Volunteer at MERL
A short film about volunteering at MERL
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Volunteering is an ideal way to learn new skills, make friends and get involved in a wide range of projects.
We offer projects for volunteers within the Museum of English Rural Life, and also in the University of Reading's other Museums and Special Collections (UMASCS), including the Ure Museum of Greek Archaeology and the Cole Museum of Zoology. In addition, there are also opportunities in Soil Sciences, and Typography and Graphic Communication.
The projects we offer can be short or long term and even if you only have an hour or two to spare a week, your time could make a real difference in helping us organise our collections.
Students
Many of our volunteers are students from the University of Reading. However we also offer work experience placements to pupils from local schools, graduates and undergraduates from other universities who want to volunteer during their holidays.
All of these volunteers share one goal. They want to gain insight and relevant work experience to 
help them decide whether they want a career in museums, archives and libraries. Volunteering gives these students an opportunity to find out which areas they enjoy working in and be better informed about what it's like working in these environments.
Special interest groups
The Museum of English Rural Life takes part in a joint projects with a special interest groups, such as the recent Heavy Metal project with the Road Locomotive Society, which aimed to improve the public's access to its steam engine and agricultural machinery manufacturers' archives. Volunteers from special interest groups are particularly valuable as they have specialist knowledge to share with other volunteers and can be very useful on a strategic level, for example as part of a steering group.
Local residents
Have you got time on your hands? We welcome local people as volunteers, whether you are 
interested in working in a museum or archive, want to make friends or learn a new skill. Come and get involved in a fascinating museum on your doorstep!
Confessions of a Volunteer Coordinator
This blog is created and written by the volunteer coordinator at the other University of Reading Museums and Collections (UMASCS). Follow the posts to keep up to date with what volunteers are doing and to find out what it's like to be a volunteer at UMASCS.
Confessions of a Volunteer Coordinator
Projects
Here are a few of the projects we are currently running...
Tour Guides
We have a team of around 16 superb volunteer tour guides, who take groups of people around the collection, with each one giving a unique tour! They can be booked on weekdays, or alternatively you can come along on Saturdays and Sundays at 3pm, and join onto a tour then.
Some of our tour guides dress up in costumes, and bring the museum to life for family groups. They do tours of the museum, and also get involved at special events, like our Victorian Christmas celebration.
Reminiscence
Since late 2012 we have been developing and trialing a project which involves taking items from our photographic collection out into care homes around Reading, and listening to the residents' stories of their lives in the countryside. This project is immensely rewarding, as we get to see the positive impact our collections can have on people.
Archives
There are various roles for volunteers in the archives, from sorting papers, entering information onto databases, and performing paper conservation tasks. We have a range of different archives, including publishers, farming organisations, photographs, and the Samuel Beckett collection.
Our Countryfile project has been running since October, and the team of volunteers has been handling our archive of farming cooperative papers. These have needed some conservation, including removing rusty old staples, and putting the documents into new folders. So far we have dealt with almost 1000 items!
Garden
With Spring and Summer on the way, our garden volunteers have started preparing the ground for theis year's projects. This includes making our back garden into a bee sanctuary, with bee-friendly plants, and places for bees to live.
Celebrating Volunteers
"Volunteers are the life and soul of the University Museums, they contribute so much time and effort, offering invaluable experience and a breath of fresh air. We are delighted that our volunteers have been recognised at the highest level, we hope that our community volunteers continue to be a part of our organisation for years to come." - Rob Davies, Volunteer Coordinator, UMASCS.
Universities Week 2011 press release - University says thank you to its volunteers
Volunteers for Museums
2010-11- Volunteers for Museums
If you are interested in volunteering, contact our Volunteer Coordinator to find out more.