TOTES BAGTASTIC!

So how about some sewing? Co-production, Volunteer and Programme Coordinator, Pippa Vidal Davies, invites new volunteers for an upcoming project.

As you well know, we are all about making. In the past, volunteers have made bunting, aprons and picnic blankets. Earlier in the year, volunteers and staff contributed towards BBC Radio Derby’s appeal - Make a Blanket, Make a Difference - through the knitting and crocheting of over 300 squares that were then made into four gorgeous blankets for those in need of warmth over winter. A handful of us had never crocheted or knitted before, yet the resulting blankets are charming and full of warmth.

The project concluded with a team of us being awarded the Guinness World Record for the most people crocheting simultaneously - 960 is the new World Record to beat!

We have an appetite for more making and we were delighted when volunteer Jean mentioned the Morsbag project to us. MorsbagSociable Guerilla Bagging is a worldwide initiative to make recycled, reusable fabric bags to combat plastic bags. We have the tags, the materials, and instructions and go ahead to become the Totes Bagtastic pod. We would love for you to join us. How? You can join our ‘Meet and Make’ volunteer days to make bags socially within the Museum of Making; you could donate material to us or make bags from home. Regardless of how you want to support us, please get in touch at volunteer@derbymuseums.org to ensure we can co-ordinate everything. We want to welcome people of all abilities to the ‘Meet and Make’ volunteer events, so please consider doing some Family Volunteering with us too.

The made bags will be showcased in our museum shops to raise awareness of the initiative, and will hopefully raise internal funds for climate action initiatives at the same time. This project will be sew fantastic! Interested in our other volunteering opportunities? Have a look to see what’s on offer here: http://bttr.im/4x0cx.

Volunteering with Derby Museums

If you would like to find out more about the volunteering opportunities we have on offer, from regular, longer-term volunteering to micro-challenges that could take just minutes of your time, please heck out our volunteering page at: bit.ly/DMVolunteeringOpportunities, and sign up to our newsletter to keep up to date.