Museum volunteers protest over suspensions

The protesters gathered outside the museum on Thursday

Volunteers have protested outside a museum after their memberships were suspended.

Barbara Davies, 91, is one of eight people who volunteered at Brixham Heritage Museum before being suspended in November 2022.

They said they had received no explanation from the museum.

The museum said the suspended volunteers had been offered opportunities to meet with trustees individually, but had not taken that option. It added it was "moving the museum forwards to a bright future with the support of stakeholders".

The volunteers said they had not had an explanation from the museum about why they were suspended

Ms Davies said she was "hysterical" when she received the email that told her that her membership had been suspended.

She said: "I think it's actually disgraceful, to suspend us all and not tell us why.

"I don't understand their thinking."

She said she used to "enjoy" the "members of the public coming in and having a chat..."

'Unbelievable'

Josephine Thompson, who was also a volunteer at the museum until she was suspended in 2022, said the suspension had "taken up an enormous amount of emotional and physical energy".

She said she thought it was "unbelievable", and that it was important to "stand up" for volunteers generally.

In a statement, the museum said one of the volunteers had been excluded from the museum on a separate disciplinary matter.

It said an investigation was under way.

It said: "Legal and professional advice has been taken on behalf of the museum and we hope that this situation will be resolved soon."

The museum said this investigation had been "ongoing for some time" and was a "matter for the trustees".

The museum's trustees declined to comment further.