In 1998 when I founded Soham Museum Project with our dear old friend Lionel Hart, little did I know that nearly fourteen years on and with thousands of hours as a community volunteer behind me, I would still be at the helm of this amazing project.  I have had the pleasure of meeting and working with some of the most interesting people I have ever met through the museum.  And an interest in history and learning has taken me on an educational journey that I never expected.

When people ask me about volunteering, one of the most frequent questions is ‘What’s in it for you ?’  Is it so hard for people in this day and age to understand that sometimes its good to put something back into the community in which you live ?  What’s in it for me is a lot of hard graft and then a tremendous amount of satisfaction knowing that every tiny step is another step forwards to delivering this wonderful museum to our community.  As we continue to grow and develop our museum we’ll need more volunteers to help to create what we hope will be a fitting tribute to Soham’s very important history.  We need events organisers, a treasurer, writers, administrators, enthusiasts, youth workers, craftspeople, in fact if you have a skill, we could probably use it. 

If you’ve never thought about being a volunteer, now’s the time to start.  I put myself forward one day in 1998, and haven’t looked back – quite the opposite, being part of Soham museum and the inspiration I took from the people I have met along the way has changed my life. 

Could you spare a few hours a month ?
Do you have any transferable skills ?
Would you like to get involved ?

SOHAM MUSEUM WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU!

Soham Museum has always prided itself on its collection of artefacts which we have been accumulating from day one.  We have amassed thousands of items covering every period in history from archaeological finds to agricultural implements, household items to period clothing, and Soham related items to militaria.  The most recent and unusual item to come into the collection is the rediscovered tombstone of Pelatiah Morris. 

Whilst we have a number of storage containers, we have nowhere to sort and catalogue our collection.  As time passes and we amass more and more items, this task has become impossible to do under cover of our own small workspace.  Of course there are many empty barns and buildings hereabouts, but it is very difficult to get people to volunteer their services.  We would like to beg this opportunity to ask anyone who knows someone with a secure and dry building of any kind whether they might be prepared to allow us to use it for a short period in order to properly catalogue our collection. 

Please do contact us or speak to one of our volunteers if you can be of help. 

Many thanks.

Soham History Group, which is part of Soham Museum’s outreach programme has been running public history talks every two months for nearly ten years.  These well attended events are normally held at the newly refurbished Methodist School Room at Berrycroft, Soham.  For the past few years volunteers have fixed the programme for the year well in advance in order to bring some of the best local speakers to Soham.  Aside from local talks by the museums own Peter Cox, The Way of the Fenman and Chairman, Donna Martin, The History of St. Andrews House, we have had the pleasure of introducing; Mike Rouse, From the East End to East Cambridgeshire and Stewart Evans, The Isleham Air Crash, both excellent talks. 

The past two sessions have seen a considerable increase in our audience and the popularity of the talks.  In June enthusiast and ex-fireman Gordon Townsend, gave the second installation of his The History of the Fire Service to a very appreciative audience, and having resigned himself to retiring promptly promised to return with a new talk for us.  In August, 1940s expert, Des Smith gave a superb talk about the 1940s Home Front centred on a display of rare and wonderful items, many with local interest from his personal collection of memorabilia.  Des has probably been one of our most popular speakers and spent about an hour afterwards answering individual questions and talking to members and guests about his collection.  We are delighted that he has promised to join us next year with his new talk on wartime cookery. 

Anyone who is interested can come along to any of our History Group talks, and everyone receives a warm welcome.  Tea is served after the talk giving guests a chance to socialise and we usually have a raffle and book stall.  November’s talk should prove to be very interesting, as we present Dave Pearce on Windmills from the nineteenth century to the present day.  Dave, who is a member of the Wicken Windmill Preservation Group has a keen interest in restoring windmills and was involved in the restoration of our own Northfield Windmill (The Shade).

One of the best ways to help Soham Museum and ensure you have a diary full of interesting events to attend next year is to join Friends of Soham Museum.  The scheme is affiliated to our History Group and a £10 individual membership buys free admission to all of our events throughout the year as well as free newsletters, special member’s only events, and flyers and events information delivered to your door.  For only £15 a family membership is valid for all family members living at the same address.  Membership runs from May to May, so people joining now will still receive benefits by becoming members. 

In 2011 100% of members renewed their membership, a sure sign of value for money in these difficult times.  We’d love to hear from you if you’d like to become a member, please pick up a membership form at any of our events, or send your details to:

Mrs J Ames – Membership Secretary
Soham Museum, PO Box 21, The Pavilion, Soham, Cambridgeshire, CB7 5PL