32 know what we’re doing and why it works, and we can adapt to the needs <strong>of</strong> all sorts <strong>of</strong> writing.’ With these two Hub projects, there is a real sense amongst the education team that something special and lasting has begun. ‘That sort <strong>of</strong> developmental work is very rich and can’t take place unless the process really changes something inside people, and these Hub projects have done that,’ Sword continues. ‘<strong>The</strong> funding has enabled growth <strong>of</strong> a sort which I’ve never experienced in a department before. You don’t usually have that sort <strong>of</strong> time, and you don’t have people saying what we want you to do is dare.’ Education & Public Programmes Developments that seem as rapid and significant as those that have taken place in the <strong>Fitzwilliam</strong>’s education services in the last two years are <strong>of</strong>ten the result <strong>of</strong> years <strong>of</strong> patient and gradual change, <strong>of</strong> inching forward while never losing sight <strong>of</strong> a core purpose. ‘What’s remarkable about the Fitz is that it has held onto its integrity, and God bless it for doing that,’ Sword says. ‘It hasn’t tried to become something it’s not and that’s why it’s still wonderful. But what it’s achieving – because it’s not finished yet – is a real warmth: it’s still got the scholarship and the edge as a museum dedicated to research and knowledge, but now it’s also dedicated to inviting people to take part in that in very real ways. And it’s not a twice yearly thing: lots <strong>of</strong> people just drop in all the time. If that happens, it gradually becomes yours, part <strong>of</strong> your life.’ <strong>The</strong>re are more changes ahead, and some within the department: Sword retired in June 2006, handing over to a new Head <strong>of</strong> Education, Julia Tozer, who, alongside Rachel Sinfield and Sarah Burles, will build on the work that Sword has done in twenty years at the <strong>Museum</strong>. Much <strong>of</strong> the progress she has overseen in that time is, she insists, to do with changes in government policy or different expectations amongst the public, but it would be hard to overestimate the personal contribution that Sword has made to the character <strong>of</strong> the organisation, or to quantify the number <strong>of</strong> lives that her work has enriched, even transformed - an achievement which was recognised in the 2006 Honours List with an OBE for Services to <strong>Museum</strong> Education. ‘If I’ve left a legacy, perhaps it’s that an education department isn’t a threat to the ethos <strong>of</strong> a museum,’ she says. ‘<strong>The</strong> changes have worked because I love the place as it was and as it is, and because I’ve had incredible people to work with. It’s important that teams build gradually and everybody’s stayed here, so we’ve been able to explore ideas properly. If people stay in a place for a long time, special things can happen.’ Nicola Upson is a freelance writer and critic <strong>The</strong> <strong>Museum</strong> is largely dependent on the generosity <strong>of</strong> individual and corporate benefactors, trusts and foundations to support its education work. During 2004-06, the <strong>Fitzwilliam</strong> <strong>Museum</strong> was, and continues to be, a partner in the East <strong>of</strong> England <strong>Museum</strong>s Hub funded by the <strong>Museum</strong>s, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) under Renaissance in the Regions. Hub partners are Norfolk <strong>Museum</strong>s and Archaeology Service, Colchester <strong>Museum</strong>s and Luton <strong>Museum</strong>s Service.
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