My experience on placement at the National Science and Media Museum

When Bradford won the bid to become the UK’s City of Culture 2025, they set out in no half-measure to fulfil an ambitious youth initiative. With their dedicated Youth Skills and Training team, three main programmes were developed and delivered: Apprentices, Young Creatives (both full-time paid roles) and the Youth Panel, which offered a platform for Bradford youth to be involved and heard.

The Young Creatives (me being one of the not-so-young ones) were also offered a placement at one of eight Bradford-based arts organisations. My placement was with the National Science and Media Museum, situated in the heart of Bradford. This museum was a huge part of my childhood, especially the former Magic Factory with its Witch’s Booth that gave you a small jump scare by illuminating a witch inside with a dramatic cackle—it never got old. So, you could say it was nice to return to an old haunt.

I joined the welcoming Public Programme team and began by getting a feel for the museum and how it’s run. This included introductions to the different departments, a behind-the-scenes look at operations, experiencing what the museum has to offer (the free cinema viewings were purely for research) and even a tour of the nostalgic archives with a curator. My highlights during this time were getting to see the incredibly talented Explainers in action, and my talk with one of the exhibition interpretation developers who has positively changed how I now experience and understand exhibitions.

Following my initial ‘sponge’ period of absorbing all the knowledge, I started to work on Bradford Science Festival by reaching out and liaising with local community groups who might be interested in attending. I also met St Paul’s Youth Club, who had formed the Young People’s Panel to design, create and walk their own Future Fashion show as part of the festival. In preparation, I joined them on a charity shopping spree, during which we even entered price negotiations for a beaded necklace—a bold move in Ilkley but we emerged victorious and more cerebrally-developed individuals.

The National Science and Media Museum have a wonderful volunteering initiative where staff can choose to swap out some of their working hours to volunteer at a variety of local causes, which is not only great for wellbeing but also perfect for meeting people in different teams whose paths don’t often cross with your own. My line manager (shout out to Hattie) and I did a day at Horton Community Farm where we did indeed farm, and as a bonus grazed on some lettuce straight from the source.

Before I knew it Bradford Science Festival was in delivery, arriving on time and healthy. I was keen to be on-hand during the Future Fashion segment in The Broadway, to see the fruits of everyone’s effort, especially the fashion show catwalk. I also gained valuable insight into the various organisations involved for an event like this, expanding my awareness on the different professional avenues creative practices can tap into.

A skill I wanted to develop this year was workshop facilitation, so when I was offered the opportunity to deliver my own workshop it felt like the perfect way to round off my placement as it neared its end. My workshop would be run alongside an evaluation session with Bluegrass Research in which members of the Young People’s Panel gave feedback on their involvement. For this, I developed an upcycled lantern workshop made from old scarves and paper, which was straightforward enough to do while having a conversation. I wanted to consider how people learn differently, so I provided varied instructions in the form of a video, printouts and of course live demonstration. I couldn’t have asked for it to go any better than it did, I learnt how to quickly adapt my teaching methods for each individual and genuinely enjoyed working with them so much. Going forward from this I’m much more open to working with younger people, which I didn’t think was on the cards for me before—they’re incredibly funny, and who knew all you need is a working knowledge of Roblox for cred points.

In all seriousness, it has been gratifying to experience a workplace that offers stable and creative roles with so much attention to development and an incredibly supportive environment. My placement here has been full of learning and helped prepare me for wherever the world takes me next.