Museums celebrate vital role of volunteers

Museums across the UK are marking the work of their volunteers – from conservators to demonstrators and gardeners – during National Volunteers’ Week.

First launched in 1983, Volunteers’ Week is an annual UK-wide campaign held from the first Monday in June to celebrate and recognise the contributions of volunteers.

Birmingham Museums Trust is celebrating the achievements and contributions of its 100-plus volunteers with events across its sites, including private tours and shows, a lunch in the events suite at Thinktank and picnics at Aston Hall and Blakesley Hall.

Eldina Bolic, the volunteer manager at the trust, said: “We are lucky to have an amazing team of volunteers supporting us across our sites. Our volunteers get involved with a whole range of projects and activities and we couldn't do what we do without them.

“We are very grateful for the skills they bring, the warmth and passion they share and the commitment and loyalty they demonstrate.

“They add a diversity of experience and perspective, helping keep our museums relevant and at the heart of our communities.”

Many turned to social media to share the contributions of their volunteers, like North East Museums which posted on LinkedIn that 738 volunteers volunteered for over 29,000 hours during its last financial year.

The Museums Association (MA) is celebrating the annual week by offering volunteers 15% off new individual membership and publishing a range of case studies that highlight the vital role volunteers play.

The programme for the MA's online event, Helping Hands: Harnessing the Power of Volunteers, has also been published. The event, which takes place on 17 September, will focus on removing barriers to volunteering, volunteer management and empowering volunteers through wellbeing programmes and the culture in organisations.

Speakers include Katie Powell, volunteer manager at the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester and winner of the Heritage Volunteering Group’s Volunteer Leader of the Year Award 2024; Alison Hess and Abdullah Seba from Walthamstow Pumphouse Museum; and Gemma Clarke, sector specialist officer of Elsecar Project at Barnsley Museums.

Removing barriers to volunteering

Pen Foreman, the senior inclusive heritage adviser at Historic England, posted on LinkedIn that volunteers were the essential heart of the heritage sector. They also urged people to complete Historic England’s Heritage Sector Volunteer Diversity Survey that aims to understand who is represented in the sector and remove barriers to heritage.  

On Instagram, Leeds Museums & Galleries took the opportunity to celebrate its digital and communication volunteers.

“With their help, we are making our website and socials more interactive and accessible,” it posted.

“When we can drag them out into the sunlight they have been visiting our venues, capturing photographs and footage that best represent our museums online. They are a lesser spotted volunteer - a rare sight to see out and about - but if you do, make sure to say hi.” 

In London, Katrina Lidbetter, a volunteer at the National Archives, won the London Heritage Volunteer Award in the “Going the Extra Mile” category.

She is one of a team of 22 volunteers who catalogued 203,000 second world war prisoner of war record cards leading to the exhibition, Great Escapes: Remarkable Second World War Captives.

“When you handle record cards you’re handling history, I love seeing these stories come to light,” said Lidbetter. “I was astounded and astonished by the award. It’s very humbling because there are loads of volunteers who do fantastic amounts of work.”