BECOMING VOLUNTEERS

Carole

The Friends of Letocetum had been opening the museum at Wall Roman Town for over ten years when Covid came along and the world changed. One sunny day in 2021 we were asked to become English Heritage volunteers, and since then we have been able to reach out to a wider audience and have just had our busiest season yet, with over 2,000 visitors to the site and more than £500 received in donations. Joining English Heritage means we can have a say in how those donations are used to enhance the visitor experience.

Learning new skills

With support from English Heritage, our team has learned new skills which will help protect this wonderful site in Staffordshire for the next generation. We have been trained to monitor humidity levels in the museum, and we’re now able to contribute to cleaning some of the artefacts, like our Roman-era millstones and tiles. On the site itself, new volunteers have been recruited and trained to record any damage to the walls and soil, ensuring that appropriate measures can be put in place. The volunteers are looking forward to learning more about conservation at other English Heritage Roman sites. We have also been able to introduce explainer volunteers. Now there is an explainer present most weekends and on sunny days, giving visitors an extra insight into the history and archaeology of Wall. The explainers mean we can engage with a wider range of visitors, not only those who come specifically to explore Roman history and visit the museum, but also people out enjoying the countryside.

Our educational programme has always been a big part of what we do at Wall. We have changed and expanded our off er to schools using insights provided by English Heritage staff and other volunteers. We already have lots of bookings from schools for 2023.

Looking forward

Our biggest planned events of 2022 were the Heritage Open Days in September, which sadly we were not able to hold due to the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. We had not taken part in any of these before and were only able to plan to do so with the support of English Heritage. Open Days will be an important way of attracting visitors in the future and we are looking to hold similar events in 2023.

A lot has changed for us since we joined English Heritage, and it has been hard work at times. But it has also been immensely rewarding, and we look forward to new challenges and achievements in the years ahead. Our aim is to have even more visitors than last year. ■