The Heritage Volunteering Group (HVG) provides, leadership, support and opportunities for skill-sharing to those who lead and manage volunteers. We recognise the critical point many organisations in the heritage sector have reached and that a highly damaging round of redundancies and restructures is upon us, with repercussions set to stretch throughout the coming months.
We know that job displacement by volunteers is not the answer and we do not endorse ill-considered and rushed decisions to bring in volunteers as a cost-saving measure. Volunteering in the sector is a powerful and transformational force when volunteers are managed by experienced Volunteer Managers who deploy them effectively. They can help operationally and strategically, without posing a threat to paid jobs, and in ways that help retain paid positions.
That is why we are re-issuing our letter to sector leaders to pay heed to their Volunteer Managers, so that organisations can maximise the impact their volunteers make, enabling them to provide real operational and strategic support without being perceived as a threat to those who are facing potential job losses.
We stand in solidarity with the sector’s wider workforce and believe in the power of volunteering to help build a brighter future for all of us.
Volunteer Redeployment Resources
With many museums now beginning to plan their reopening, many of you will be starting to consider the remobilisation of your volunteers. To support you with this we have developed the following:
To help you understand and use these tools, we have also prepared this short video. We advise that these documents are amended for your own context and that you take advice about collecting and storing sensitive information. Alongside this, we are delighted be able to share with you the following resources, which we hope we will support you with the remobilisation of your volunteers:
If you have anything you’d like us to share, please get in touch.