Volunteer with us – Behind the Scenes – Somerset Coalfield Life

Our Behind-the Scenes Volunteer teams are crucial to the running of the organisation.

These Volunteers often use the skills that they acquired in other walks of life and transfer them to working for Radstock Museum. Their work, although often unseen by the Museum visitors, is essential to our programme of Heritage conservation.
Front-of-House and Behind-the-Scenes Volunteering roles are not mutually exclusive; indeed many of our Volunteers have roles in both areas. Support work behind the scenes is complemented by meeting Museum visitors Front of House and Front of House working often leads to an interest in the ‘hidden’ roles of our Museum Volunteers.

Follow this link to read more about the Front of House opportunities.

How to get in touch.

If you see something that attracts you then please be in touch;
either by emailing volunteering@radstockmuseum.co.uk , contacting the Museum at the address below or by calling in for a chat.
If you have a skill not mentioned here then we would also love to hear from you.
Please contact: Radstock Museum, Waterloo Road, Radstock, BA3 3EP
T: 01761 437722

Exhibition preparers and presenters.

Volunteer Exhibitions Team Leader: Anne Miall.

We need people with ideas, enthusiasm and flair to help us run our programme of Exhibitions and Events.
The Exhibition Team plans, co-ordinates and manages three major Special Exhibitions covering the Museum’s open season which is from February to November every year. Other Exhibitions, short term or travelling, are also on display.
These Exhibitions reflect the history and interests of the local community and its roots in the North Somerset Coalfield.

Past Exhibitions have included:

• Lanes, Boats and Trains – a History of Transport in Radstock
• Carnival!!! – A History of the legendary Somerset Carnivals
• The Village Histories series – a popular series with material sourced from local History Groups
• Mining the Past (in conjunction with Norton Hill, Somervale and Writhlington Schools)
• Glastonbury Festival
• Patchwork and Quilting
• History of our local Women’s Institutes. In celebration of the WI centenary in 2015.

The Team, and co-opted members where necessary, plan the detailed arrangements for each Exhibition; including insurance and formal loan agreements with external partners. They supervise the budget and monitor attendance at each exhibition.
If you are interested in this type of work, in whatever capacity, and would like to join our Team please come and talk to us. Use any of the contact details below.

Education and School Visits Team

Volunteer Education Team Leader: Jill Webb.

Do you enjoy being part of a friendly, enthusiastic group?
Are you interested in local social history and would you like to share your interest and knowledge with other people?
Do you enjoy spending time with children and young people?

If your answer to these questions is YES, then you should consider volunteering to become a member of the Education Group.

The museum welcomes groups of children from schools and youth groups into the museum where they enjoy a full and varied ‘Living History’ experience. They can experience an authentic Victorian lesson in our Schoolroom. They are taken on journeys of imagination into a well-stocked Cooperative Store and a typically furnished cottage. They can imagine the hardships experienced by local miners in a visit to our mock coal face.

We are also able to offer World War Two Experiences and Drama based experiences tailored to Literature being studied in school.
We also offer activity days in school holiday periods.

The work of the Education Group is rewarding and great fun. It is a delight to see the faces of engrossed youngsters and to know that we have made History Live for them!

If you are interested in joining us please contact the museum and you will be invited along to meet the team at one of our monthly meetings. You might later like to arrange to come along and enjoy a morning watching us at work.

We will make you very welcome!

Publicity, Media and IT specialists.

Volunteer Media Team Members: Jos Binns, Lucy Tudor and Jill Parker

The Museum uses this website to publicise everything that goes on: Exhibitions, Talks and other events, new publications and lots more. We also send out an E-newsletter about once a month and we have a Facebook page too.

We also keep people informed of up-coming events, and all our other news, by sending press releases to the local publications.
If you are interested in creating and devising interesting content for any of these media platforms we would love to hear from you. You could become a member of our Publicity and Media Team. Understanding social media management tools, social media best practice and also being handy with a camera, would be a huge advantage.
email us on publicity@radstockmuseum.co.uk

Researchers

Lead Volunteer Researcher: Anny Northcote

Our Volunteer Researchers work as a small team; they search our collections in response to enquiries from members of the public.
The Museum has about 10,000 images and original documents within its collection, many of which have been digitized; plus the Museum Society’s history journal, Five Arches, which contains a wealth of information on the local area.
The Researchers’ main activities are:
• Searching the Museum catalogue and other sources (e.g. Five Arches) for information relevant to enquiries from visitors and the general public
• Liaising with other volunteers in tracking down sources of information
• Responding, usually by email, to enquirers with the results of searches
• Hosting planned visits to the Museum by members of the public and providing secure access to the collections
Their usual working times are Tuesday mornings during Museum opening months.
Our Researchers have good IT skills with the ability to use databases and conduct on-line searches, etc. They have an interest in history, genealogy and the Museum’s collections and experience in analysing search requirements.
If you are interested in joining our Researchers please email us at research@radstockmuseum.co.uk.

Documentation

Volunteer Documentation Team Leader: Simon Carter

Our Documentation Team meet every Tuesday morning at the Museum. They catalogue the wide range of items in the Museum’s collections.
They are headed by the Documentation Officer who gives each new volunteer an introduction to the Role and ongoing support.
The main duties of a Documentation Team member are to
• Accurately describe objects for future inclusion in the Museum catalogue
• Carefully handle and define historic documents, scanning these documents into an online database
Careful attention to detail, meticulous recording of information and an interest in history and the collections are important qualities that we look for in our Documentation Volunteers.

How to get in touch.

Notes general to all Volunteer positions.

Before you start work with us we will go through our basic health and safety procedures (including fire precautions, emergency exits, the emergency plan, accident report book), so that you can become familiar with the building; and we will discuss the details of the Volunteers’ roles and the shared rotas.
Background information about the building, its history and current interpretation is available to all.