Students show what Melton means to them through museum exhibition

Long Field Spencer Academy students pictured at Melton Museum with representatives of LongBrow Productions

Students at a Melton secondary school have been expressing what the town means to them through a new exhibition at the local museum.

The Make Your Mark exhibition opened this week at Melton Carnegie Museum after being co-created by youngsters at Long Field Spencer Academy.

It was borne out of a recent heritage project between the school and the museum and features art, photography and poetry.

The project aims to promote and enhance wellbeing by engaging with culture to connect with the public and give them a chance to see what young people think of the town.

Councillor Christine Radford, cabinet member for adults and communities at County Hall, said: “This is a fantastic project, and everyone has worked very hard to put together such a creative and insightful exhibition.

“We’re so pleased to be able to give students the opportunity to show so many people just how loved Melton Mowbray is to them.

"I’d like to congratulate the students of Long Field Spencer Academy for what they have achieved.

“I really do encourage everyone to visit this wonderful exhibition and discover what Melton Mowbray means to the local community and enjoy the town yourself.”

Leicestershire County Council’s Participation Team Culture Leicestershire worked alongside the museum and LongBrow Productions to work with students to give them the opportunity to express and share their voice in a positive and collaborative way.

Visitors to the museum will be able to enjoy the exhibition over the coming months.

Some of the young people taking part in the exhibition have also signed up as ‘museum activity’ volunteers over the half-term break, where they will be encouraging visitors to engage with their exhibition and help support family activities that the museum will be hosting next week.

Debbie Longley-Brown, project lead at LongBrow Productions, said: “We came to this project, as residents of Melton ourselves, to help amplify the youth voice of the town, to hear what young people really think of Melton and to help them ‘make their mark’ in the museum.

“There were clear benefits for the group as you could see them develop over the weeks a sense of ownership over their work, develop their creativity and, important to us from the outset, to develop tools for their wellbeing.”