1. Volunteering in museums Challenges and opportunities for volunteering in service delivery Nick Ockenden The Transfer of Public Leisure Facilities to Volunteer Delivery – Exploring Good Practice Sheffield University, 5 th November 2014

2. IVR: researching and evaluating volunteering Independent research agency focusing on volunteering Part of NCVO Undertake impact assessments, evaluations and research for volunteering programmes Recent research on behalf of Luton Culture, HLF, National Trust, English Heritage, Natural History Museum, Museums, Libraries and Archives Council, Happy Museum Project

3. Volunteering in a changing world

4. Volunteering in museums Could not function without volunteers 25,000 volunteers involved in museums 1 in 3 museums volunteer-run But not the most popular area of volunteering nationally 8% of current volunteers involved in ‘arts, museum’ 8% in ‘conservation, environment, heritage’ But considerable amount ‘below the radar’? Volunteer management practices can be variable Limited diversity amongst volunteers References: Helping Out: national survey of volunteering and charitable giving (2007); Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (2004) Learning for Change: Workforce Development Strategy; IVR (2005) Volunteering in Museums, Libraries and Archives

5. Supporting paid staff services Running heritage assets / museums Paid staff involvement Volunteer power and decision-making Co-producing services Staff-led Volunteer-supported Volunteer-run Staff-supported What does volunteer involvement look like?

6. The impact of volunteer involvement Museum Enhancing what it can do Saving from closure / decline Connecting to local communities Staff Skilling-up in volunteer management Volunteers Enjoyment and satisfaction Confidence and self-esteem Skills and employability

7. Staff-volunteer relationships Staff perspective Understanding – securing staff buy-in strategically Skill - lacking volunteer management expertise Time – concerns about increasing workload Security – real and perceived job replacement Volunteer perspective Power – role in decision-making processes Relationships – being valued by paid staff Potential ways forward Designing appropriate roles – ensuring added-value Communication with staff and involving trade unions

8. 33% of the population Engaging the wider community Reference: Mohan, J. and Bulloch, S. (2012) The idea of the civic core TSRC: Birmingham

9. What does this mean for volunteering? More will be asked of volunteers and volunteering Is there a limit to what they can or should do? The challenging economic climate will not go away How do we put into practice the principle of ‘freely given but not cost free’? Interest in increasing rates of volunteering will continue How do we promote quality and access as well?