Putting Community Stories on Display

At Witney & District Museum, we believe the answer should include the people and communities who make up Witney today. Our new Community Cabinet project is creating a dedicated space where local groups can explore the museum’s collections, share their own experiences and help shape the stories visitors encounter.

The project has been made possible with funding from Museum Development South East (MDSE), alongside support from our National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) project, Witney’s Got Wool and What Else? It builds on the museum’s wider work to become more accessible, welcoming and representative of our local community.

Rather than asking community groups simply to provide material for a display, the Community Cabinet is about co-creation. Groups are invited into the museum to explore the building and collections, think about the stories they want to tell and work with the museum team and freelance curator Beth Jones to develop their own small exhibition. Museum volunteers and our project team can help with everything from choosing objects to writing labels and thinking about how a display will look.

Our first Community Cabinet was created with Witney Pride, bringing LGBTQ+ stories and experiences into the museum, while our second display, upsatirs, celebrates 80 years of Witney Dramatic Society. We are continuing to work with different local organisations, giving each group the opportunity to approach the cabinet in their own way and tell a story that matters to them.

Importantly, this is also a pilot. Alongside creating the displays, we are learning what community groups need from us to make the process enjoyable, accessible and achievable. That learning is being used to develop a practical Community Cabinet toolkit, designed to make it easier for future groups to take the lead in creating displays with light-touch support from museum volunteers. The aim is to establish a sustainable model that keeps community voices at the heart of the museum long after the funded project has finished.

For a small, volunteer-run museum, the Community Cabinet gives us an exciting way to make better use of our limited display space while regularly introducing new voices, objects and perspectives. Each changing display offers another opportunity to discover what Witney means to the people who live, work and spend time here.

Look out for the Community Cabinet on your next visit and discover a different side of Witney’s story.

If you’re part of a local community group and would like the opportunity to share your Witney in 2027 please email admin@witneymuseum.org.uk.