Fright at the Museum with Neath College

Travel and Tourism students from Neath College have been hard at work, this half-term, organising and running a spooktacular Halloween event at the South Wales Miners’ Museum in Afan Forest Park.

The event, aimed at local children, took place on Friday 2nd November and was hailed a huge success, with families coming from across Neath/Port Talbot to be entertained and spooked in equal measure. Visitors took a scary ghost walk on the haunted heritage trail and explored the museum, which was transformed into a haunted mine with scary stories being told.

The students spent the whole week working with staff from the museum to set up and promote the event. The first part of the week was dedicated to decorating the front of the museum and the heritage trail, whilst thinking about how best to promote the event with leaflets, flyers and social media coverage.

As well as the creative side of the project, students were able to get an insight into the day-to-day running of the museum and hone their customer services skills. They also got the chance to speak to former miners and hear their stories about working in the mines of the Afan Valley. Some of these stories provided perfect material for the spooky tales they would later recount to visitors.

Lecturer Tina Williams said: “This has been a fantastic opportunity for our students, working alongside staff at the South Wales Miners’ Museum to celebrate Halloween with this spooktacular event. They have learnt valuable customer service and event organisation skills, which will form a part of their Welsh Baccalaureate community project. They have also helped to raise the profile of the museum and its heritage amongst young people in Neath Port Talbot.”

Will Sims, Collections Officer at South Wales Miners’ Museum said: “It’s been great to have the students here. They’ve been really useful in helping the museum become more attractive to a younger audience. I think they’ve gained a lot from the experience; working with the public and organising the event under their own initiative.”