Barnsley Museums Volunteering Programme goes global!

Barnsley Museums online volunteer offer is going from strength to strength, attracting participants from around the globe.

After launching their first fully online offer in 2022, based around the digitisation of Barnsley Archives Sound and Film collection, people from as far as New Zealand, Romania, and the USA have taken part in the program.

Made possible through support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund ‘Digital Skills for Heritage’, the project has provided benefits for volunteers who take part in fascinating research that will have positive impacts on the Museum and its users for decades to come. It also gives many more people the opportunity to explore our borough's rich and interesting history.

Volunteers can undertake the research from anywhere and done at times to suit them while still giving them the experience of working in an area of interest and developing essential skills.

The Barnsley Museums offer is hugely successful and bucking national trends in attracting higher than average participation figures. By offering greater levels of flexibility, new dynamic roles, and positive experiences numbers are on the rise. Feedback from the project is encouraging with very high satisfaction levels.

Councillor Robert Frost, Cabinet Spokesperson for Regeneration and Culture, said: “Our volunteers are incredible. They offer so much of their time, skills, and expertise, and for that, we are extremely grateful.  The fact that we can offer more opportunities in person and online is brilliant, digital skills are an important asset and to be able to use them to preserve our history whether you are local or live halfway around the world shows the innovativeness of our volunteering program.”

For more information about how people can volunteer visit https://www.barnsley-museums.com/volunteering