Meet the Team: Trustee

Meet the Team: Trustee

By Faith Hallett

My name is Faith Hallett and I have been a Trustee of the Abbey Lawn Trust (ALT) since 2003. The ALT’s objective is “To secure for the public benefit, the preservation, protection and improvement of listed buildings adjoining Tewkesbury Abbey”.  The John Moore Countryside Museum (JCMC) and the Merchant’s House are both situated in buildings owned by the charity, while the ALT has taken on the lease of the Old Baptist Chapel from Tewkesbury Borough Council (TBC) and so all the activities taking place in these premises come within our remit. I am especially interested in the Museums because I love nature, the countryside and social history. In addition, I have spent more than 20 years working with a leading UK painter so have accumulated experience of exhibitions and public collections and am very interested in how museums are run and developed. Trustees are required to ensure that the Museum fulfils its aims and objectives and are, in the final analysis, responsible for all the income and expenditure, although the day-to-day running is left to Simon Lawton, our outstanding curator, the staff and volunteers.

The John Moore Museum

During my time as Trustee, I personally have been involved in a project to develop closer links between the JMCM and the other museums situated in the TBC area (Tewkesbury Town Museum, Nature in Art, Winchcombe Museum and the Jet Age Museum, Staverton). Unfortunately, after starting very well this initiative did not develop as had been hoped largely due to lack of funding from TBC. I have also (I hope!) been some help in appointing some of the excellent Learning and Access Officers we have employed over the years and participating in the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) Grant Application process on two occasions.

One of my proudest memories has been attending the Sandford Awards ceremony in London in 2013 when the JMCM first joined an elite group of UK museums to be given this prestigious acknowledgement of its heritage education programme. Other highlights have been the very exciting restoration and upgrades to the Merchant’s House and Old Baptist Chapel, both made possible by generous grants from the HLF.  I read all John Moore’s books while growing up in Overbury at the foot of Bredon Hill, so feel a particular affinity with the Brensham Trilogy which so clearly describe not only Tewkesbury but also the hill and its villages.

First novel in Moore’s Brensham Trilogy

Looking ahead, I would love to see an exhibition about former farming methods and their impact on the environment compared to today’s systems. Our wonderful heritage buildings provide the perfect setting for much of our work. However, we are very aware of access issues for those with mobility problems and I look forward to more exciting projects designed to make all our exhibits available to everybody.