Ure Museum inspires local children – University of Reading
08 December 2005
The University of Reading's Ure Museum of Greek Archaeology has been at the heart of a hugely successful and fun scheme which encourages local children to reap the benefits of museums and libraries as creative resources. Participating in this exciting project were Wilson Junior, Oxford Road Community, Battle Primary and Whitley Park schools. Writer and storyteller Jane Draycott visited each one and worked with the children to explore art, story and narrative. The schools all visited Battle library with Jane where they got to explore books and storytelling. Jane then accompanied the lucky children to the Ure Museum, where they had a chance to develop their storytelling abilities using ancient Greek objects from the museum's fascinating collection. The Young Cultural Creators Project aims to inspire young people to read and create while showing them and their families how to make greater and more confident use of libraries and museums. This project was part of a nationwide programme that has been funded by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport and rolled out by the Museums Libraries and Archives Council and in our region by SEMLAC (South East Museums Libraries and Archives Council). Rhianedd Smith, Assistant Curator of the Ure Museum, believes the project was a big hit with everybody. "All our visiting schools seemed to have a fabulous time," she said. "It was fantastic to see the children's creative side uncovered by Jane. The rare and wonderful artefacts housed in the museum tell many an interesting tale and definitely proved inspiring to our young guests. "Even though the scheme is now at an end for this year, I am delighted to say that this is only the first stage of an ongoing project. Next year we hope to see many more schoolchildren benefit from a trip to the Ure." For further information on this project please contact Rhianedd Smith on: Tel. 0118 378 5628 Email r.smith@reading.ac.uk end