Work Experience turned Young Volunteers

We welcomed seven new work experience placements over the summer as part of our mission to provide opportunities to young people in the heritage sector.

Today we are highlighting two of those placements – who have since signed up to return to Gainsborough’s House as part of our Volunteer team. 

You may have seen Rhiannon and Callum featured in our August Newsletter, and we thought it only right to give them a spotlight here, and to provide more of an insight into the variety of placements on offer for young people at Gainsborough’s House.

Callum joined us in July on a varied Work Experience programme and got a taste for all aspects of museum life. A GCSE student, and a practicing artist himself, Callum was drawn to the delivery of creative workshops. He worked closely with Jilly Roberts and Fania Weatherby, our Learning and Engagement Curators, and we are thrilled to have him return to Gainsborough’s House as a Learning Team Volunteer.

Callum led sections of our weekly Tom’s Tuesday workshops, demonstrating traditional printmaking techniques to budding creatives. Jilly shared, “Callum assisted with the cyanotype workshop, and he was brilliant at helping children with their prints!” Jilly and Fania were very impressed with Callum’s ability to teach young children, with attention and enthusiasm.

While sharing his personal highlights, Callum said: “I very much enjoyed the Museum Club session helping those with additional needs express their views on art. I’ve loved seeing the impact that I’ve made, just by being here and helping others.” 

We’ve enjoyed working with Callum—he has impressed us with his willingness, versatility, and ability to communicate to all age groups—not to mention his impeccable collection of jackets!

Callum is a great guy to have on the team. He’s organised, really good with people, and he takes different tasks head on.”

— Jilly Roberts, Learning and Engagement Curator

Rhiannon also joined us in July as a work experience placement. She worked across a variety of departments, and particularly enjoyed her stints as a Data Collector, asking visitors for their feedback in the galleries.

Also a GCSE student, Rhiannon is interested in how informal interviews, and collection of Visitor Surveys, naturally meshed with her sociology studies. She took to the task enthusiastically and conducted detailed, personable interviews of groups of visitors.

After her placement, we were grateful to Rhiannon for supporting our Marketing Team with social media. A successful content creator, Rhiannon was well-placed to contribute to video editing, caption writing, and taking part in photoshoots. You may well have come across her snappy Reels on the Gainsborough’s House Instagram feed already!

Rhiannon had some great advice for new volunteers: “I would say get comfortable talking to people! Before trying Data Collection, I didn’t know how to feel about starting conversations with visitors. But I learned that once you stop overthinking and start speaking, you’ll realise that people are friendly!”

Rhiannon’s personable nature stood out to everyone in the office, and her energy and infectious enthusiasm was a joy to be around. She will be sorely missed, but we look forward to welcoming her back in the Christmas holidays.

Rhiannon has turned her hand to a lot of different challenges in the museum, from working with the Learning Team, through to her desired vocation of editing and social media content creation. It’s been a pleasure to have her in the office.

—Lex Gortsilas, Marketing and Design Officer

Gainsborough’s House is grateful to all work experience placements for their commitment and dedication. It was a pleasure to welcome students of differing ages, and experience levels, to learn more about the crucial work that goes into maintaining and growing the museum.

We’d like to thank Callum and Rhiannon for their time and support over the summer. We wish them luck for the upcoming school year, and we look forward to seeing them again soon.

Growing with Gainsborough’s House

Do you see yourself taking part in a creative workshop? Maybe you want to learn more about exhibition design? Are you a young creative looking to gain experience in the heritage sector? 

If the answers are yes, look no further! 

Gainsborough’s House offers a diverse work experience programme spanning all museum departments, including Events and Marketing, Curatorial, Front of House, and Learning. For more information, please contact Fania Weatherby: fania@gainsborough.org