The new 'Bishop of London' Dahlia being propagated in the garden
The Start of Season meeting revealed some interesting news for Fulham Palace volunteers, both old and new. The number of volunteers has risen to about 230 active volunteers, 80 of which are new since January 2016. There will be some new exciting volunteer roles coming up, as well as more events this year. (Approx. 7,000 people came to the largest events at Fulham Palace last year). What’s more, Fulham Palace Trust is looking for a new Chair of Trustees.
The gardeners have been busy widening the Walled Garden paths and planting for spring. The Barrow was a success last year and the bee keeping volunteers are gearing up for the next harvest of yummy honey to be sold on the Barrow.
The learning department has been hosting an increasing number of school groups and the adult learning programme is also growing. The department has a number of ongoing projects from embroidered chapel kneelers to cataloguing the handling and costume collection. Please contact Nia here should you want to get involved.
The current exhibition, The Architects and Craftsmen of Fulham Palace, has been a success, and the next one will be 1902-1918 Fulham Palace Through Postcards. An appeal was made for more postcards for this fascinating period of history. Please contact Miranda here should you like to contribute to the exhibition.
Those of you working at Reception should keep an eye out for a pop-up shop and a new illustrated map. This year Marketing will need many additional volunteers in such areas as photography, filming, PR and evaluation and reporting. Contact Beth here for more.
Volunteers are invited to email Rachel with three interesting bits of information which they would like to include in a BRAND NEW knowledge sharing document which will be included in the museum resources section of the portal.
There are about 267 individual Friends of Fulham Palace (and growing). Volunteers were reminded that if they're in work then their employer can potentially offer match funding for their volunteer hours. Clare Morley can be contacted about this here. Be sure to submit your hours on a regular basis. Time sheets can be found here if you work remotely, then please don't forget to keep your own sheet up to date and email it to Rachel every month!
Health & Safety issues were covered - specifically the causes and prevention of trips and falls, and best practice for manual handling. Charming video clips of Lucy's little ones who seemed to have mastered the art of lifting made us all laugh. More about this presentation can be found here.
Volunteer Handbooks can be found here. Don’t forget that after 100 hours volunteers are entitled to ValueYou gift vouchers. Upcoming volunteer visits can be found here. Be sure to submit any suggestions and ideas to a Volunteer Representative listed here.
More information about the “Give It A Go Day”, if you would like to learn more about another role, can be found here.
Questions raised throughout the meetings by some volunteers included:
1. Why are renovations necessary to Fulham Palace? Renovations will make more of the Palace accessible to the public; also making it available continually, no matter what other events are going on. The gardens will also experience extensive development. The house and gardens will be open throughout the restoration project.
2. Where will visitors come into the Palace? As you look at the tudor courtyard entrance gate visitors will enter immediately to the left.
3. Why are there no rubbish bins on site? Bins can create more problems, as people tend to leave even more rubbish and the bins overflow. The Palace then has to pay to have it collected. However, bins are placed onsite for the events. Visitors are asked to take away their own rubbish, which has been working well.
4. Will the donations boxes move? Yes, next month the big donation box in the café will move to a location where it’ll be better spotted.
5. How many new volunteer roles are really needed? Thanks to our funding received by HLF, there will be openings of around 140 new volunteer vacancies. It is a chance for current volunteers to try their hand at another role but we also wish to welcome new volunteers in our aim to expand Fulham Palace’s popularity.
What did you think about the Start of Season Meetings:
Gwen – Volunteer Comms Assistant: As a new volunteer it was great to meet some of the more seasoned volunteers who have many years of experience at Fulham Palace and get more of an insight into the different roles they have undertaken and how they have developed a variety of skills through volunteering. It was good to hear from so many members of staff and get a sense of the breadth of the work and opportunities across Fulham Palace and what really struck me was how friendly and welcoming everybody was.
Ahou – Volunteer Comms Assistant: I was so pleased to have had the staff present their work in such an open and honest way. It made me feel like I as a volunteer am truly valued as part of the team.