: Volunteering

Celebrating Volunteers!

Ffion Davies, 5 July 2025

Amgueddfa Cymru hosts a range of socials and celebration events to recognise and celebrate our volunteers throughout the year. Every summer we organise celebrations event at Cardiff, Swansea, Drefach Felindre, and North Wales to celebrate Volunteers’ Week.  Volunteers’ Week is a UK celebration of all thing volunteers and happens every year between 1-7 June. 

This year’s summer celebrations were unique!

We hosted our first ever street party outside our two iconic buildings, Oakdale Workmen’s Hall and The Vulcan Pub, at St Fagans. Over 60 volunteers across Cardiff attended to have vegan pizza with sides and an optional pint at The Vulcan. We also hosted our famous quiz, which this year seemed very fitting in The Vulcan. Craft Club Volunteers won this year’s quiz!

In North Wales due to the redevelopment work the National Slate Museum is currently closed, so volunteers choose to use this as an opportunity to visit the Museum on the Move and to attend a slate splitting demonstration by one of our demonstrating quarrymen who are currently based at Penrhyn Castle. The volunteers also enjoyed the opportunity to walk around the castle’s historic rooms, learning about the links between the castle and the slate industry. 

Volunteers at the GRAFT, National Waterfront Museum had a mosaic making session with an artist to create artwork with the prompt ‘what does the GRAFT garden mean to me’. This was followed by pizza and an awards ceremony celebrating the best weeder, water wizard, etc. We ended the session with a drumming session from One Heart Drummers.

Instead of our usual lunch and craft activity, volunteers at the National Wool Museum had a day out to visit the British Wool Sorting Depot and local museum. We did say unique! 

This is our way of saying Diolch to our amazing volunteers, that last year (2024-2025) donated over 34,880 hours!  

“Volunteers are a highly valued part of our family here at Amgueddfa Cymru. Volunteers enrich and add value to the way we inspire learning and enjoyment for everyone through the national collection of Wales. They enable a much wider, and more diverse range of voices, experiences and perspectives to contribute to the delivery of that core purpose than we could ever achieve solely through the staff body.  I started my culture and heritage career with a volunteering placement many years ago. Volunteering changed my life, and it’s wonderful to see the wide range of ways in which volunteering changes lives in Amgueddfa Cymru.” Jane Richardson, Chief Executive, Amgueddfa Cymru.

Fancy getting involved? Get Involved | Museum Wales

Museum Voices: Siôn Davies-Rollinson – Engagement and Volunteer Co-ordinator

Siôn Davies-Rollinson, 18 June 2025

A person stands by a timber-framed building with a sloped roof; yellow chairs and tables are arranged on the patio outside.

Siôn Davies-Rollinson, Engagement and Volunteer Co-ordinator

Hi Siôn, tell us about yourself and your role at Amgueddfa Cymru.

I’m Siôn and I first joined Amgueddfa Cymru in 2012 as part of the Front of House team at St Fagans. For the past three years, I’ve been the Engagement & Volunteer Co-ordinator based at St Fagans. In this role, I support our volunteers and community groups to engage with Amgueddfa Cymru across a wide range of roles. One of the best aspects of my role which I really enjoy is getting to know our diverse mix of volunteers and to learn the reasons why they choose to volunteer at Amgueddfa Cymru.

Recently I have also become the Engagement & Volunteer Co-ordinator at Big Pit to help develop a volunteering programme, which is very exciting!

How many volunteers are there across the estate and what sort of things do they do?

Volunteers in red jackets marked 'Gwirfoddoli Volunteering' walk towards a building labelled 'Gweithdy' among greenery.

There are over 850 volunteers involved with different programmes across Amgueddfa Cymru. At St Fagans we have over eight volunteering roles alone! Just to name a few, the garden volunteers help maintain the historical gardens on the Castle side, and our Book Project volunteers help collect and sell second-hand books in order to raise donations for Amgueddfa Cymru. Explore volunteers use our handling trolleys in the galleries, allowing our visitors to get up close to some of our collections. You may also see large groups of volunteers from community groups helping us with tasks such as fence painting, hedge cutting, and limewashing. We recently had Cardiff and Vale College students volunteering with us for the third year running. It’s really rewarding to see the students’ confidence develop through volunteering, whilst they give some of these tasks a go for the very first time.

Two volunteers in red jackets marked 'Gwirfoddoli Volunteering' organise books on white shelves.

Volunteer-led Book Project at St Fagans

We once saw old miners’ helmets from Big Pit become hanging baskets at St Fagans. They were brilliant. Are there any similar projects in the pipeline?

The miners’ helmets hanging baskets were a fun project, and the volunteers really enjoyed getting involved. The flowers also added a lot of colour to our Volunteering Hub. We’re always on the lookout for new ways to support sustainability and finding new way to reuse and recycle. One of our most recent projects was having volunteers plant over 2,000 native bluebell and snowdrop bulbs at St Fagans. Once they bloom next Spring, there’ll be a lovely trail of flowers stretching from Llys Llywelyn to Bryn Eryr. Not only will it look beautiful in early spring, but it’ll also support local pollinators like bees, which rely on early blooms for nectar and pollen when there’s little else in flower. It’s a small step that make a big difference for local biodiversity.

What’s been your favourite project to date?

Four people at work in parkland with woven wooden fences near thatched huts, surrounded by trees.

Celtic-inspired garden outside Bryn Eryr, St Fagans

My favourite project that I’ve been involved in has been the Bryn Eryr Volunteers’ Garden at St Fagans. We brought a group of volunteers together to help make and maintain a Celtic-inspired garden as part of the Bryn Eryr roundhouses. The garden consists of four different beds growing a mixture of peas, beans and parsnips, various types of herbs, and one bed dedicated to different dye plants. We have also recently planted some flax seeds in the garden, so it’ll be exciting to see how they turn out. I also enjoy that the project is mainly volunteer-led and allows the volunteers to help make decisions on how to further develop the garden. We’re hoping to clear a small area in the garden in order to plant some crab apple trees for next year.

Two people work in a lush garden with thatched huts and a wooden archway, surrounded by trees under a bright sky.

Bryn Eryr garden, St Fagans

How can people get involved with volunteering at Amgueddfa Cymru?

There are many different ways that people can get in involved with volunteering at Amgueddfa Cymru. The easiest way for people to find out about different opportunities is to visit our website. We advertise all our roles and opportunities online; here’s a link.

People can also sign up to our mailing list to get alerts about new roles as they appear. If people have any questions, they can get in contact with our Volunteering team via volunteering@museumwales.ac.uk.

And the one question we ask everyone – what’s your favourite piece in the collection?

A narrow paved alleyway running past a terrace of houses to the right, with the houses' gardens to the left of the alley and trees visible in the distance.

Rhyd y Car, St Fagans

That’s a tough one! Working in Front of House, I got to spend a lot of time around the historic buildings at St Fagans, and each one has its own unique story and feel. If I had to pick, I’d say the Rhyd-y-Car Cottages. I really enjoy how each cottage goes up in a timeline and that you can see how the interiors and the adjoining gardens change. You can really tell that the visitors enjoy making their way through and experiencing each cottage. Plus, the feel of the cottages and gardens change with the season, meaning there’s always something new to notice and see.

Building confidence, one rag rug at a time!

Chloe Ward, 13 June 2025

In June 2023 Amgueddfa Lechi Cymru started a craft volunteering role to create 6 rag rugs for the education programme. We recruited 6 volunteers, and Isabel de Silva was part of the group. She started volunteering while she was finishing her master's degree at Bangor University, and her reason for volunteering was to gain experience for a job or career.

Volunteers making rag rugs.

As well as creating rag rugs, Isabel and the volunteers had to engage with visitors at the Chief Engineer's House to explain how they were made and share the history of the tradition. When Isabel started volunteering, she was quite shy and lacked confidence. To work on this further, Isabel volunteered to help us at Christmas with rag wreath making workshops too – it was a busy and lively environment! Her confidence grew as she spoke to more and more visitors and dealt with the many questions about the rugs from enthusiastic visitors.

A volunteer making traditional christmas decorations.

"Volunteering with the Slate Museum helped me to improve my confidence, improve my communication skills and learn a new practical skill." - Isabel de Silva

Isabel has since graduated and completed her master’s degree, and since gaining confidence and developing work skills, has now got a job with the Gwynedd Libraries Service and at Storiel, Gwynedd's museum and gallery. Isabel also completed a wonderful rug by herself by July 2024… it took a year of volunteering once a week!

"Through my volunteering I learned so much about the history of the local area, and the impact of the quarry on the lives of the people of North Wales today. That knowledge inspired me to do my part in preserving and sharing the history of Wales, and I have had the opportunity to do that through my job at Storiel." - Isabel de Silva

Volunteering: second-hand book sale at National Museum Cardiff

Maia Reed, 21 March 2025

I am a history MA student, and since April 2024 I have been a volunteer for the museums second-hand book sale. 

A typical session volunteering includes categorising and pricing donated books stored in the volunteer hub. Once we have chosen which books to keep (which is most of them) we place and organise them at the front of the museum. You can choose how long you want to volunteer for and if you want to be alone or work with someone else. Sometimes there are a lot of books to sort and sometimes all you need to do is put out more on the shelves to sell.

I started volunteering because I took a year off university in between my undergrad and postgrad, and I wanted to do something that would give me an insight into how the heritage sector worked. I find organising and arranging the books calming and the staff and volunteers are always really friendly! 

Maia – Book Sale Volunteer

Behind the scenes as a book sale volunteer at National Museum Cardiff

Daniel Skentelbery, 4 March 2025

In March 2024, I became part of a team of volunteers at National Museum Cardiff, our objective to setup and maintain a second-hand bookstall in the main hall of the museum.  

I have a background in education, community arts, and creative writing. When the opportunity to volunteer as bookseller with National Museum Cardiff came about, I eagerly applied and was over the moon to have been invited to join. Being involved in the running of the second-hand bookstall resonates with my, and the museum’s, commitment to making education accessible. At the stall, we always have a host of history, science, and arts books available for children and adults. The bookstall also promotes an ease of access to a wide variety of fiction books, which thrills the creative writer in me. 

Whenever I go into the museum, I am warmed by how interested everyone is in the bookstall. I often chat with visitors about their unique finds, or how excited they are to get stuck into a new book, as well as talking about the museum and its exhibits. Members of staff at the museum are always taking an interest too, and I’ve gotten to know some members of the front of house team well. It is always nice hearing about their book finds, or updates about the money the stall has raised, or to catch up and chat about how our weeks have been going.  

We stock the bookstall with second-hand books donated to us by members of museum staff, and members of the public via donations to St Fagans National Museum of History, at which they have their own successful second-hand bookstall. I go into the museum once a week to sort through these donated books, in addition to tidying up and restocking the bookstall. Sorting books sees me sort books by genre, and alphabetise the fiction, as well as to make sure that books are marked with a suggested donation. Green =50p, Blue =£1, Yellow =£2, and our red stickers mark custom prices, usually to highlight rare editions, or bundles.

Sorting through the books is a great joy, we never know what is going to come in, and there are always fascinating gems to be found. I’ll set myself up in the volunteer hub, usually with an audiobook or some music and make my way through the book piles. Some of my favourite donations have been the unique specialist books donated by museum staff, books that you simply wouldn’t find in your average bookshop. But the fact is, I never know what is going to turn up. Several finds which have stood out to me, and highlight the diversity of books that come in, include: the score to Westside Story, a guide to scuba diving, a book of Mastermind questions, and an omnibus of Alien vs Predator novels! Just goes to show that it’s always worth popping in to see what’s there.  

Being a part of the bookstall has been greatly rewarding, I’ve gotten to know lots of museum volunteers and staff alike, and my relationship with the museum has provided me with opportunities to attend unique talks and events for volunteers, such as our tour of National Roman Legion Museum, back in November ‘24. Notably, I am proud of the money that the bookstall has raised for the museum, £4300.88 at the most recent count up by staff!

The second-hand bookstall is made up of four bookcases which can be found in the main hall of National Museum Cardiff. Books can be purchased by making a donation at the card reader, or by dropping some cash into the collection box beside the shelves.   

Daniel Skentelbery – Book Sale Volunteer