ABOUT ME
I am an experienced professional with nearly three decades of experience in the museums and heritage sector across England and Wales and based in Chester in the north-west. My career began with a focus on learning, interpretation and access and expanded to include collections management and museum development. I have worked for organisations such as the National Trust, local authority museums and independent museums. I have direct experience of living history museums, historic houses, heritage gardens, churches and industrial sites, as well as museums.
My Consultancy
In April 2021, I launched my consultancy, L Podmore Consulting, to independently guide museum development. This takes many forms - work on accreditation, learning, research, evaluation, collections support, sector training, interpretation and audience development. Between April and September 2024, I wrote supporting documents to aid two National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) bid applications with Tricolor Associates. Separately, my work on the Wellbeing case studies in Welsh museums and a study on the UCL positive wellbeing umbrella in Welsh Museums was published by the Welsh Government. In 2025, a highlight was applying my knowledge into a Church environment. For three years I have acted as a Museum Assessor for Transformational Grants enabling sustainability in Wales.
Volunteer Work
Beyond my consultancy, I have an ongoing commitment to the cultural sector through various volunteer work: I am co-founder and trustee to an arts charity that provides small grants to museums, art galleries, artists and communities for projects which 'foster the appreciation of fine and decorative art' - a position I have held since 2019. In 2025, I volunteered as a Panel Member for the Museum Association to help shape the conference and was selected as an external Health and Wellbeing Panel Member to support grant-making decisions for grant rounds in 2025 and 2026. Further back, I was a trustee for Museum Federation Cymru and a mentor for the Group for Education in Museums (GEM) as part of their 1-2-1 Mentoring scheme.
Qualifications
I hold a Master’s degree in Museum Studies from the University of Leicester and a Postgraduate Certificate in Heritage Management from the University of Birmingham. I am certified as a Coach, Carbon Literate and a Mental Health First Aider.
Notable Employee Roles
The foundation of my consultancy is based on some impactful roles:
At Quarry Bank, part of the National Trust, I cared for the 1830s pauper house and took on line management responsibilities within the learning team, delivering educational programmes for schools and visitors. I also created a volunteer interpretation manual and performed in the region’s first heritage drama team., creating a volunteer interpretation manual and performing in the first regional drama team. At Wrexham County Borough Council, I contributed to the authority’s first gallery redesign, developed and led cultural partnership projects for underserved groups and strengthened engagement across the county’s industrial museums including lead mining and ironworks sites. At Tatton Park, the region’s largest visitor attraction, I led two teams and welcomed over 14,000 pupils, supported temporary exhibitions. In collaboration with department leads, I launched 60 lifelong learning sessions for family and adult audiences; with my learning team we celebrated being awarded the Sandford Award for Heritage Education. With Conwy County Borough Council, independent museums across North Wales were supported with capital redevelopment, funding, collections care and accreditation. For the local authority, decanting the collections to a new purpose-built storage facility was completed.
