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Editorial | It’s time to focus on volunteering
Museums need to make it a key strategic priority
The Covid pandemic and the subsequent cost-of-living crisis have had a huge impact on museums – not least on volunteering. Recruitment and retention is a huge challenge, which is worrying for a sector that depends so heavily on the contribution of volunteers.
Cornwall has lots of museums run entirely by volunteers, as well as many other venues that depend on their efforts. The Cornwall Museums Partnership (CMP) says that while the picture is mixed, several worrying trends are emerging that could have a huge impact in the future.
At museums that rely wholly on volunteers, prospective recruits are often interested in research, collections care and archiving, but less committed to the regular operational roles that are required for a museum to perform its core functions. There are even fewer people willing to join museum boards or take on a volunteer leadership role in these institutions.
Museums in Cornwall say the housing crisis and the proportion of dwellings accounted for by second homes are making it increasingly difficult to recruit new volunteers – something that might be an issue elsewhere in the UK.
CMP also says that even though many volunteers who hold key positions in museums are over 65, there is often no succession plan to enable them to pass on their responsibilities, an issue that could even lead to the closure of some venues.
Overall, there is a growing feeling in the sector that business as usual just won’t do. Museums need to make a genuine commitment to supporting volunteering and making it a key strategic priority. This commitment means devoting sustained resources to this area and making real efforts to diverse recruitment practices.
If this doesn’t happen, people will start to go elsewhere, particularly as there is increased competition from other organisations, many of which can tell a compelling story about their impact on society, such as environmental charities.
Volunteering can change lives by tackling social isolation, improving wellbeing and supporting social mobility. But it needs to be managed in the right way to have the maximum impact – for museums and their communities.