Museums Forum and AGM 2026
ConferenceJoin NI Museums Council for the 2026 NIMC AGM and Museums Forum.
The 2026 NI Museums Council Forum returns in September and will offer delegates the chance to hear what is happening in the sector, including projects and partnerships. The Forum will provide opportunities to network with colleagues and the chance to see which museums received their Accreditation Awards in 2026
Your views will be sought during round table discussions to help shape future projects which focus on digitisation of collections and the use of digital technologies to promote access to collections. This will be followed by presentations from member museums spotlighting their NIMC grant funded projects..
This event will be photographed.
Speakers
Heather McGuicken, NIMC – What We Have Done, and What We Plan To Do.
Simon Morton, DfC – Museum Policy
Kelly McGloin, Volunteer Co-Ordinator – Empowering Communities Through Volunteering at Armagh Observatory & Planetarium
Rachele Crawford, Whitehead Railway Museum – All Aboard: Transforming Access and Care at Whitehead Railway Museum
Lucy MacIver, Tower Museum – More Than Scraps: Reading Labour and Working-Class Life through a Factory Quilt
How to Book
Bookings open now!
This event is free for individual members of the NI Museums Council and for those who work for an organisational member.
Guest Museum Presentation Overviews
Kelly McGloin, Volunteer Co-Ordinator - Empowering Communities Through Volunteering at Armagh Observatory & Planetarium
At Armagh Observatory & Planetarium, volunteering plays a key role in connecting people with science, heritage and lifelong learning. Since December, they have developed a strategic volunteer programme that enables people of all ages and backgrounds to contribute meaningfully while building skills and confidence.
Through partnerships with schools, universities, and community organisations, they have expanded opportunities across STEM, heritage, research and public engagement. Volunteers support activities including archive cataloguing, scientific research, visitor engagement, education programmes and public events, helping to broaden the organisation’s reach and impact.
This presentation will demonstrate how volunteering can strengthen community engagement and create pathways into the heritage and STEM sectors, while sharing practical examples of recruitment, partnership working and volunteer development.
Rachele Crawford, General Manager Whitehead Railway Museum - Transforming Access and Care at Whitehead Railway Museum
Whitehead Railway Museum is on a journey to become a more accessible, inclusive and sustainable museum for all. This presentation will showcase two recent projects supported through NIMC funding: the “All Aboard” accessibility project, which has transformed the visitor experience through practical improvements designed to support people with mobility needs and neurodivergent visitors; and a collections care project focused on safeguarding historic railway artefacts while improving opportunities for learning, engagement and public access.
Together, these projects demonstrate the powerful impact that targeted investment can have within museums. Breaking down barriers to participation, enhancing the care and preservation of important collections and creating new opportunities for communities to connect with their heritage. Through these initiatives, Whitehead Railway Museum is ensuring that Irelands railway story is not only protected for future generations but is also accessible, meaningful and inspiring for everyone today.
Lucy MacIver, Assistant Archivist, Tower Museum – More Than Scraps: Reading Labour and Working-Class Life through a Factory Quilt
What can an awkward, heavily used and seemingly unremarkable quilt tell us about Derry’s textile industry and the women whose lives rarely appear in its official records? This presentation explores how Stitched, a volunteer-supported conservation project, transformed our understanding of a patchwork quilt made from flannelette factory offcuts. Through close examination, specialist textile knowledge, oral testimony and archival research, its fabric, construction and alteration became evidence of industrial labour, domestic economy and working-class life. The project demonstrates how collections care and community expertise can make overlooked objects newly legible, revealing histories held not in writing, but in seams, wear and repair.