The ‘Level Up’ project has been funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and its aim is to engage communities from across the region through local representatives, pop-up exhibitions and other activities.
The project will see the museum collaborate with a diverse range of participants from Sheffield, Rotherham, Barnsley and Chesterfield, with the aim of building ongoing community relationships and promoting the museum’s core ethos of ‘videogames are for everyone’.
Back in October the museum hosted a taster day celebrating the launch of the Level Up project. This included free entry and time to explore the museum, a keynote talk from game industry professionals as well as opportunities to give feedback on the museum.
“The museum’s ethos is ‘videogames are for everyone’, so we want to make sure that we’re involving people from across our community,” said NVM Community Outreach Officer Lauren O’Donoghue. “You don’t have to be a ‘gamer’ to get involved. Anyone who wants to meet new people, develop new skills and learn more about the exciting world of videogames is more than welcome!”
We also recruited a team of Community Champions who will collaborate on future exhibitions and provide vital feedback to the museum. They were even treated to a talk from Sheffield videogame company Boneloaf.
Other events to have taken place saw us work with the Really NEET Project in Rotherham and Barnsley Refugee Council. In Barnsley, we discussed experiences with videogames and museums. We talked about why it’s so important to preserve gaming history and culture. Like the taster day, members were also given the opportunity to discuss what they’d like to see in our museum.
Participants also got to take part in a coding activity featuring the Sphero robot football. The aim is to move the mini robot ball around a pitch and change its colours by using code on an accompanying tablet.
The Level Up project is now taking it’s next big step with a series of pop-up exhibitions taking place in the local community.
We’re so excited to visit our local communities with our pop-up exhibitions. These are taking place at 6 sites over May and June 2023. The venues were selected in collaboration with Community Champion volunteers with the aim of reaching a range of people across the local region.
If you’re in or around the South Yorkshire or Chesterfield area swing by to meet our staff and community champions. Take part in Hi-Score competitions and discuss all things videogames!
All exhibitions take place between 10am-4pm (unless otherwise stated).
Sheffield
Rotherham
Barnsley
Chesterfield
Our pop-up exhibits will feature a variety of items to help discuss videogame history, culture and highlight why videogames matter in our lives.
There will be:
