🎉 Rejoicing in Ripon: Senators visit Ripon to see £3.3 million Workhouse Museum renovation project 🏛️

The 60-plus senators, who are all life members of JCI, were in the area for the British Senate’s annual Drumming Out ceremony in nearby Harrogate which, on Saturday evening, marked the end of Graeme Greenfield’s  year in office as chairman of the British Senate and the installation of his successor, Jeff Evans,

Museums staff and volunteers, hosted the Friday afternoon’s visit to our ancient city and provided guided tours of the Workhouse, Prison & Police and Courthouse Museums 🏛️– a unique combination of three fascinating heritage buildings  that collectively help to tell the story of the descent from poverty to criminal activity and punishment, which was the everyday reality for millions of men, women and children living in the hard times of Victorian Britain.

With the renovation of the workhouse, which began in November, the museums, through innovative interpretation and a new visitor journey under the theme of Inspiration for a Fairer Future, will see new exhibitions at the Workhouse Museum and Garden and a new visitor route following the footsteps of the real-life people who found themselves trapped in the downward poverty spiral.

The museums will partner with charities to share their work and connect all three museums and the wider heritage of Ripon with a walking trail.

As visitors explore the museums they will be invited to reflect; was it fair? Could it have been different? What can we learn from the past to build a better future?

The privations faced by those unfortunate enough to fall into impoverishment are not unique to Victorian Britain and the echoes to the past can be seen in the present day with the growing number of foodbanks in the UK and across the world.

“Our message has national and international significance and we hope that those from the highly-influential party of Senators who visited on Friday, will return to Ripon to join in our journey when renovation works are completed later this year.”

Ripon Business Improvement District Manager Lilla Bathurst, who works closely with Ripon Museums, added:

“It‘s a feather in the museums’ cap to attract a visit from such a respected international organisation and they will be welcome in our historic and heritage-rich city, whenever they want to come back.”

Lilla, pointed out:

“The generous support of The National Lottery Heritage Fund and other funders just goes to prove how much faith and passion people have for Ripon.  The redevelopment will enable Ripon’s museum attractions to go from strength to strength and attract more visitors (both new and repeat).

“As a Destination BID our focus is on bringing people into Ripon, ensuring widespread media coverage of Ripon and promoting all of its assets to ensure spend in our businesses and this new project will greatly help in doing that.”

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JCI is an international membership-based nonprofit organisation of 200,000 young people ages 18 to 40 in 5,000 communities and more than 100 countries around the world.

Each JCI Member shares the belief that in order to create lasting positive change, we must improve ourselves and the world around us. JCI Members seek targeted solutions to the unique problems in their communities to build a better world, creating global impact.

JCI does not have any religious or political affiliations.

To provide development opportunities that empower young people to create positive change.