Happy National Volunteer’s Week!

Brighton Toy and Model Museum really does depend on its volunteers to keep it open and it’s nice to let our team of helpers know how much we appreciate them.

Its National Volunteer’s Week from the first to the seventh of June, a week where organisations who rely on people giving their time to operate recognise the contribution that these helpers make to keeping them running. The week is organised by the NCVO and it aims to show appreciation to all the volunteers who give up their time all over the country in order to help charities keep running, and without whom we’d all be the poorer.

Why We Need Volunteers

Brighton Toy and Model Museum opened 25 years ago as a way of preserving large collections of toys while also benefiting the local community. Today we still have those collections however, we don’t just benefit the local community. Each year we welcome volunteers not only from Brighton and Hove, but from France, Germany, Italy and Spain. These volunteers come to us as part of their learning programmes in areas such as hospitality, travel and tourism to see how an attraction in a tourist resort operates, and to perfect their English while they are also able to help our overseas visitors in their mother tongues. Along with students, we also provide work experience to people via the Job Centre. People who aren’t currently in paid employment are encouraged to come to the museum where they can get essential work experience and also add new strings to their bows. Working with the museum also means that you can get a current employer reference to add to your CV.

What Does Volunteering Give You?

We don’t just expect our volunteers to work and only receive a ‘thanks very much’ in return. Our work experience gives you the opportunity to learn real-life museum front of house and back office skills. Having these skills, which are of huge importance to the smooth running of a museum and are exactly the kind of practical experience that museums, galleries and heritage sites are looking for when you want to progress in the industry. Skills such as inventory, cataloguing, description, retail, marketing and hospitality are all attributes which any museum desperately needs. We need people who possess them too. We can teach them to eager staff who want to be prepared for a role in museums or archives, or indeed to people who simply have spare time and want to do something interesting in a warm, friendly environment surrounded by toys and games!

Brighton Toy and Model Museum is always looking for more volunteers to help. If you have time and you’re looking for a chance to improve your skills and experience, or you have expert knowledge of what it takes to be an indispensable member of a museum’s team then please get in touch! We’d love to hear from people equally willing to learn or share their own knowledge, so send us a CV with a brief note outlining what you would like to do and what you would like to get out of volunteering and we’ll get back to you.