Glow-worm heritage products now proudly on show at Derby Museums Museum of Making
This week Glow-worm’s parent company, Vaillant Group launched the first phase in it’s 3 year partnership with Derby Museums, bringing new investment to develop future engineering skills in the region.
As a leading manufacturer of heat pumps, boilers and complimenting heating system products, Vaillant Group is one of the largest manufacturers based in Derbyshire. This year the Belper based business celebrates 90 years of heritage with its Glow-worm brand and 150 years with Vaillant. Having invested more than £50 million into the region, it has now partnered with Derby Museums on a new suite of educational programmes designed to inspire the apprentices, engineers and makers of the future.
The Museum of Making in Derby is widely regarded as the site of the world’s first modern factory, and today focusses it’s exhibitions on the history of making and engineering. As a free museum, it attracts visitors of all ages, including schools and families. As a key employer in the local area, Vaillant Group is delighted to be able to showcase making and engineering in such a public space with an aim to encourage more people into the heating sector.
Launching on 12th June, visitors to the Museum of Making will now be able to learn more about low carbon heating through its new Power Pod display. Alongside other industrial artefacts from Derby Museums’ collections, the new display showcases the innovations from both Vaillant and Glow-worm, looking at heritage boilers such as the Vaillant Geyser and the worlds smallest boiler, the Glow-worm Micron. The display also highlights the future of heating showing heat pump technology with a demonstration Vaillant aroTHERM plus.
The partnership will also see the creation of a ‘Launch into Engineering’ project – where secondary school pupils will be invited to spend time in the Museum of Making’s Workshop, visit the Vaillant Group manufacturing plant and get a taste of life in the heating industry. For the next three years, Vaillant Group will collaborate on special workshops for visitors to get involved and understand low carbon alternatives in heating and new initiatives in education and skills development for the region.
Henrik Hansen, Managing Director of Vaillant Group in the UK & Ireland, said: “Our partnership with Derby Museums is a great way for us to celebrate our local manufacturing heritage. We’ve been in Derby for 90 years with Glow-worm and this year we are proud to celebrate 150 years with Vaillant. We are a major employer in the area and are looking to promote engineering and manufacturing in the region and to continue investing in Derby, making the city attractive for current and future generations.
“We value the opportunity to support Derby Museums through educating the public on manufacturing engineering skills. We are especially excited to link the partnership to our Apprenticeship programme with Derby College, as a major manufacturer in the region it is our responsibility to support and invest in our young people to secure the future of low carbon home heating.
Cathy Putz, Director of Programmes at Derby Museums, said: “We are delighted to have secured the support of Vaillant Group through this multi-year partnership to support Derby Museums’ ambitions to grow, develop and inspire a community of makers and engineers in the area. The Museum of Making is committed to exploring Derbyshire’s making past, present and future and we are excited to be partnering with Vaillant Group to build on successful existing industry partnerships. In a world where sustainability and climate consciousness is paramount, through this partnership Vaillant Group is continuing this legacy of innovation and invention and aligns well with Derby Museums’ goals to empower makers and engineers of the future and facilitate discussions on how we might live in a more environmentally conscious way considering lower carbon alternatives.”
For more information on low carbon heating or switching to a heat pump please visit Vaillant.
Derby Museums’ free Museum of Making is open Tuesday – Saturday 10am-5pm and Sunday 10am-4pm where visitors will be able to see Vaillant’s new Power Pod display.