Farewell, ITP 2018! (Claire Messenger, ITP Manager)
Written by Claire Messenger, International Training Programme Manager, British Museum
On Saturday 10th August we said a very sad goodbye to our 2018 ITP fellows. Arriving at Schafer House shortly before 3.30am (quite a shock after celebrating the end of the summer programme with the ITPers and colleagues from around the Museum the evening before in the gardens of the Bedford Hotel!), our first fellow to leave was Solomy Nansubuga Nabukalu, heading home to her family and Kabale Museum in Uganda. Throughout the day we said goodbye to colleagues who have spent – I hope – an interesting, informative, engaging and fun six weeks with us here at the British Museum and with UK and programme partners around the country.
I think I can speak for everyone here at the Museum when I say that it was a pleasure to spend time with our fellows, to share their experiences, learn more about their institutions and their countries and to enjoy visits around the UK to other museums, sites, galleries and historic buildings. Seeing so many familiar places through our fellows’ eyes each year is a refreshing and fascinating experience, so we thank them for that.
And it was wonderful to hear that everyone arrived home safe and well, and to see pictures of their first meals when they arrived home – a delicious array of everyone’s favourite food that they had been craving while they were away.
A big thank you to Steve, Wayne, Terry and Michael at Constantine Ltd for delivering all our fellows safely to Heathrow and seeing them safely through the airport.
And finally, a fond farewell to all our 2018 fellows. The benches at the Information Desk in the Great Court here at the British Museum look sadly empty without them!!
Claire, Becca, Jessica and Andrea