Help shape the future of Stromness Museum
Focus on Charity: New members sought to help Stromness institution continue serving the community.
Almost 190 years after 118 members each paid two shillings to support a fledgling museum, the Stromness Museum is now inviting a new generation to help secure its future.
The harbourside institution is looking for new trustees and supporters as it prepares for its next chapter.
These do not need to be museum experts — curiosity, sound judgement, and a willingness to contribute are as important as museum experience.
Thought to be Orkney’s oldest surviving charity still pursuing its original purpose, the museum was founded in 1837 by the polymath and meteorologist, Rev Dr Charles Clouston.
The Orkney Natural History Society was established to promote natural science through the support of a museum.
From the start it was designed to attract all classes of society and kept subscriptions capped at the relatively modest sum of two shillings.
Now almost two centuries after those subscriptions sustained its earliest work, Stromness Museum continues to depend upon people who believe its collections and stories matter.
Although based in Stromness, the museum has always served the whole of Orkney. Its collections now encompass natural and social history, archaeology, ethnography, geology and the islands’ maritime heritage.
Like the flora and fauna it catalogues, the organisation’s purpose has also evolved over time.
By 1934, its objectives included the “prevention of the extinction of rare plants and animals” — forward thinking and reflecting a growing awareness of threats to the natural environment.
Today that forward thinking is seen as the natural history collection is digitised and made available as part of a European-wide database for use in research.
The museum remains an independent charity, with an experienced and enthusiastic staff team and a voluntary board of trustees.
It receives some support from Orkney Islands Council, but its day-to-day income relies on visitors, donations, local businesses and the Friends of the Museum scheme.
The charity is now developing plans to ensure the museum can continue serving Orkney, its people and its natural environment for generations to come.
The cross-generational nature of the museum is not lost on the board’s chairwoman Anne Shorter.
Anne was first introduced to the museum by her great-aunt, and fell in love with its collections as a child, something she is reminded of every time she sees parents take their young children in today.
“You really see it when you see it in the eyes of a bairn, that sense of discovery and wonder,” she said.
For Anne, part of the museum’s importance lies in the stories its collections hold.
“One thing that is really important is those stories. They tell us who we were and that then tells us who we are.”
People can support that work by becoming Friends of Stromness Museum.
Friends contribute through an annual subscription, receive free admission and are invited to museum events.
The museum is also looking for new trustees to help shape its future.
Applicants do not need previous board experience or specialist knowledge of museums. The charity wants to hear from people of different ages, backgrounds, professions and communities who can bring fresh ideas and perspectives.
Experience in business, finance, fundraising, communications, tourism, education, heritage, digital development or community work could be valuable.
Equally important are curiosity, sound judgement and a willingness to listen, contribute and ask questions.
The voluntary role involves attending board meetings and contributing to the museum’s strategy and governance, with reasonable expenses reimbursed. Trustees do not necessarily have to live in Orkney.
Anne says the museum wanted people with a broad range of skills and talents.
While business and financial experience could be useful, enthusiasm for working with people and promoting Orkney’s history and natural heritage was equally important.
“Of course, it’s not just people who grew up in Orkney, but everyone who has been drawn here. We want them to be involved too,” says Anne.
The museum is now inviting a new generation to become part of that story.
Find out more by visiting the museum’s website, or phoning at 01856 850025.
The opening times are 10:00-17:00 from Monday to Saturday and 11:00-16:00s on Sunday.