Mark Churchill and Sylvia Hixson-Andrews both received Volunteer of the Year awards at the 2025 Dorset Museums Conference.
Mark was a steward for about 20 years, and he started the museum archives. Although stepping back due to his wife’s ill health, he continues to be available to the archives group when needed. Mark worked almost alone (with input from Pam Le Bas for several years) on the archives for about 22 years and the organisation we have today is due to him. It is a system that our current group of 4 archivists can move forward on because it has been so well maintained. Most recently he went through all the bags and boxes left by our Deputy Curator of many years, Michael Le Bas, to be sure that anything important was saved and organised. We think he is really deserving of recognition.
Sylvia has worked tirelessly over many years leading the team at Blandford Town Museum. The museum has gone from strength to strength under her direction. She has encouraged museum members to take on new roles and responsibilities. She also has a remarkable talent for taking people’s ideas, weaving them into viable projects and writing excellent project applications which have attracted considerable sums of money. Although Sylvia is a volunteer, she has treated her role as Director as a full-time career, working long hours and setting a role model for those around her to contribute their time, with enthusiasm. She also involves herself in a number of external organisations, promoting the Blandford Town Museum and developing partnership opportunities.
