SCHOOL pupils took over the running of three of Llanelli’s landmark buildings for the day recently.
Communities First partnered up with Llanelly House, Llanelli Library and Parc Howard Museum to arrange a large scale Takeover Day.
Sixteen pupils from Coedcae School took over the roles of the staff in these historic venues and undertook responsibilities that they might never have had the opportunity to do before.
Additionally, 20 year six pupils from Ysgol Dewi Sant visited Llanelly House and enjoyed a tour of the building conducted by Ysgol Coedcae’s teenagers, while later they were engrossed in craft activities whilst visiting Llanelli Library.
This project was funded by the Fusion Programme, a Welsh Government initiative that aims to narrow the inequality gaps for individuals living in deprived areas by giving them the opportunity to access cultural services.
Carmarthenshire has been successful in its application to continue the delivery of the Fusion programme for the next two years, with a focus on improving individuals’ prosperity, health and learning through the creation of opportunities.
The event at Parc Howard was called ‘Why do I need to wear gloves?’ because the theme was all about conservation and how to care for museum collections.
Parc Howard Museum invited six year 10 young people from Ysgol Coedcae to spend the day with two professional conservators and the museum manager to explore the museum stores and undertake some practical conservation.
Museum Development Manager Morrigan Mason said: “The young people were curious and fascinated by the collections in store, in particular a tiger skull from India killed in 1864, a pair of women’s clogs worn about 150 years ago in the Welsh Tinplate and Metal stamping works in Llanelli, a fur collar and cuffs from a coat, and a mystery object that turned out to be part of a stalactite.
“We worked together to assess the condition of the objects and then carried out some very careful conservation cleaning.”
The museum discovered that it had some wonderful curiosities that really interested younger visitors and would now explore ways to build on this to appeal to a wider audience.
Carmarthenshire County Council executive board member for culture, sport and tourism Cllr Peter Hughes Griffiths said: “This was a great opportunity for local school pupils to find out what Llanelly House, Llanelli Library and Parc Howard Museum have to offer and to join in with some of the interesting work their staff do.”
A second takeover day was ran on Wednesday (Dec 6).
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