The Holst MuseumDeveloping the Volunteer Programme

August 2015-June 2016

Where do we begin?..........

Each Volunteer Programme in an organisation is unique, certain strategies that help to develop a volunteer programme are universal, other strategies are learnt by working

with the organisation and whole host of factors come into the mix; staff and volunteers, organisation background and history, organisational needs, logistics, resources, local demographic, locality, political and social climate and a whole host of ever

evolving factors.

Participatory Action Research-Key Points

How to work towards sustainability with the tools and resources the museum has

What is working?/What is not working; What needs developing?

Understanding the impact of changes and supporting people through the process at a pace that works for them and the museum

Challenges that have been flagged up? Red Flags that are identifying challenging issues

that could effect the development of the programme

What areas/opportunities are sustainable? Awareness, observations and feedback of the

individual volunteer, group and staff experience Creating a sustainable programme for the future

that reflects the tools and resources the museum has since the programme has gone through a period of development

Questions and reflections to ask through out process of project

The Focus of Intent-Working with what is.

My First step was to be clear and transparent in all aspects of development Opening channels of communication through various ways;

A Volunteer Experience Feedback Box A Monthly Drop in for all volunteers and staff (most important is Tea and Cake) Social Networks, creating open dialogue; raising awareness of developments

Monthly Emails with Development News and clear feedback info A Volunteer Development Website, with clear feedback info and a Blog

And an open approach to receiving feedback through emails Communicating with key staff, Trustees and volunteers throughout the entire

process, with reports, updates and being clear on what I am doing and why…

Just to re iterate the power of cake!......Doing something to show your thanks and appreciation for

volunteers can go a long way!

Listening to Volunteers about their experience

‘I enjoy feeling part of a team which is keeping ‘Cheltenham’s hidden Gem’ thriving.’

‘A very rewarding experience working in a homely environment. Meeting chatting to visitors’

‘The Bake-Offs – Victorian and Indian were great fun. The Museum is at its best when involving families!’

‘I enjoy meeting all sorts of people from different backgrounds’

‘It’s wonderful to meet such interesting people from all over the world! Fellow Volunteers are lovely too. Good to read positive comments in the Visitors’ Book’

We will try various ingenious ways to listen to

Feedback

John and myself where chatting about the various objects in the Museum, how they remind us of why the museum is important, we had a chat about his experiences of volunteering

Listening to all Feedback, sometimes the more difficult and challenging experiences………..

‘I think we should become more professional. Searching in dark, low cupboards doesn’t look good. The entrance needs more light and more shelves.’

‘Could we have a volunteers’ ‘To do’ list. When the Museum is quiet, it can be difficult to fill the time and we’ all be happy to do odd, simple jobs to relieve Sara and Sophie’s workloads.’

‘I think we should become more professional. Searching in dark, low cupboards doesn’t look good. The entrance needs more light and more shelves.’

‘Could we have a volunteers’ ‘To do’ list. When the Museum is quiet, it can be difficult to fill the time and we’ all be happy to do odd, simple jobs to relieve Sara and Sophie’s workloads.’

‘I love volunteering here – I’ve learnt a lot and met some smashing people. It seems a shame that the Museum has to operate on a shoestring though. I know money is tight everywhere these days, but could there be more in the way of fundraising efforts other than applying for grants? Cake/Book sales, collections at concerts of Holst’s Music across the UK etc...’

When developing and creating change……We can often face resistance, high expectations, excitement and eagerness, but more often

than not….. We often face Fear…….ours, the people and community we work with.

Fear of things going wrong, things being different, not feeling part of the change, feeling pushed out, changing things to much, changing things too little and everything could go

wrong or be seen as a failure…My approach….(I am putting my hands up to the fact I am very inspired by the work of Brene Brown)

Meeting Fear with clear boundaries, with Compassion, Open mind & heart and a clear message. Its ok to make mistakes, its ok if things don’t go right, its ok if something

fails……its how we own it, take responsibility, reflect, learn, share our learning and try again

Clear open Communication throughout the Development…..We have kept all the various lines of communication open and we are learning to actively listen, to be open, welcoming, ready to hear all feedback and to respond with openness, accountability and appreciation of the time someone has spent

giving their feedback

From the feedback we can hear what are the triumphs, things that are working what are the challenges, sometimes little things that can build up and turn into big things. From the feed back we have begun to make changes that are supported by

the volunteers own feedback and ideas thus supporting empowerment of volunteers to be a part of the change, the volunteers become the

change makers……..

Focus of Work within the Volunteer Development Programme

Sustainability To develop the Museums Volunteer Programme, to support its future sustainability To develop the recruitment and increase opportunities for new volunteers to engage

in a varied programme of volunteer roles in the museum

Equality and Diversity To work with and develop the museums awareness of equality and diversity, to look

at how we can engage a wider demographic of people who are unrepresented in the museum or have faced barriers to engaging with the Volunteer Programme

To develop the first stages of an Inclusive Volunteer Programme that can grow and develop through out the next couple of years

The Volunteer Experience

Develop the retention and overall experience for volunteers

Listen to volunteers, encourage feedback and for volunteers to be a part of

inputting and supporting the development of the programme

To develop the Volunteer sections on the Holst Birthplace Museum and to

make an interim website to promote, share and celebrate the Volunteer

Programme at the Museum

To develop opportunities that value the input of all volunteers and to celebrate

their care, time, skills and experience they give to the Museum

Inspiration and Good Practice

To develop collaboration opportunities with other local and national

organisations; this will help us to network, to inspire our practice, learn from

others, share our learning and inspiration and develop opportunities

for partnerships

To learn from our experiences and benchmark other local and national

Museums and Volunteer Agencies in order for us to develop a model of good

practice other

Developing Volunteer Recruitment through an Inclusive Approach

' How museums can make small changes to create big improvements in accessibility' with SW Federations http://www.swfed.org.uk/ Dr Jenner's Museum http://www.jennermuseum.com/, we made some fantastic connections, the training really inspired us and echoes with us that the work we are developing is connecting with a local and wider picture with the Museums and Cultural sector.

The Misfits Theatre will be supporting us in our Inclusivity, Equality and Diversity volunteer work and we will be developing ‘The Across The Universe Project’ and a training workshop led by a volunteer from The Misfits who is an Expert by Experience://misfitstheatre.com/

'Across The Universe' an Inclusive Creative Volunteer and Development Project.

The title was created by the Misfits Theatre Company inspired from the music of Holst, when they heard the music they

wanted to share how much they loved it and share the music 'across the universe’ The members are volunteering their time to create movement pieces, poetry and stories inspired by

Holst's work, this will be documented and will be part of the 'Across The Universe' Exhibition at the Museum in May 2015Pictured Luke and Laura from The Misfits dancing to Jupiter

Partnerships with local groups and OrganisationAlong the development journey I have been keeping my eyes

open to potential opportunities……………

Nix from Air in G 'Young promoters Project, http/airing.co.uk we have been discussing opportunities to develop an inclusive project, looking at how we can work with engage and encourage young people and people who may face barriers to getting involved in the museum.‘Across the Universe’ will be a pilot volunteer project that we hope will blossom and grow as part of the Volunteer Arts Week each year, we hope from this project to develop our work with the Air in G 'Young Promoters' project and to support it be a sustainable project that can grow and develop each year.

Voluntary Arts UK have been very interested in this pilot project and asked us to develop it for Volunteer Arts Week at the Museum in May 2016 http/voluntaryartsweek.org/

The 'Across the Universe' project is not funded, we are looking at various creative approaches and any small funding bids we can write to support its development.

Being open, organic and creative with ideas,

opportunities, potential partners, creating something from

nothing………

How does the 'Across the Universe' Project link in with Gustav Holst's work and his life

'The Can't Sing Choir'As part of the 'Across the Universe' Project we are also looking to develop a choir inspired by his Holst's own personal experiences of disability and his very inspiring humanitarian work with people who faced barriers in engaging in his music and cultural opportunities. Holst set up 'A Can't Sing Choir' we would really like to do something similar in honour of his work and for us to support and encourage everyone to have the opportunity to share and enjoy their voice. The choir we hope could be a long term project and we are currently looking for funding to support its development, any support, advice and ideas will be warmly welcomed

Why are we developing our understanding of Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity at the Museum?

We have a fantastic and very committed volunteer team, the auditing of the volunteer programme has highlighted the main demographic of volunteers; our engagement and recruitment of people aged over 60 is strong, we have researched and listened to current volunteers experiences and we aim to support and develop their needs as individuals and as a volunteer team.

We are excited to engage and encourage people who are new to volunteering or new to Holst's music and classical music to meet with us, developing opportunities with people from local groups, national groups, local people and people in the wider community who may have faced barriers in the past to volunteering at the Holst and other Museums.This creates a wider capacity of volunteers, a wider group of people to work with; with many interests, a wealth of talent, experience, skills, availabilities and life stories, building up a wide community of volunteers, relationships, approaches to communication, communities, skills and experiences and awareness for all.

We are really keen to hear from other Museums and your experience in developing Inclusivity with your Museums………..

Kieran from The Misfits Theatre, Kieran has Autism and his main communication is through movement, he would like share with us how Gustav Holst's ‘Venus-bringer of Peace’, makes him feel……(apologies for the creatively interesting camera work!)

For more information on The Holst Volunteer Development Project, Please contact

Jules-mrsjulesallan@gmail.com Volunteer Development Website-

http://holstmuseumvolunteerdevelopment.webs.com/