In your community
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London Transport Museum is working with communities across London, exploring how transport affects the lives of everyone. You can find us out and about at local festivals and events, in community centres and running a busy programme of activities and exhibitions at the Museum Depot in Acton
Museum on the Move
The Museum's community team are on the move. We run activities for community groups across London, responding to the varied needs of all community groups and offering engaging and relevant activities. Whatever the particular interests, abilities and learning needs of your group, we have something to offer.
All our community activities are free of charge. We may even be able to supply some funding to cover any costs you might have. If you'd like us to visit your community group with one of our activities or would like further information, please email us or call +44 (0)20 7565 7431.
Activities include:
Every Object Tells a Story
Listen to the whirr and ping of an old fashioned ticket machine, find out what was so special about the driver of a no.65 bus and discover why London adapted its buses to suit pigeons! A chance to handle real objects from London Transport Museum's collection, find out quirky true-life facts and share your stories of travelling in and around London. The session will last approximately 1 hour although time will be needed to set up and clear away.
Bizarre Buses
Make your very own bizarre bus in this fun hands-on craft session. Using card, straws and balloons, assemble your bus and then watch it whiz across the floor by the power of it's balloon-powered engine! Suitable for ages 5 and up, the session will last approximately 1 hour.
Transport Tales and Railway Rhymes
Join staff from London Transport Museum to listen to a transport tale, then join in with catchy sing-along tunes and railway rhymes! These action-packed story telling sessions help children to develop literacy skills and learn about different forms of transportation. Suitable for ages 0-5, the sessions last approximately 40 minutes.
Social Surfing
Are you feeling a bit lost in a world of emails and websites? Using London Transport Museum's website and objects from our collection, our free computer workshops show you how to do the basics and have fun along the way! This session outlines how to use the internet to find information and illustrates how you can get involved with activities online. Suitable for all abilities, these sessions can be catered to your groups needs and interests.
Community Tours of our Depot in Acton
Explore the riches of London Transport Museum's collection at our Depot in Acton. Led by volunteers, our community tours provide a unique opportunity to see some of the 370,000 objects that are not currently on display at the Museum in Covent Garden. We can also include a screening of 'All That Mighty Heart', a bright and lively documentary showing a day in the life of London Transport in the1960s. Tours are suitable for all community associations.
Community exhibitions and programmes
London Transport Museum is also working with a variety of community groups on longer term projects leading to exhibitions, performances and websites.
Travels in Textiles
5th November 2008 -5 December 2008
Ealing Central Library
Admission Free
An exhibition of textile art created by members of South Acton Skills and Arts Collaborative.
Since the early 1900s the seats of London's buses and tube trains have been upholstered in a durable woven wool fabric called moquette. From the floral motifs of the 1920s, to the symmetrical designs we see today, moquette has become a recognisable companion on our journeys around London.
Guided by artist Amarjeet Kaur Nandhra and taking inspiration from London Transport Museum's vast collection of moquette, members of South Acton Skills and Arts Collaborative have produced a series of stunning textiles that reflect their travel experiences. Each piece is hand crafted with intricate designs; a geometric mix of green and yellow, flowers blooming with Metropolitan Line colours, a fleet of hand sewn ships. The pieces can be seen alongside moquette from London Transport Museum's collections.
Travels in Textiles is the first exhibition for London Transport Museum's New Routes project, a programme of community exhibitions and partnerships.
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Our Stories Magazine
Tales of travelling and working in the capital from the London Irish Centre.
Whether it's exploring by bus or helping to build the Tube, everyone has a story to tell about their experiences of transport in London. In a series of workshops members of the London Irish Centre Elderly Day Centre in Camden have worked with London Transport Museum to create a magazine to share their memories.
Taking objects, artwork and images from London Transport Museum collections as their inspiration, each individual has created a page to tell their own story. The result is a colourful mix of narratives revealing the hidden significance of Museum objects to different people. Stories of family, friendship, success and struggle emerge, highlighting individual experiences but also those that communities share.
What stories do you have to tell?
The magazine is available in the Museum's Learning Lounge and libraries in Camden.
Our Stories is one of London Transport Museum's New Routes projects, a programme of community exhibitions and partnerships. New Routes forms part of the Revisiting Collections initiative that extends across all London Hub museums and is funded by MLA London.
Our Stories (downloadable PDF)
Web pages
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