Penny Russell

Windsor & Royal Borough Museum Volunteer (2016-2022)

Published in Friends’ Newsletter 103 – Spring 2023

We sadly lost one of our wonderful museum volunteers, Penny, who passed away in November 2022 after a period of illness. All the team at W&RBM would like to extend our condolences to the Russell family – Penny’s husband, Gordon and her son, Alex.

Penny had volunteered with us since retiring from her role as Learning Manager for the Royal Collection Trust (based at Windsor Castle) in 2016, becoming a valued team member – leading tours of the Guildhall, researching the collection, or enjoying helping with our now-annual entry for Windsor & Eton Living Advent Calendar.

She will be greatly missed for many reasons; not least because of her keen eye for detail (which came in handy during the museum refit as Penny read through many draft interpretation panels), passion for history (both local and wider), her desire and ability to help others learn at all levels, combined with a positive ‘can do’ attitude and a brilliant sense of humour.

She was an unofficial mentor to the museum team and a great sounding board for all things museum and culture related (and pretty much anything else you could think of with her years of working at the highest levels of her profession).

Penny was always on hand whenever we ran family activities or education sessions, and we felt the benefit of Penny’s vast experience, knowing that she was a very safe pair of hands in any situation. She was an integral part of the team and remained active until very recently, having written a fact sheet for our Platinum Jubilee “Know Your Crowns” activity, which was very well received.

Rest in peace Penny. We miss you.

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