CHARITY UPDATE

CHARITY UPDATE

An update from Kate Mavor

Celebrating the difference you make.

At this time of year, many of you are helping to welcome visitors to our sites over the winter, while others have stepped back from your role until the new season in spring. Either way, thank you so much for your support – so much of our charity’s work simply wouldn’t be possible without your time, enthusiasm and expertise.

Building support I’m delighted to report that this support is growing. We now have more active volunteers than ever before, with over 4,200 of you helping us to inspire people to enjoy our heritage and protect it for future generations. From Cornwall to Cumbria, you are monitoring our free-to-enter sites, supporting education, tending gardens, helping behind the scenes in offices and archives, and above all passing

Lucy Zammit at Arthur's Stone on your passion and enthusiasm to visitors. In addition, many more young people have been volunteering with us, thanks to our Shout Out Loud youth engagement programme.

Listening to and acting on feedback Making sure everyone has a great volunteer experience is an important priority for us. Our people are at the heart of I find the 2022–25 it really Strategic Plan, and we aim to make inspiring to everyone feel hear your valued, included and respected in stories their roles. By becoming a more equal, inclusive and diverse organisation, the charity will be an even better place to work and volunteer.

In the last issue we shared feedback from the volunteer survey in autumn 2021 and our plans to make things better. We’ve already taken some great strides forward. To help you access information, news and feel connected to others, we’ve opened up access to Fuse, our digital learning and internal communications platform and app. We’ve reviewed guidance on uniforms to make sure everyone gets the right gear for their role, and we’ve also introduced online induction sessions to help new volunteers understand the charity’s work and purpose. New sessions are also giving all volunteers more insights into membership. The loyalty of our Members is so crucial in funding our educational and conservation work, and it’s great to see you talking to visitors about where they plan to visit next, or what events they hope to come to – this really helps to raise awareness of our membership offer.

There’s more to be done, including reviewing the expenses process and improving how we engage with you and recognise your contributions. We’re particularly keen to get your feedback more regularly and to find new ways to involve you in project planning and decision making. This spring we’ll be inviting you to complete a survey about your experience as a volunteer. We’ll use the results to make changes and improvements, so it’s well worth sharing your views.

As ever, this edition of Volunteer Focus helps to show the variety of ways you can get involved in the charity’s work. I find it really inspiring to hear your stories and I hope you do too. Thank you, as ever, for your support. ■

GET INVOLVED To find out about current volunteer opportunities across the country, go to www.english-heritage.org.uk/volunteer