Each month, staff from the Amelia and the wider council will be sharing an hour of their time with young Home Educators, giving them a hands-on introduction to their role.
Read more to find out how they get on.
10th February 2026
Home Educator Careers Taster - Session six
Jobs of the month: Heather Stracey, Senior Collections Officer, The Amelia Scott
Eve Edmondes, Casual Collections Assistant, The Amelia Scott
This month, our Home Educators took up the chance to find out what it’s like working as part of the Amelia Collections Team.
This was very much a ‘behind the scenes’ session, with the group immediately being led off the visitor route, down into the Collections Store to meet Heather and Eve.
The session itself began in the Costume Store where, surrounded by immaculately packed costume dating back 300 years, Heather gave the group an insight into her career path, explaining she’d started out with a BA and MA in history – and lots of volunteering in museums and archives. Her first job was in the National Archives but upon entering the museum world, she’d understood her true calling and hasn’t looked back since!
The group learnt that the Amelia has six underground stores, plus an additional site off store for the really massive objects! When objects first arrive, they must go into the quarantine room to make sure no bugs or creepy crawlies infect the collection. The costume is covered in Tyvek, a material which doesn’t allow anything in but does allow the costumes to breathe.
“How did people wear these clothes if they’re so delicate?” asked one of the home educators.
Heather explained that lots of what has survived was for ‘best’ and only worn occasionally. Workwear didn’t survive as it was worn until it was quite literally no longer hanging together.
Conservators also play a key role in Collections. If clothes are to be displayed on a mannequin, they may need to go the conservators first. Heather explained that conservators need a good eye and a lot of patience!
The students were then shown the acid-free paper required to protect museum objects, as well as the special acid boxes.
“I didn’t expect special cardboard boxes to be needed!” exclaimed one of the learners in surprise.
The group were led to the main Collections store, which houses taxidermy, toys, farming tools (e.g. for hop picking), fine art – and the world’s largest collection of Tunbridge Ware.
Heather and Eve explained the importance of monitoring the temperature and humidity levels in the store. Temperatures may fluctuate due to the weather but if the temperature got too hot or too cold, an alarm would go off on the Collections Teams’ phones. However, the basement is the best place for the store since heat rises.
“How old does an object need to be to be considered for the museum?
Heather and Eve both responded saying if could be from yesterday!
Eve now took the lead, explaining that she too had taken history at university and had been volunteering in museums since the age of 12. She currently works part time at The Amelia, which suits her for the moment as she is still in the early stage of her career.
It was now time for the learners to get hands on! After tackling some rather obstinate nitrile gloves, the group were each given a sheet of acid-free tissue paper and shown how to make ‘puffs’ (pads to protect objects in boxes) and ‘sausages’ (rolls to cushion them around the edges). Once they had tightly packed their boxes, the group were instructed to carry out the ‘shake test’ to check nothing was rolling around precariously!
With their boxes signed off by Eve and Heather, the group concluded another fascinating glimpse into careers at The Amelia!
The Home Educator Careers Taster series continues the second Tuesday of each month 10am-11.30am. To find out more and to book onto a session, click here.