Volunteering – Days Out and Recognition

By Roger Gollicker 

As the Museum continues to expand and also become more involved in a range of

both community and school activities, so does the number of volunteers required to support it all. We now number around 100, many of whom help out with several different activities.

As a result, we are very fortunate not only to have a great venue to work in, but a

Museum that looks after us and always acknowledges our help. We’re certainly

made felt to be part of the overall Museum team.

Back in early December we were again treated to our annual volunteers’ day out.

This is usually in some way transport related and this time it was a visit to the SS

Great Britain in Bristol. A nice connection here is that the Director of the Brunel

Institute, Tim Bryan, was Head of Collections at the Motor Museum up until 2019.

Around 30 of us attended and on arrival, Tim gave us a fascinating overview of

Britain’s first steam powered iron ship to cross the Atlantic. He made the interesting point, that while at Gaydon he was responsible for the history of hundreds of cars, here it was just the ship itself.

Below deck, Tim gives us a brief overview of the SS Great Britain

Split into groups with a tour guide each, we were then able to explore this vast and interesting ship, now at rest in the very same dry dock it left in 1843. Guided tours really are the way to see museums like this, with so many interesting stories of life aboard a ship in the late 1800s. Something for everyone and the writer was particularly interested to learn how the old iron hull needed constant protection from further corrosion by an elaborate, heat controlled, sealed air conditioned environment.

All smiles at the stern of the SS Great Britain for a great day out

Another thank you from the Museum in December was our Christmas luncheon, held in the Museums’ impressive Sky Suite. Attended by around 55 volunteers, we were again invited to join all the permanent staff in their festive celebrations.

Christmas photo taken in the Design area of the Museum

Before the lunch, Museum MD Jeff Coope thanked all the volunteers and outlined

some of the Museums future plans and coming events.

Keeping us all informed is something the Museum have always done particularly

well. Along with the staff, all volunteers are invited to attend the Museum’s quarterly Town Hall meetings. Presented by Jeff and his management team, we are given a complete overview of all the Museum’s business sectors, including financial performance, targets for the future, new collections and planned exhibitions, forthcoming events and feedback from customers. We’ve also been privy for some time to a number of large forthcoming projects, one of which is a recently announced new hotel at the Museum’s main entrance. Exciting times.

Jeff Coope, current Museum MD, who retires in March, at a Town Hall presentation