A few points from my perspective as a 45 year old aircraft enthusiast working in the Aerospace industry with a youngish family.
The comment “The reality is that after late teens, people find other things to interest them, like girls (or boys!), then they study, go to Uni, get jobs, families, commitments etc.” Accurately describes my situation. I’d love to volunteer at my local museum, Tangmere, but I can’t guarantee my availability. Too much other stuff like getting the children to do their homework, keeping them fed & watered, get them to Cubs, Rainbows etc. Juggling that with a job takes up 90% of my time. The other 10 % I’m generally cream crackered. So I’m going to be one of those retiree volunteers.
However, wrt getting the youngsters involved I would say there is much interest out there if you make them aware.
I’m involved with an organisation called “STEMNET” (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths NETwork) through work. This is a collection of people who work in Science, Technology, Engineering & Maths related professions who go out to schools/colleges and other organisations to introduce youngsters to these subjects. It is backed by our employers and allows us to show the Fun/Interest Factor of what we do and how they themselves can aim to do these things.
My experience has been that children ARE interested in these things (engineering) if you present them properly and make the youngsters realise they are accessable.
Could the museums/preservation organisations get together in a similar manner to spread the word. Is the BAPC the correct body to oversee this or is something else needed ? You won’t get everyone interested but only a fraction of a % would help.
The company I work for now runs an apprenticeship which takes approx 10 -14 apprentices a year in the UK in an effort to assure a supply of young people with the right skills. We have found that there is a large number of applicants for these apprenticeships, which shows that there is still interest in manufacturing here. Unfortunately there are not the jobs out there to go with that interest now.
One thing I have found with the apprentices, as good & keen as they are, is there does not seem to be the basic engineering grounding that people my age had from helping dad with the car, building models, playing with Meccano etc.
On a more personnal level, my two sons aged 8 & 10 are interested in aircraft, cars, tanks etc. They thoroughly enjoyed Hendon & Bovington tank museum. Tangmere has been visited on a fair few occasions. They love the Lightning even though they have never seen one move. They still talk of when they we allowed in the cockpit of the Sandringham at Solent Skies several years ago.
As for hands on stuff, I’ve had them in the shed on my small lathe & milling machine, which again then enjoyed. They keep requesting that I teach them MIG welding but I’ve resisted that so far, but not for much longer.
As a parent I have learnt that you generally need interactive/exciting exhibits with youngsters. One area where Tangmere scores is with it’s use of flight simulators. The time out function after a few minutes being an inspired feature that cuts out any arguments about who’s had the longest go.
One sad comment though was “Dad, why are all the jet fighters made in America these days”. This also emphasised that we need to make the general population more aware of what we do actually do/have done in this country. Does the BAPC have a media policy/officer to this end ?
So, from all this I would say as long as you make youngsters aware and make it accessable and hands on, you will get some interest from the them. UK manufacturing isn’t quite dead yet, though I have see skills and knowledge lost as the older generations retire. Getting together a central reference/database of processes would be a good idea before it is too late. Though I recognise it may already be in some cases.
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