Making Ourselves Useful – historical societies in the community

presented by Bendigo Historical Society & Royal Historical Society of Victoria

Victorian Historical Societies have been invited to the Shamrock Hotel in Bendigo for ‘Making Ourselves Useful – historical societies in the community’.

This regional seminar will be held on Sunday 7 September 2025, from 9am-4.30pm at the Shamrock Hotel, 9-13 Williamson Steet, Bendigo.

Representatives from local history groups including, Shepparton, Kilmore, Daylesford, Benalla, Jeparit and Bendigo will present how they define being useful in their community.

We all would like to think we are valued by our communities, in one way or another.

Speakers will discuss how being useful is important, and what they have done to win the ‘useful’ tag. The discussion will be illustrated with examples of successes….or failures

Featuring keynote speaker Fiona Kinsey, Senior Curator, History & Technology Department, Museums Victoria. Fiona has worked with community collection custodians and is familiar with the rich collections held in historical societies.

The seminar will be followed by an afternoon forum led by Simone Ewenson, Heritage Collections Officer, City of Greater Bendigo. Simone will open the discussion up to everyone and provide the opportunity to share usefulness stories with other volunteers.

The seminar is kindly supported by the City of Greater Bendigo who are subsidising the registration cost for volunteers and refreshments during the day.

For those in Bendigo on the afternoon of Saturday 6 September, a city centre walk of Quirky Pall Mall will be offered by Bendigo Historical Society.

Morning tea and lunch provided in registration fee.

Click here for full program and booking details:

https://www.historyvictoria.org.au/event/weekend-seminar-making-ourselves-useful/