Nottingham Castle staff criticise organisational culture

Around 40 current and former staff at Nottingham Castle Trust have backed curator Panya Banjoko’s call for the board of trustees to step down following months of turmoil at the heritage site.

Banjoko has submitted formal complaints about the board’s handling of an incident last August where she says her grandchildren were racially abused and physically assaulted at the castle’s outdoor play area.

In an open letter released earlier this month, the staff said they “fully support Panya Banjoko’s call for the trustees to step down and be replaced with a diverse and fully representative board”.

They also backed a complaint made last November by an anonymous collective of seven staff of colour about how they had been affected by the trust’s handling of the incident.

The letter said that despite the board’s publicly stated commitment to positive change, “the situation has worsened for staff of colour and wider Nottingham Castle staff” since last November's statement.

The letter continued: “Skilled, talented staff, and committed volunteers have been driven out by the decisions and toxic culture created by the trustees. In statements, the trustees claim to offer opportunities for people to talk but they have shown us that they cannot be trusted.

“Staff who remain are too scared to speak to trustees, or senior management who support them, after seeing what happened to our colleagues when they tried.”

The letter said it was not unusual to see staff crying and visibly distressed at work.

“Many staff have given up hope after trying their hardest to speak up and being blocked from bringing about even the most basic of positive changes needed,” the letter continued. “Colleagues have said they feel scared, threatened, gaslit, and are now at breaking point. We cannot go on like this.”

The letter said staff had been offered “no meaningful support” and warned that safeguarding at the castle was “woefully under-resourced”, with all of the original safeguarding team having left the trust since it reopened in June 2021. A recent independent investigation found a number of safeguarding breaches were made in the trust’s handling of the incident.

The letter continued: “Our concerns around racism have been met with, at best, avoidance. We feel silenced. We have not been provided adequate advice, training, or support since the hate incident last August. Instead, we are made to feel that trustees and management resent having to step up as leaders and instead want to put it all in the past rather than learn lessons and improve the organisation.”

Museums Journal understands that a number of staff have resigned in recent months, including one since the open letter was released. Employees also handed a banner to protestors demonstrating outside the museum earlier this month to show solidarity with Banjoko.

A spokeswoman for the trust said: “The trust has completed its investigation and is satisfied that positive improvements have and are continuing to be made. We are now focused on making the castle a great place to visit for as many people as possible from a wide range of backgrounds.”