This Inspires Me…
- River & Rowing Museum takes part in Cultural Olympiad launch weekend -
- Free Admission on Saturday 27 September -
- Meet Past and Current Olympians -

17 September 2008: A Victorian body drag used to find dead bodies in the Thames, a 250,000-year-old axe and some fossilised dinosaur poo! Just a few of the unusual things that will be displayed in This Inspires Me… 26 September 2008 - 4 January 2009 at the River and Rowing Museum www.rrm.co.uk. This new exhibition will show you the weird and wonderful collection we've built up over our 10 years, including things chosen by celebrities such as David Suchet.

This Inspires Me…

• FREE admission to the Museum on Saturday 27 September to mark the 10th Anniversary of the River & Rowing Museum and celebrate the launch of the Cultural Olympiad
  
  
• Meet Olympic rowers on Friday (26), Saturday (27) and Sunday (28) from 10:30am - 12:30pm
  
  
• Choose your favourite objects from the Museum Collection and tell us about your most treasured possessions for a chance to have them showcased in the 'People's Choice' display

This Inspires Me… will present a diverse collection of objects and will provide an intriguing exploration into what objects mean to us and why. The display will include objects chosen by high profile local residents including the body drag nominated by actor David Suchet.

This Inspires Me… celebrates the 10th Anniversary of the River & Rowing Museum and opens as part of the launch weekend for the Cultural Olympiad for the 2012 Games, Friday 26 - Sunday 28 September. The Cultural Olympiad is a four-year programme that will highlight the country's diversity by using both culture and sport to create works and events that will bring people and places together, encourage audiences to take part, involve and inspire young people, welcome the world to the 2012 Games and create a lasting legacy. Hundreds of events will be taking place across the country.

Commenting on his chosen object, a Thames Conservancy body drag, used to search for human remains, David Suchet said: "Usually I am drawn to the beauty of the River Thames, but this gruesome object made a startling impression and reminded me of the darker and more dangerous side of the waterway. Who knows how many poor souls this dragged out, having died by accident, misadventure or even foul deed?"

Paul Mainds, Trustee and Chief Executive, River & Rowing Museum said: "This Inspires Me is a fantastic opportunity for people to really explore their personal connection with objects and come to an understanding of just why it is that museums collect these objects and put them on display. Being part of the Cultural Olympiad launch weekend activities is a great chance for the Museum to demonstrate its early commitment to the Cultural Olympiad, a programme in which we look forward to playing a key role over the next four years and beyond."

Visitors can use the Museum all year round for the price of just one ticket. Each admission ticket provides FREE, unlimited entry to the Museum for 12 months from the date of the original purchase, providing great value for all the family. Tickets start from as little as £3.50 per adult and £2.50 per child over three years old. Children under three go free. Children must be accompanied by an adult at all times.

For full exhibition and event information please visit www.rrm.co.uk

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Amanda Dellor
01491 415642
amanda.dellor@rrm.co.uk

Katie Jackson
020 7221 7883
katie.jackson@kallaway.co.uk

Notes to Editors

The River & Rowing Museum (www.rrm.co.uk)
The River & Rowing Museum is one of the UK's leading regional and sporting museums, attracting over 100,000 visitors a year. The Museum, an independent charity, also has a purpose built education centre visited by over 20,000 children and adults a year.

The Museum provides superb value for money. Tickets start at £3.50 for adults and £2.50 for children, and provide free access for one year.

The Museum celebrates three themes explored through a wide variety of exhibitions and events across four galleries and special exhibitions:

• The past, present and future of the River Thames
• The historic riverside community of Henley on Thames
• The international sport of rowing
• The Wind in the Willows

The Wind in the Willows exhibition recreates the timeless E H Shepard illustrations from Kenneth Grahame's famous novel. The exhibition has been a major success and the Museum will part of the national celebrations to mark the 100th birthday of this famous book, later in the year.

Since opening in August 1998 the Museum has received numerous awards including the National Heritage/NPI Museum of the Year award and the Sandford Award For Heritage Education.

Location, opening and ticket information
The River & Rowing Museum (www.rrm.co.uk), Mill Meadows, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, RG9 1BF. Tel. 01491 415600

• The museum, terrace café and shop are open every day from 10am - 5.30pm in summer and 10am - 5pm in the winter
  
  
• Each admission ticket provides FREE entry to the Museum for one year from the date of purchase.
  
  
• Admission for the Museum Galleries: £3.50 for adults, £2.50 for children and £3 for senior citizens and concessions
  
  
• Admission for the Galleries and The Wind in the Willows exhibition: £7 for adults, £5 for children and £6 for senior citizens and concessions
  
  
• Free parking for visitors

The River & Rowing Museum is part of the Thames Valley Museums Group (TVMG) Family Friendly initiative - a scheme which brings together 29 museums across Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, to promote their popular appeal to the whole family.


About the Cultural Olympiad (www.london2012.com/culture)
The Cultural Olympiad of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games launches on the weekend of the Friday 26 - Sunday 28 September with hundreds of events taking place across the country. Plans for the Cultural Olympiad include:

• Four years of cultural celebration, excellence and participation
• Inspire marks
• Major national projects

Inspired by the founder of the modern Olympic movement, Pierre de Coubertin's idea of a marriage of sport and the arts, the Cultural Olympiad is designed to celebrate Olympic and Paralympic values in the cultural field. It will highlight the country's diversity by using both culture and sport to create works and events that will bring people and places together, encourage audiences to take part, involve and inspire young people, and create a lasting legacy.

The launch weekend is themed 'Open Weekend' with cultural organisations across the country kicking off the celebrations for the Cultural Olympiad with many institutions and organisations offering the public the chance to see or take part in something which is happening as a special event, or that would normally take place behind the scenes.

Inspire mark projects- The London 2012 Inspire mark is awarded to outstanding surprising, exciting, and brand-new cultural projects inspired by London 2012 and recognised as helping to deliver the Games' lasting legacy.

Major projects- Ten new major cultural projects on a national scale covering all aspects of arts, culture and heritage from disability arts, film and theatre through to music heritage, and carnival. The major projects will have significant impact in the nations and regions throughout the four years and generate long-term benefit to the culture of the UK.

The Cultural Olympiad is a partnership between the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG), arts and cultural organisations across the UK, and London 2012 stakeholders. There is a Creative Programmer to curate a programme of activities in each nation and region of the United Kingdom.

For more information please go to www.london2012.com/culture

Further information of the Cultural Olympiad:

LOCOG Online Media Centre
The full press information about the Cultural Olympiad, including speeches by Sebastian Coe and Jude Kelly, details on all major projects, open weekend events and national and regional images can be downloaded from: www.london2012.com/news/index.php

Creative Programmer, South East:
Caterina Loriggio
07899 846833
CaterinaLoriggio@seeda.co.uk

For Media Enquiries on the Cultural Olympiad
William Kallaway
Kallaway: 020 7221 7883
will.kallaway@kallaway.co.uk

Emma Lawson
Kallaway: 020 7221 7883
emma.lawson@kallaway.co.uk

LOCOG
Rebecca Miller, Media Adviser - Culture
0203 2012 251
Rebecca.Miller@london2012.com

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