The Museum relies on volunteers to keep the museum open. They provide a warm welcome for visitors, for example on Front of House, although there are also many other ways to get involved, such as events, education, marketing and gardening to name but a few areas! Volunteers benefit from working in an inspiring environment, can gain new skills and knowledge, and will find themselves meeting a wide range of people such as fellow volunteers and visitors.

Holst Birthplace Museum has approximately 50 Front of House Volunteers, who work in pairs, one or two mornings or afternoons a fortnight. Each new volunteer is given a personal Volunteer Manual to which they can refer when on duty.

Volunteer Co-ordinator
My particular responsibility is to take each new volunteer through the most important aspects of the duties explained in the Manual, to introduce them to other volunteers and to arrange one or two duty sessions with an experienced pair of volunteers in order that they begin to feel familiar with the routine, before they start. I also need to ensure the rota is filled (can be time consuming)!

Newsletter Editor
The Museum produces a small 4-page newsletter once a quarter. Being editor is a bit of a soft option, because I can do most of my work at home at times of my choosing. The main part of the job is chasing up regular or occasional contributors for copy, and then fitting the articles together to form a coherent whole; this necessarily involves sub-editing articles for style, content, and length. I do all this in soft-copy on my laptop, using Microsoft Publisher.

Once the finished newsletter is ready, I then have to get it printed. We produce about 450 copies, of which 350 are mailed out, and the remainder sit out in the Museum for visitors to pick up. My wife, the membership secretary, and I usually find ourselves doing the stuffing and mailing as well!

Membership Secretary
We have some 300 Holst Members but our aim is of course to increase the number. Visitors to the Museum get their admission back if they join within 30 days of their visit and as membership secretary, I process their application forms. Visitors to the Museum’s website can also print out a membership form and send it to me.

I have a database to keep track of payments – the membership year starts on 1st October but the letters to those who will be paying by cheque and also the membership cards for those paying by standing orders go out with the August mailing which means a busy summer for me! I chase up those who haven’t paid later in the year.

Interested in becoming a volunteer?

Volunteers are automatically Members of the Holst Birthplace Trust,
the benefits of which include:
- Free admission to the museum,
- Local discounts,
- Periodic newsletters
- Reduced ticket prices for some museum events.

Volunteers receive a full induction and a Volunteer Handbook.
They are expected to do a minimum of one Front of House duty per month, but hopefully one per fortnight. One duty lasts 3 hours 15 minutes, morning or afternoon.

If you wish to have an informal discussion about volunteering at the Holst Birthplace Museum please contact Laura Kinnear on the number above.