5 minute read
PROJECT PROFILE
PROJECT PROFILE
KICKSTARTING
a career in heritage
English Heritage has been pleased to take advantage of the government’s Kickstart opportunity. This initiative allows young people to take six months’ employment with us to give them a raft of valuable skills and experience. We hear from three of our placements.
Antony Lee, community engagement assistant at Marble Hill, London
Istarted my role in late May as a community engagement assistant. At the time of writing, I have been in employment for a month, and in such a short space of time I have undergone a whole variety of different events, work and experiences which have really enriched my own development and interests. I have partaken in the
Conservation in Action van campaign, which celebrates the ways in which English Heritage conserves its sites throughout the country. I have helped with a Discovery Visit, and helped out in the conservation of the house – this is not something which I initially thought I would be undertaking, but I am very glad and grateful to have had this experience.
Future career options This experience will be invaluable as I have been asked to help create the firstever cohort of Marble Hill conservation volunteers. My background is in history through my degree, and so doing work in a heritage site (and actual hands-on work in the house) is the line of work that I have a real interest in for my future career options. I have also, thanks to the Kickstart scheme, had the opportunity to talk with an English Heritage mentor and gained opportunities to talk about a range of different career paths in English Heritage, from philanthropy to historians to curators and conservators (and I hope to talk to those in archive and archaeology roles too!). I had the incredible experience of travelling to Belsay Hall to meet Flora, who is doing a similar role, and also have a meeting with my mentor. Seeing how another site is run, and also seeing another site that is going through a similar project, has aided me in understanding more facets of English Heritage and the networks that come with such a big project. I’ve had so much exposure to such a variety of work and opportunities in just under a month, and I am looking forward to doing so much more and to meeting as many new faces as I can.
Flora FitzPatrick Volunteer programme assistant at Belsay Hall, Northumberland
Belsay Hall, Castle and Gardens is a rural English Heritage estate situated in Northumberland which houses a number of volunteering roles. On site our community engagement manager, Melanie, manages over 60 volunteers with my support. We have a variety of roles from plant sales, history research and tour guides to visitor welcome and photography. We recently introduced a new young heritage volunteer role which focuses on getting 16- to 18-year-olds involved in heritage work. A part of my job as volunteer programme assistant has been to induct these volunteers on site and support them on their journey with English Heritage, with a focus on the volunteers gaining experience for either university or future employment.
Empowerment I recently led a work experience week for a high school student in one of these new roles while my line manager was on annual leave. We liaised with the curatorial team on site and set up a project to log graffiti on the estate, and by the end of the week our volunteer could say they really achieved something during their time with us. It was great for me to be trusted with the responsibility of caring for and managing the volunteers for a week all on my own, and I am grateful for the opportunities from both English Heritage and my manager Melanie for allowing me to work independently and to get involved in different aspects of the site across many volunteering roles.
A supportive environment So far, I have really been enjoying working at English Heritage on the Kickstart scheme. The organisation has been genuinely so supportive and made it clear they want us all to gain as much as we can out of this whole experience. I am hoping that I can continue my journey at English Heritage once the scheme is over. Iam Suayip Zengin and my role is volunteering and participation administration assistant based in York. I have worked with English Heritage for over a month now and I can honestly say it is by far the best job I have ever had and I am enjoying every second of it. I have Zoom meetings pretty much every day I work, with people who are kind and helpful so I feel very grateful to be working with every single one of them.
Feeling like part of a team My colleagues are continuously making sure that they are here to help by offering assistance if needed, as I am pretty new. I have been given tasks to be completed by myself which makes me feel a lot more confident and eager to be given more, as I truly enjoy every assignment I have been set. One of my recent tasks was to research websites which could help promote English Heritage and attract more volunteers. I also looked into how we could improve our social media accounts to encourage younger people to join, as they are the future. The tasks you are given all have deadlines but you get plenty of time to do them, which puts less pressure on you and helps to make sure you do everything correctly.
Overall, I love my role and the people I get to work with and I understand why many of the people who work for English Heritage have been here for many years. ■
Suayip Zengin Volunteering and participation administration assistant at York
I love my role and the people I get to work with
FIND OUT MORE For more information about careers at English Heritage visit our website at www.english-heritage.org.uk/about-us/jobs
