Suffolk’s Museum of East Anglian Life is appealing for volunteers to help an ambitious project documenting and photographing 40,000 artefacts to create one of the largest online museums in the country.

East Anglian Daily Times: Catherine Tournay with an old fire engine lamp Picture: SARAH LUCY BROWNCatherine Tournay with an old fire engine lamp Picture: SARAH LUCY BROWN (Image: Archant)

The project is being carried out by the Stowmarket museum, which has already recruited volunteers from as far afield as the USA and Canada.

People can offer their services either at home or on-site and the museum is encouraging anyone who is able to help to lend a hand cataloguing the vast collection.

So far, photographers have only taken pictures of 120 of the 40,000 artefacts in the museum’s collection.

Museum curator Caitlin Peck said: “We have a big volunteer team but with the people we have we think the project could take four to five years.

East Anglian Daily Times: Catherine Tournay with an old fire engine lamp Picture: SARAH LUCY BROWNCatherine Tournay with an old fire engine lamp Picture: SARAH LUCY BROWN (Image: Archant)

“Our remote volunteers are going through records at home, transferring them to a new online system and picking out star items that they think would be particularly interesting to people.

“However, we don’t have enough people to help take photographs of the exhibits and that’s why we are starting our photography project.

“We need photographers to create high-quality images of our objects to illustrate the new online catalogue.

“We don’t actually know exactly how many objects we have so this will help us count them.“

East Anglian Daily Times: A 1939 ARP (Air Raid Precautions) first aid kit which was identified as a star item by volunteers. Picture: MEATA 1939 ARP (Air Raid Precautions) first aid kit which was identified as a star item by volunteers. Picture: MEAT (Image: Archant)

One of the highlights is the first fire engine used in Stowmarket.

It is made from wood and was used following the famous Stowmarket guncotton explosion that killed 23 people.

Another star object picked out is a 1939 ARP (Air Raid Precautions) first aid kit, containing items such as bandages, slings and dressings, along with shell dressings and anti-gas ointment.

A wedding dress worn by a bride at Combs around 1912, made from linen with a silk train and lace trimming has also beenhighlighted by volunteers.

East Anglian Daily Times: Catherine Tournay with an old fire engine lamp Picture: SARAH LUCY BROWNCatherine Tournay with an old fire engine lamp Picture: SARAH LUCY BROWN (Image: Archant)

Caitlin said: “We have some really interesting objects in storage that we want people to be able to access.

“Some people may be unable to travel across the county to come to the museum for various reasons so we want to make sure they can access our information from home. That’s why we are pushing this appeal across Suffolk to see if anyone would be willing to help.”

For more details go to the museum website.

East Anglian Daily Times: A wedding dress worn by a bride at Combs in c.1920 that is under the museum's care. Picture: MEATA wedding dress worn by a bride at Combs in c.1920 that is under the museum's care. Picture: MEAT (Image: Archant)

East Anglian Daily Times: Catherine Tournay with an old fire engine lamp Picture: SARAH LUCY BROWNCatherine Tournay with an old fire engine lamp Picture: SARAH LUCY BROWN (Image: Archant)

East Anglian Daily Times: Catherine Tournay with an old fire engine lamp Picture: SARAH LUCY BROWNCatherine Tournay with an old fire engine lamp Picture: SARAH LUCY BROWN (Image: Archant)