Tonia Collett
@museumstonia.bsky.social
By day, mild-mannered museum person; by night, an insatiable reader, tentative gardener, explorer of old places, top-notch daydreamer.
For work purposes, you can find me here: https://collettconsultancy.co.uk/
For anything else, try the allotment.
For work purposes, you can find me here: https://collettconsultancy.co.uk/
For anything else, try the allotment.
Reposted by Tonia Collett
If you're a National Trust member, it's that time of year again: Midnight tonight is the deadline. It's a shame people have to keep doing this to keep a toehold on historical truth in this country, but here we are. Voting link: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/who-we-are/a...
![[Scene is the entrance cabin to a NATIONAL TRUST PROPERTY AND GARDENS]
1
NATIONAL TRUST EMPLOYEE [inside cabin]:
Hello there
2
[A young family - two parents two kids - have arrived at the front desk].
DAD:
Hi - do you have an activity trail, for the kids?
3
NT EMPLOYEE:
Of course – you’re just in time for the Autumn Gammon Trail!
4
MUM:
That sounds fun, doesn’t it kids?
5
NT EMPLOYEE [handing an activity sheet and pencils to the kids]:
Every autumn, the Reform Trust gammons flock back to the National Trust for the AGM. Just follow the trail round the grounds, and see how many you can spot!
6
NT EMPLOYEE [hearing something in the gardens]:
Listen - that's their call
[Calls emanating from the landscape]:
tut-tut
woke-woke
7
NT EMPLOYEE [showing the family an apparently empty fenced enclosure with some bushes in]:
They are extremely sensitive and fragile...
But you can bring them out of hiding if you put a little sign down mentioning slavery.
8
KIDS [pointing]:
There they are!
[Some little red faced PEOPLE wearing Barbour jackets and gilets emerge cautiously from the bushes. They are creeping towards a TINY SIGN in the middle of the enclosure].
[Little people noises]:
woke-woke
tut-tut
woke-woke
9
[Close-up of the TINY SIGN - we can read that it says]:
Slavery had a bit to do with building this massive house.
[Noises from the little people again as they inspect the tiny sign]:
tut-tut
woke-woke
10
MUM [pointing]:
What's that one doing there?
NT EMPLOYEE:
Oh, that's so sweet…
11
[We see that one of the people is sat on a rock, with a little laptop open on a tree stump, and they are furiously typing away].
NT EMPLOYEE:
I think he's writing a column for the Daily Telegraph…
12
[We see close up to the little person’s screen, it is a word document reading]:
Are National Trust scones secretly WOKE?
[ends]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4m3we4apbjayclzcnhwe3pfp/bafkreib7lt736b6rmzinml5s7kxjdaapo2a36xp4d4lssypimx3taqicdm@jpeg)
October 31, 2025 at 9:02 AM
If you're a National Trust member, it's that time of year again: Midnight tonight is the deadline. It's a shame people have to keep doing this to keep a toehold on historical truth in this country, but here we are. Voting link: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/who-we-are/a...
Reposted by Tonia Collett
I know it's harder and more dangerous to carve a turnip but the effect is so much more disturbing, and thus in keeping with the season
October 30, 2025 at 1:50 PM
I know it's harder and more dangerous to carve a turnip but the effect is so much more disturbing, and thus in keeping with the season
Reposted by Tonia Collett
Yes, yes I know I keep banging on about my fucking book! However, if you want one repost this and I’ll do a random winner pick thing by the end of the week because I’m great like that. ♥️📚
#amindofmyown
#amindofmyown
October 7, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Yes, yes I know I keep banging on about my fucking book! However, if you want one repost this and I’ll do a random winner pick thing by the end of the week because I’m great like that. ♥️📚
#amindofmyown
#amindofmyown
I love this so much.
Nobel committee unable to reach prize winner who is ‘living his best life’ hiking off grid
www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
Nobel committee unable to reach prize winner who is ‘living his best life’ hiking off grid
www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
Nobel committee unable to reach prize winner who is ‘living his best life’ hiking off grid
Fred Ramsdell was among those honoured with a 2025 Nobel Prize in Medicine but might not know because he is somewhere in Idaho and uncontactable
www.theguardian.com
October 7, 2025 at 11:51 AM
I love this so much.
Nobel committee unable to reach prize winner who is ‘living his best life’ hiking off grid
www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
Nobel committee unable to reach prize winner who is ‘living his best life’ hiking off grid
www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
Reposted by Tonia Collett
IMPORTANT
All freelancers, self-employed, creatives
This is the first I've heard of this, but the Department for Business and Trade is running a consultation on the scourge of late payments, they want to introduce new legislation to tackle poor practices
Deadline to respond is 23 October
1/2
All freelancers, self-employed, creatives
This is the first I've heard of this, but the Department for Business and Trade is running a consultation on the scourge of late payments, they want to introduce new legislation to tackle poor practices
Deadline to respond is 23 October
1/2
October 7, 2025 at 9:56 AM
IMPORTANT
All freelancers, self-employed, creatives
This is the first I've heard of this, but the Department for Business and Trade is running a consultation on the scourge of late payments, they want to introduce new legislation to tackle poor practices
Deadline to respond is 23 October
1/2
All freelancers, self-employed, creatives
This is the first I've heard of this, but the Department for Business and Trade is running a consultation on the scourge of late payments, they want to introduce new legislation to tackle poor practices
Deadline to respond is 23 October
1/2
Spent Monday evening with Sandi Toksvig...and several hundred other people too. So good, so funny, so human.
Gutted not to win a Toksvig Masculinity t-shirt though.
Gutted not to win a Toksvig Masculinity t-shirt though.
October 7, 2025 at 5:30 AM
Spent Monday evening with Sandi Toksvig...and several hundred other people too. So good, so funny, so human.
Gutted not to win a Toksvig Masculinity t-shirt though.
Gutted not to win a Toksvig Masculinity t-shirt though.
That was a roller coaster 30 minutes of screen refreshing, shouting at the screen refreshing and general wailing, but I have them in the palm of my hot little inbox...Super Furry Animal tickets! TICKETS!
Orkney, SFA, Paris...2026 Planned.
Orkney, SFA, Paris...2026 Planned.
October 1, 2025 at 9:31 AM
That was a roller coaster 30 minutes of screen refreshing, shouting at the screen refreshing and general wailing, but I have them in the palm of my hot little inbox...Super Furry Animal tickets! TICKETS!
Orkney, SFA, Paris...2026 Planned.
Orkney, SFA, Paris...2026 Planned.
I am being watched...
What's the rhyme? One for sorrow, two for joy, three for a girl, four for a boy, five for silver, six for gold, seven for a literary agent to pick up your manuscript.
What's the rhyme? One for sorrow, two for joy, three for a girl, four for a boy, five for silver, six for gold, seven for a literary agent to pick up your manuscript.
September 30, 2025 at 12:33 PM
I am being watched...
What's the rhyme? One for sorrow, two for joy, three for a girl, four for a boy, five for silver, six for gold, seven for a literary agent to pick up your manuscript.
What's the rhyme? One for sorrow, two for joy, three for a girl, four for a boy, five for silver, six for gold, seven for a literary agent to pick up your manuscript.
Behold! I have written two new toolkits for #AIM! I am also horribly bad at self promotion, so this is a week late. But I'm rather proud of these, they are labours of love and my first ever published writing.
aim-museums.co.uk/news/new-con...
aim-museums.co.uk/news/new-con...
New Connected Communities resources available - AIM - Association of Independent Museums
Guides on tackling chronic loneliness and improving access to high quality volunteering – alongside film toolkits now available.
aim-museums.co.uk
September 3, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Behold! I have written two new toolkits for #AIM! I am also horribly bad at self promotion, so this is a week late. But I'm rather proud of these, they are labours of love and my first ever published writing.
aim-museums.co.uk/news/new-con...
aim-museums.co.uk/news/new-con...
Reposted by Tonia Collett
News | New research sheds light on changing visitor behaviour and demographics – families becoming significantly more selective and booking tickets later
New research sheds light on changing visitor behaviour and demographics - Museums Association
Families becoming significantly more selective and booking tickets later
www.museumsassociation.org
July 25, 2025 at 8:40 AM
News | New research sheds light on changing visitor behaviour and demographics – families becoming significantly more selective and booking tickets later
I LOVE BorrowBox! It's financially free, Amazon-free, and will keep your lugs entertained for HOURS.
Download, download!
Currently listening to Moon Over Soho by B Aaronovitch and laughing out loud in public places.
Download, download!
Currently listening to Moon Over Soho by B Aaronovitch and laughing out loud in public places.
Also if you're an Orkney Library member then don't go on holiday without downloading the FREE BorrowBox App and signing up for our FREE eBooks, eAudiobooks and eMagazines to keep yourself reading while you're on the go (or on the beach.) 🏖📷 ✈️
July 25, 2025 at 4:34 PM
I LOVE BorrowBox! It's financially free, Amazon-free, and will keep your lugs entertained for HOURS.
Download, download!
Currently listening to Moon Over Soho by B Aaronovitch and laughing out loud in public places.
Download, download!
Currently listening to Moon Over Soho by B Aaronovitch and laughing out loud in public places.
Reposted by Tonia Collett
The Welsh Government are doing a consultation on its pro-trans schools policy. UK GCs are trying to push it in an anti-trans direction. If you possibly can, please join me in filling out the consultation to reinforce the pro-trans stance.
Deadline 31 July.
www.gov.wales/rights-respe...
Deadline 31 July.
www.gov.wales/rights-respe...
Rights, respect, equality anti-bullying guidance | GOV.WALES
We are seeking your views on revising the draft statutory guidance on anti-bullying.
www.gov.wales
July 13, 2025 at 9:36 AM
The Welsh Government are doing a consultation on its pro-trans schools policy. UK GCs are trying to push it in an anti-trans direction. If you possibly can, please join me in filling out the consultation to reinforce the pro-trans stance.
Deadline 31 July.
www.gov.wales/rights-respe...
Deadline 31 July.
www.gov.wales/rights-respe...
Reposted by Tonia Collett
Not enough has been written about Schrödinger’s assistant, Otto.
June 28, 2025 at 2:44 PM
Not enough has been written about Schrödinger’s assistant, Otto.
"Sometimes, however, an airhead is simply an airhead. Modern women deserve better than Marie Antoinette as a model."
observer.co.uk/news/opinion...
observer.co.uk/news/opinion...
History’s women have more to tell us than their fashion c...
Let them wear Manolos! The Victoria & Albert Museum has unveiled plans for an exhibition on the fashion legacy of Marie Antoinette.The museum bills ...
observer.co.uk
June 23, 2025 at 7:08 PM
"Sometimes, however, an airhead is simply an airhead. Modern women deserve better than Marie Antoinette as a model."
observer.co.uk/news/opinion...
observer.co.uk/news/opinion...
It's #NCVO #smallcharityweek! Use this week to support the small do big things. #TheBigGive has a raft of them (donate.biggive.org/small-charit...) to chose from...
Small Charity Week 2025 – Big Give
Big Give, Global’s Make Some Noise and NCVO are championing vital, small charities across the UK.
Between 12pm (midday) 23rd June and 12pm (midday) 30th June, donate to a small charity and we'll doub...
donate.biggive.org
June 23, 2025 at 12:25 PM
It's #NCVO #smallcharityweek! Use this week to support the small do big things. #TheBigGive has a raft of them (donate.biggive.org/small-charit...) to chose from...
Reposted by Tonia Collett
News | National museum security guards secure ‘life-changing’ pay rises after strike – victory for workers who took more than 50 days of industrial action
@uvwunion.bsky.social
@uvwunion.bsky.social
National museum security guards secure ‘life-changing’ pay rises after strike - Museums Association
Victory for workers who took more than 50 days of industrial action
www.museumsassociation.org
June 18, 2025 at 2:57 PM
News | National museum security guards secure ‘life-changing’ pay rises after strike – victory for workers who took more than 50 days of industrial action
@uvwunion.bsky.social
@uvwunion.bsky.social
A visit to Dove Cottage at Grasmere last week, an example of a writers house done right. Massively impressed, as was my non-poetry-interested husband. Atmospheric not stagey, thoughtful not staid.
#wordsworth #lakedistrict
#wordsworth #lakedistrict
June 18, 2025 at 2:19 PM
A visit to Dove Cottage at Grasmere last week, an example of a writers house done right. Massively impressed, as was my non-poetry-interested husband. Atmospheric not stagey, thoughtful not staid.
#wordsworth #lakedistrict
#wordsworth #lakedistrict
Reposted by Tonia Collett
Every once in a while, the moons align, the stars form the pattern and the gods smile nicely on my mango destoning game...
June 17, 2025 at 12:04 PM
Every once in a while, the moons align, the stars form the pattern and the gods smile nicely on my mango destoning game...
Reposted by Tonia Collett
Excited about our next #photography 📷 #exhibition opening next week. Stay tuned for further details!
hundredheroines.org/poisoned-fut...
hundredheroines.org/poisoned-fut...
June 7, 2025 at 5:56 AM
Excited about our next #photography 📷 #exhibition opening next week. Stay tuned for further details!
hundredheroines.org/poisoned-fut...
hundredheroines.org/poisoned-fut...
“Because frankly, I don’t tell anybody what to think. I can’t bear it when people tell me what to think. That’s not what we do. We want to provide multiple perspectives to equip people to navigate this crazy world we’re in, to understand it, to build empathy..." 🎉
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Manchester Museum named European museum of the year
‘Gobsmacked’ director says 138-year-old museum aims to ‘build empathy for other people and the natural world’
www.theguardian.com
May 28, 2025 at 3:03 PM
“Because frankly, I don’t tell anybody what to think. I can’t bear it when people tell me what to think. That’s not what we do. We want to provide multiple perspectives to equip people to navigate this crazy world we’re in, to understand it, to build empathy..." 🎉
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Reposted by Tonia Collett
Back in September, in an event with us and @legroff.bsky.social, Colm Toibin talked about how this was happening in Ireland. Looks like it has moved to the UK too. It's IMPERATIVE that this be condemned and resisted.
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/a...
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/a...
Librarians in UK increasingly asked to remove books, as influence of US pressure groups spreads
Anecdotal evidence suggests a rise in requests to take books off shelves, particularly LGBTQ+ titles
www.theguardian.com
April 14, 2025 at 7:44 AM
Back in September, in an event with us and @legroff.bsky.social, Colm Toibin talked about how this was happening in Ireland. Looks like it has moved to the UK too. It's IMPERATIVE that this be condemned and resisted.
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/a...
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/a...
Good to see targeted funding for local authority museums. Quite a few of the museums I know and love (and at least one I worked in) are LA and they're ordinarily excluded from quite a few funding programmes.
🗞️ The Museum Renewal Fund is live!
Following @dcmsgovuk.bsky.social announcement of a £20 million fund to support valued regional museums in safeguarding community access to collections, the Museum Renewal Fund is now accepting applications until 22 May.
Find out more 🧵👇
Following @dcmsgovuk.bsky.social announcement of a £20 million fund to support valued regional museums in safeguarding community access to collections, the Museum Renewal Fund is now accepting applications until 22 May.
Find out more 🧵👇
April 10, 2025 at 12:26 PM
Good to see targeted funding for local authority museums. Quite a few of the museums I know and love (and at least one I worked in) are LA and they're ordinarily excluded from quite a few funding programmes.
If I can grow nothing else on this planet, I can grow rosemary so big, it will blot out the skies* and attract all the bees.
#allotment
*won't actually blot out the skies. But over a metre high is still impressive
#allotment
*won't actually blot out the skies. But over a metre high is still impressive
April 6, 2025 at 1:30 PM
If I can grow nothing else on this planet, I can grow rosemary so big, it will blot out the skies* and attract all the bees.
#allotment
*won't actually blot out the skies. But over a metre high is still impressive
#allotment
*won't actually blot out the skies. But over a metre high is still impressive
Reposted by Tonia Collett
Neat thing at this conference: a librarian crocheted a scarf based on how many emails they sent in a year -- posted with their permission.
April 4, 2025 at 2:51 PM
Neat thing at this conference: a librarian crocheted a scarf based on how many emails they sent in a year -- posted with their permission.