Feedback survey for people who have visited The Rum Story

This survey is for people who have visited The Rum Story. It asks for feedback to help us improve this attraction as part of The Rum Story Re-Imagined Project, made possible by The National Lottery Heritage Fund. The questions about you help us check a wide variety of people are feeding in. It should take 5 -10 minutes to fill in. Feel free to skip any questions you don't want to answer or aren't sure how to.

If you complete the survey and give your email you'll be entered into a prize draw on 23.10.25. Prizes:
1 x £50 The Edge Coastal Activities Centre voucher
1 x £40 Rum Story Shop voucher
1 x £30 Zest Harbourside voucher
1 x £30 One4All gift card
1 x £30 Main Street Hair and Beauty voucher
1 x £30 The Strand voucher

(Max 1 entry/person. Whitehaven Harbour Commissioners and Anti Racist Cumbria employees may not enter.)

By completing this survey, you consent to Whitehaven Harbour Commissioners and Anti Racist Cumbria storing this data securely and using it to inform the project evaluation and recommendations report. Emails will be used for the purposes of contacting you about the project/prize draw. Data will only be accessed by project staff, evaluators, consultants and team members, and will be destroyed by 2030.

We know people self-identify in many ways and the ways we've included may not be ones you would use. Do feedback to katy.haigh@rumstory.co.uk on this.

3.What could we do differently to make it a better experience?

Make it more accessible

Cover different topics

Make it lighter (less dark)

Make it more interactive

Make the history more relevant to the here and now

Cover the subject matter more thoughtfully

Something else (please specify)

4.What did you feel you had learnt most about after visiting The Rum Story?

Something else (please specify)

5.How can we make it more accessible and thought-provoking?

Something else (please specify)

6.What would encourage more people to visit? Or make you visit again?

Regularly changing displays so there is something new to experience

Offering annual passes

Making it more interactive

Advertising it more widely

Having one-off events there

Making it clearer what it's about

Something else (please specify)

7.How could we make The Rum Story feel more relevant to your life?

Include stories and perspectives of local people

Cover topics relating to local places

Help visitors see the connections between the past and the present

Provide opportunities for visitors to share their thoughts and responses in the attraction

Tell stories of everyday people alongside the stories of people in positions of privilege and power

Something else (please specify)

8.How can we help visitors understand that this history still affects the present?

Cover modern day slavery in the exhibition

Cover racism in the exhibition

Show the lasting impacts it has had on Whitehaven

Show the lasting impacts it has had on British and global society and culture

Through telling the stories of people that have been hidden in the past

Through art and creative responses

Something else (please specify)

9.What benefits would you like to see The Rum Story creating for Whitehaven and local people?

More work and volunteering opportunities

More people visiting and spending their money in Whitehaven

More people knowing about Whitehaven and seeing it in a positive light

Educating people about their shared heritage

Bringing communities together and developing understanding

Better understanding of the lasting impacts on slavery

More curiosity and critical thinking about we can do better as a society and as individuals

Something else (please specify)

10.How can we tell a more complete history?

Provide more information about artefacts and displays in the exhibition

Provide more context

Provide more balanced information, representing multiple perspectives better

Don't just use the written word - use images, audio, video and interactive activity

Something else (please specify)

12.What best describes your gender?

Female

Male

Non-Binary

Prefer not to say

Prefer to self-describe. (Please use this box to describe your gender in your own words.)

13.What best describes your sexual orientation? Please self-describe.

Prefer not to say

Will self-describe. (Please use this box to describe your sexual orientation in your own words.)

15.Are you neurodivergent? Are you autistic, dyslexic or dyspraxic, and/or do you have ADHD, dyscalculia, OCD, Tourettes, auditory processing disorder or any other neurodivergence we have not mentioned?

Yes

Prefer not to say

16.Do you consider yourself disabled or to have a long-term health condition?

Yes

Prefer not to say

17.Have you experienced barriers when looking to access places or information?

Prefer not to say

Yes. (Tell us what would make your experience of The Rum Story more accessible and enjoyable if you'd like to.)

18.When you were a child did you ever receive free school meals?

Yes

Prefer not to say

20.Are you happy to give your postcode to tell us where people live in relation to The Rum Story?

No - prefer not to say

Yes. (Please write it in here. You can just write the first half of it if you don't want to give your exact postcode.)

21.Please provide your email address if you want to be entered into the prize draw.

Thank you so much for completing this survey.