delegates for providing some information on their work, as background to attending the conference - it has been good to hear from you all. Here is a little introduction to myself: I am Helena Gillis, and I work for Museums Galleries Scotland (MGS), which is a membership organisation for more than 340 museums in Scotland. As a Learning and Access Manager at MGS I support members to provide access and learning opportunities for a wide range of audiences, including inter-generational groups.

Museum collections really come to life, and the stories about the objects and associated people are discovered, when intergenerational groups are involved in working with them. I hope to bring to the workshop my knowledge of some of the intergenerational learning work in which MGS members have been involved. This has included the TPYF (their past your future) project which is a national project, through which reminiscences from war veterans are being collected on a dedicated website, for use as a classroom learning resource (http://www.museumsgalleriesscotland.org.uk/the-programmes-2/tpyf-scotland-phase-2/). Another project is the Borders Textile Towerhouse film project (http://www.scotborders.gov.uk/pdf/25187.pdf) which has included a film project by high school students to film ex-textile mill workers, to enable them to understand more about their textile past, and to encourage students to participate in the local textile industry. The films are now accessible through the Hawick archive, and a sample are on permanent display in the Towerhouse museum.

I hope to bring to the workshop my knowledge of intergenerational work involving museums in Scotland. I am also keen to learn from the experience of other delegates. This is my first ever blog, so I hope it has worked.