How coronavirus compares to Torfaen Museum's biggest challenges

The museum closed its doors in March at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Although it was able to open its reception last month, with the further easing of lockdown regulations, the exhibits are now open to be viewed.

Museum curator Deborah-Anne Wildgust said it had been a long road to re-opening.

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“It’s been a big thing for us to re-open. It has been a lot of hard work,” she said.

“All the staff were furloughed except two. We had to keep coming in as you can’t just abandon a building like this.

“By about mid-May we couldn’t cope. So we asked our staff if they wanted to come back, and they almost all said yes.

Torfaen Museum volunteer Lydia Davies at reception.

“People think that as the building was closed, your costs have gone away. But that’s not the case. We had a small grant from the Federation of Museums.

“We were very fortunate Torfaen Council agreed to pay their annual funding up front, and we had a Welsh Government Rateable Value Business grant of £25,000.

“This has kept the lights on while we have been closed.

“Helpfully, the Welsh Government offered us a grant of £3,000 for all the hand sanitisers, screens, and signs.

“We were terrified that people were going to take the lead in the roof again, and we had to have new CCTV installed.

“Without the money coming in, it all started to add up.”

Signage around the museum to help visitors follow social distancing restrictions.

“The Trust has a membership and our members have been so supportive paying their membership fees – especially as the renewal came in April,” added museum trust administrator Sue Allford.

Earlier this year, the museum trust announced plans to make upgrades to the museum. This project, however, has now been delayed.

“They are still going to go ahead and we’re looking forward to it,” said Ms Wildgust. “But we now need to look at the plans and adapt them for a post-Covid world.

“It will be delayed for one to two years.

“We will be spending our time now applying for grants for it.”

The enforced coronavirus closure is just one of a number of challenges faced by the museum over its history.

Mrs Allford, who started at the museum in 1984, said it was too early to tell how this compares to when it was previously threatened by closure.

“It’s kept going over the years. Twice we were threatened with closure, but both times local people helped keep us open,” she said.

Torfaen Museum.

“On two occasions I stood outside the gates with a placard saying ‘Save our Museum’, which the people of Torfaen supported.

“We didn’t know if we would get paid at the end of the month. We only had one computer and I was there with my arms around it protecting from the bailiffs when they came knocking.

“We had a big flood on New Year’s Eve in 2000 (heading into 2001). I was called out here in the middle of the night.

“The damage was so bad. Deb was just about to start the job, and I had to call her in to assess the damage.

“It’s so difficult to tell [how this compares]. Covid has changed so much.

“It all depends on if the public have the confidence to start coming back.”

Local artists have donated paintings to help fundraise for the museum to help make up for its lost income over lockdown.

To help fundraise, four local artists have donated artwork for the museum to raffle off. You can buy raffle tickets for the art raffle from the museum shop or by phone on 01495 752036.