IHBC Yearbook 2012

R E V I E W 27 VOLUNTEERING IN PRACTICE How better to demonstrate what volunteering means in practice than by talking to the volunteers and the managers who work with them? Over the following eight pages of the Yearbook we invite four volunteers and four managers from a range of heritage organisations to discuss their experiences. This suite of case studies gives a remarkable insight into the TDPQF BOE DPNQMFYJUZ PG BDUJWJUJFT undertaken by volunteers in the heritage sector. Despite their brevity, the case studies give a powerful sense not only of what volunteers give but also of what they receive, both practically in terms of support from their host organisations and personally in terms of professional development and ‘job’ satisfaction. As you read the following pages you may be inclined to feel that as long as there are such people around, the UK’s heritage is unassailable. But the changing role of volunteers in the UK has more worrying aspects, too. The heated debate about the ethics of unpaid internships is only one of a number of recent controversies that suggest we are becoming increasingly uneasy BCPVU UIF QPUFOUJBM GPS FYQMPJUBUJPO associated with unpaid work and the use of volunteers to plug the gaps left by shrinking public services. Where volunteers work alongside professional sta", the former should complement rather than replace the latter, as Matthew Slocombe notes in relation to the use of volunteers at the Society for the Protection of "ODJFOU #VJMEJOHT TFF QBHF ÷ø This said, the almost overwhelmingly positive messages provided in the following case studies should rightly be seen as an indication of hope for the future. They are a timely reminder of the FYUSBPSEJOBSZ VOQBJE FďPSUT BU FWFSZ level that help to protect not only the fabric of our built heritage but also important aspects of its management, funding, recording, interpretation and academic study. These case studies also represent a powerful call to arms: if they have whetted your appetite for volunteering, the further information section below should help you get started. The institute is very grateful UP %BWJE -PWJF -PZE (SPTTNBO Nathan Blanchard, Cathie Clarke, Nigel Crowe, Matthew Slocombe, Kate Clark and Peter Aiers for their involvement: it is yet another FYBNQMF PG UIFJS XJMMJOHOFTT UP give generously of their time, LOPXMFEHF BOE FYQFSUJTF FURTHER INFORMATION If you are interested in volunteering opportunities with the IHBC, please DPOUBDU ZPVS MPDBM CSBODI XXX JICD PSH VL BCPVU CSBODIFT JOEFY IUNM The National Trust for Scotland’s two new volunteer co-ordinators, Tracy Walker and Robert Montgomery, who have been in post since September 2011. They will assist the head o"ce team and local surveyor service bases to create a job bank for future volunteer activities at the trust. (Photo: The National Trust for Scotland) For more information on other volunteering opportunities see also: British Waterways www. britishwaterways.co.uk/ CF QBSU PG JU WPMVOUFFSJOH The Churches Conservation Trust www.visitchurches.org.uk/Volunteer English Heritage XXX FOHMJTI IFSJUBHF PSH VL DBSJOH HFU JOWPMWFE The National Trust www.nationaltrust.org.uk/ HFU JOWPMWFE WPMVOUFFS The National Trust for Scotland www.nts.org.uk/Volunteering The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings please email Matthew Slocombe GPS EFUBJMT NBUUIFX!TQBC PSH VL The Transylvania Trust www.transylvaniatrust.ro vInspired www.vinspired.com

RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjgyMjA=