I’ve been volunteering at the Museum for almost a year now, and it’s been a really amazing experience! The team is enthusiastic and dynamic, which means there’s always something interesting going on, and there are always new projects and ideas on the table. I’ve had the opportunity to work on the really great Bearers of the Cross Project alongside Dr Rosie Weetch, and to help document part of the wonderful medieval coin collection stored at the Museum. In a near future, this will lead to the availability of the Museum’s medieval collection online.

The Museum team also takes great care of their volunteers and organize workshops and activities for all. They bring us on personalized tours of various historical institutions, and are happy to give workshops and advice to help us enhance our CV and find work. I’ve had the chance to take part in a workshop where the director, Tom Foakes, and the curator, Abigail Turner, took the time to sit with us and discuss how they were both able to obtain these roles. During that workshop they also offered feedback on our CVs. In addition, Abigail always makes sure that the volunteering benefits both the Museum and the volunteers by allowing us to undertake different aspects of Museum work, which really increases the experience you can get within a historical institution.

Being a collection store volunteer more specifically means that you get the chance to work closely with the Museum’s historical objects behind the scenes. There is an array of wonderful and quirky objects, from medical tools to trophies and first aid kits, to World War equipment. As the Museum is composed of a small team, you get to pick and choose what you prefer to work on. I even had the opportunity to develop my own project; to create, alongside Chiara Rech (a fellow volunteer trained in the field), a preventive conservation booklet and to reorganize the storage room. The goals are to help enhance the documentation and tracking of Museum objects according to the Museum’s plan, and to allow new collection store volunteers to be more independent and to work safely with the Museum’s artefacts.

I would definitely recommend volunteering at the Museum, both for pleasure and to enhance your work experience. It’s really been a great year thanks to the Museum team!