Volunteer who "never left" becomes museum education officer

Now Kerri Honeysett has been appointed to the key new role of enabling local school children to benefit from the museum's educational resources.

Kerri's 30 hours-a-week job as education officer comes at a time when the Egerton Road building is shut and the Society of Bexhill Museums is eagerly awaiting the start of its extension scheme.

But Kerri's work will be to ensure that when the new-look museum opens the town's schools are fully involved in its enlarged role.

Kerri explained: "I have been a helper at the museum since 1996.

"My background is geology and palaeontology.

"I was studying at the former Lewes tertiary college at the time to take geology at university. I thought helping at the museum would be a good place to be.

"But I just never left...."

"In the end I didn't go to university. It was '97 and Tony Blair was introducing student charges. Some friends were finding it hard.

"I have worked full-time in two different jobs since then. But I have always managed to give one day a week to the museum.

"I have a two and a half year-old daughter and I have looked at ways of getting into education. I really want to teach A Level students.

"When the education officer post came up I seemed so right - working in the museum AND in education."

Asked how an education officer could possibly operate from a building which was closed to the public, Kerri said: "The bulk of my work will be to promote the museum as an education centre leading up to the opening of the new development.

"Hopefully, it will continue for six month after the museum re-opens.

"A lot of my work will be in promoting the collections and putting them in line with the national curriculum."

The aim is for the new-look museum to work in close collaboration with local schools through from Key Stage One and Two pupils to those at secondary school plus formal adult learning and those who want to learn purely out of interest.

Rother museums curator Julian Porter said: "The post is being funded as part of the Interreg Project Nemo - collaboration between Bexhill Museum, Hastings Museum and the museum at Fecamp in Normandy."