10 Oct 2017
This project enables young people and schools in the local area to dig deeper into the National Maritime Museum's Collections and connect contemporary Greenwich and the Museum with its heritage. Projects will be showcased in the new My Greenwich space as part of the four new Endeavour galleries opening in September 2018. This project provides opportunities for participants to learn about the UNESCO Greenwich World Heritage site, develop a better sense of ownership of the Museum through showcasing their work in a public gallery and gain new skills. Visitors can learn about and make connections to the Museum and the UNESCO Greenwich World Heritage site. Hear from a participant and their insight on the My Greenwich project:
"In the summer holidays of 2017, I volunteered myself into the My Greenwich, UNSECO volunteering project, where over two weeks I would learn about the rich history of Greenwich, make a film and present to an audience, as well as making lasting friendships with other Greenwich dwellers of similar ages.
To start of our journey, we visited the famous landmarks of Greenwich in the first few days, to actually see what we were going to promote. This included visiting the Cutty Sark, the Painted Hall up close, the Queen’s house, among many other fascinating venues in a treasure hunt sort of trail, which we soon realised was inspiration for our trail section of the project.
Once we had seen all the sights, we were sent straight to the drawing board, where we received our briefing; we were to complete three tasks. Firstly, a trail was to be designed for young adults to show them what amazing sights were to be found, yet it had to be fun and interactive to avoid the boredom one would get if visiting any other museum or UNSCEO site. Having been around Greenwich, we instantly decided on which sites were exciting enough to be featured in our trail, and in the end, after hours of hard work drawing up the sites and debating how the trails should be designed, we concluded with several, each with different difficulties, to suit everyone’s needs.
Secondly, we were instructed to make a film, giving a quick peek onto what spectacular attractions were open to be seen and explored. We were introduced to expert artists, historians and museum workers, who taught us their tricks of the trade, which we embraced with enthusiasm. After more countless hours of planning what content to be included, which techniques to use (I was particularly excited to try and use a drone) like a first-person point of view, timelapses, fading into each scene and sweeps of the area, we eventually were able to get out again and film. However, we were not done there, much time and consideration was spent in post-production about little details like music. The final product was then kept secret, ready to be premiered in front of a selected audience.
Finally, at the end of it all we given the task of presenting everything we had covered over the two weeks to a specially selected audience of friends, family, everyone who had helped us and museum staff. This was the task that most people were fearing, if we messed it up, everyone would think that My Greenwich is a pointless cause, however if it went well, it could provide publicity for the Museum, as well as a great sense of pride for our small team of 15-18 year olds. Eventually the day came, and everything went perfect! The presentation of the trail was so encouraging that straight after the presentation, a group started following it. As well as that, the film was a great hit, with the audience watching in awe at the masterpiece we had created, leaving them impatient and eager to visit the My Greenwich gallery when it opens.
I had a great time over the two weeks, along the way I picked up many skills that would help me as I continue to grow up, made new friends and ,most importantly, I was able to represent my local area in an enjoyable way, hopefully encouraging others to love Greenwich as much as I do!"
