A partnership between students in Royal Holloway’s School of Humanities and Egham Museum is helping the museum connect with residents and supporting its work with local schools and community events.

(L) Becky Tabrar, Curator, (R) Beth Williamson (PhD Researcher and Techne Placement Intern)

Following on from its successful bid of £140,000 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to make its collection more accessible and inclusive, Egham Museum recently welcomed Royal Holloway student volunteers and interns who are eager to support the new Teaching Museum initiative.

Several Royal Holloway students, including Leo Davies (Classics and History undergraduate), Jack Dicken (Geography postgraduate), Janhvi Acharya (History, PhD researcher) and Beth Williamson (Geography, PhD researcher), have joined the museum team.

The team is led by Becky Tabrar, Curator of the Egham Museum, and a graduate of Royal Holloway with an MA in Public History.

For the project, students are creating social media content to help the museum connect with more residents online, supporting the museum’s work with local schools, designing new community events with local partners, and helping to refresh the museum’s main gallery.

Dr Matthew Smith, Director of External Engagement for the School of Humanities at Royal Holloway and a trustee at Egham Museum, said: “There is a real buzz in the museum’s research room every Tuesday as our new student volunteers work on a wide range of exciting projects.

“It is work that provides a fantastic opportunity for students to gain experience and develop skills, while simultaneously enabling the museum to do more for, and with, our local community.”