PRIMROSE wins

The ambitious Primrose (Photographic Records in Museums: Re-Organisation, Storage and Environment) Project has won the Care of Collections catagory at this year's ICON Conservation Awards. Helena Jaeschke and Sarah Allen, seen here collecting the award, developed the programme on behalf of the Royal Albert Memorial Museum and  Renaissance South West. 

An ecstatic Helena commented "55 museums took part in this - a great bunch of people who all worked very hard and a wonderful trainer, Sarah Allen, who wrote all the guidelines and runs a Helpline for those who took part. It was a great pleasure to be part of this - and we hope there may be more to come..."

PRIMROSE helped museums cope with their extensive photographic collections; many are at risk from poor storage, handling and display. Each museum committed to a 10-point Charter for collection care, sent staff and volunteers to a training day, and received £150-worth of materials to re-house their collection. The project sends a strong message about training, sharing, and enthusing keen volunteers - and it has had a positive and broad impact using minimal public funding.

The Awards were presented at a ceremony and held at the Royal Institution of Great Britain, London on 1 December 2010.  They are managed by Icon, the Institute of Conservation, and are sponsored by The Pilgrim Trust.The Institute of Conservation - Icon - is the lead voice for the conservation of cultural heritage in the UK. Icon's membership embraces the wider conservation community, incorporating not only professional conservators in all disciplines, but all others who share a commitment to improving understanding of and access to our cultural heritage.