Get involved with Vivacity volunteering!

Volunteers are the lifeblood behind many of the city’s top attractions, events and sporting venues, contributing time, knowledge and passion. Gill Benedikz, Vivacity’s Volunteer Development Manager, talks to us about some of the volunteering opportunities available and why now’s the perfect time to join the team

Vivacity is an incredible force for good in the city. Let’s start with a bit of an explanation about what Vivacity is and its mission.
Vivacity is a Peterborough-based charitable trust set up to enrich lives by inspiring people through culture, sport and healthy living. We manage and deliver much of the culture and sports provision within the city. Any profits that are generated are simply reinvested right back into our services bringing bigger and better vibrant events and a wealth of opportunities for the people that live in the city and the surrounding villages.

Where do volunteers fit into all of this? Is it so you can achieve more in the city?
Yes, and it is about empowering our communities as well.We can do much more with people who actively want to get involved and see things happen. About ten years ago, when I first started working in the area there was a bit of talk that ‘nothing ever happens in Peterborough’. As time passes we’re hearing this less and less because Vivacity are actively doing more and more in the city. It’s very much the case that volunteering with an organisation like Vivacity gives you the opportunity to make things happen. It’s about engaging with the people who are our customers and ultimately becoming even more involved in the city.

A great way to have fun: Krzysztof’s story

My volunteering story began when I got talking to Gill about Vivacity during a school business day. It sounded like they did fun things so I got involved. I started out volunteering at the Summer Reading Challenge. I loved helping children get excited about reading and got to work with other young volunteers, all while having a great time. When the Arts Festival came round I decided to help out because being part of such a large event sounded really enjoyable, which it was!

When I found out one of the upcoming Heritage events was to be themed on Lewis Carroll I knew I wanted to be involved in this too. I dressed up as the Mad Hatter and loved making people’s visits to the museum more enjoyable. From that point on I’ve helped out with museum events whenever I can, including events at Flag Fen and, most recently, as an elf at both the museum and library. I don’t think I would have done so much, met such great people or had so much fun if I hadn’t joined Vivacity’s volunteer team.

How many volunteers do you currently have?
There are about 400 members of our volunteer team ranging in age, starting at 14 to those that offer more experience let’s say! The time they give to Vivacity could be as little as an hour every now and then to three or four days a week, every little counts. Some volunteers may only be able to help us during school holidays, or prefer to channel their effort to a site they know and love. Then there are others who just want to get more involved with what’s going on in the city.

You’ve hinted there at the range of activities that volunteers do, which is pretty varied. Give us a few recent examples of ways in which volunteers have helped out at specific venues or events.
Some of our sportier volunteers have helped out at our Club Viva holiday clubs, and others regularly help out in their local library. Contrasting to this, a lot of readers will be aware of some of the largerscale events that Vivacity either leads or is involved with. One example is the Heritage Festival, which has been building up to become a really fantastic community effort, celebrating our local heritage. It’s grown so big that it’s going regional! It demonstrates perfectly how volunteers have been instrumental in turning a really good city community event into something even bigger. Then there is the Great Eastern Run, which Vivacity helps deliver by recruiting, supplying and coordinating the volunteers.

Bringing people together: Magda’s story
I like what Vivacity stands for: service to the city and its people. What Vivacity does is so important and it helps make people’s lives happy and colourful. That’s why I volunteer. I used to volunteer regularly at Longthorpe Tower but as I work full-time and have family commitments it was difficult to fit everything in. Now I concentrate on helping out with events.

I’ve done three Heritage Festivals and three Arts Festivals. These are fantastic because they are outside, on the streets. It means that people who are out shopping, who may not normally take part in arts or history events, get drawn in. Peterborough is a multicultural city and some groups keep to themselves, but big events like the festivals bring people together to have fun and be amazed.

So you facilitate non-Vivacity events as well?
It’s all part of our aspiration to give people the opportunity to get involved in the life of the city. Partnerships like the Great Eastern Run are brilliant because various organisations come together and share the workload. It is also about how communities work. You can always do more if you are not working in isolation. So we very much work in partnership where we can.

Tell us about some of the volunteering opportunities at Vivacity’s three flagship heritage venues: Peterborough Museum, Flag Fen and Longthorpe Tower.
Peterborough Museum is open year round and is really the headquarters of our heritage team. It’s a real focal point for in-house activities too. Perhaps the easiest way to start volunteering is by doing some of the front-of-house roles at the museum, which make the difference between our customers having an average visit and a brilliant one. The front-of-house team meets and greets visitors, lets them know about any temporary exhibitions and upcoming events, as well as practical things such as keeping the place presentable, helping out in the café if there’s a sudden rush, to, say, helping children with crafts if there’s a special event on. There are teams involved with collections, particularly the geology collection, but that obviously requires quite specialist skills, so we need to look for volunteers with specific experience for these types of roles. Then come the open season, which starts around Easter, we welcome visitors to Vivacity’s summer heritage sites: Flag Fen, which is a Bronze Age site, and Longthorpe Tower, a tiny medieval gem.

My way of saying thanks: Jane’s story
I’ve been volunteering with Vivacity since last summer’s Heritage Festival when I was invited to become the mistress of ceremonies [Jane was on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire for 15 years]. I was hooked on volunteering from day one, especially when I found out about all the other opportunities that there are! Since then I have become one of the Priestgate Vaults tour guides, worked front of house at The Key’s panto and enjoy helping out during the halfterm and school holiday events at the museum.

I volunteer because it’s my way of saying thank you to Vivacity for bringing me all the things I love, from to theatre to heritage. Over the years I’ve had some great times and it’s all thanks to Vivacity, so I just wanted to say thank you now I’ve got some spare time.

What can volunteers do at Longthorpe?
Longthorpe is a brilliant example of how volunteers really come into their own. It’s a small site manned by pairs of volunteers working morning and afternoon shifts every weekend and Bank Holiday. They do everything from greeting visitors, taking admissions, to introducing the site and talking to visitors about the fantastic medieval wall paintings preserved and on display. They can really bring the medieval mind to life. Of course, you need confidence for public speaking, and you need a real passion for history but also a willingness to learn how it all fits together. But it’s the volunteers that are making the experience great for these visitors, giving them access to this great British historic building throughout the open season.

And what about Flag Fen – it’s a big site so there must be a lot of scope for practical, hands-on volunteering?
Absolutely. Flag Fen brings together all that front-of-house activity that happens at the museum, the detailed historical knowledge of Longthorpe, as well as opening up opportunities for people who want to be out and about. There’s always painting to be done, naughty sheep to round up and bird boxes to install on the nature reserve; it’s a fantastic little oasis of natural fenland. When Flag Fen is closed for winter there’s plenty of practical work to be done to prepare for the next open season. So we’re always looking to increase our practical volunteering team in those winter months. In fact, we have a hands-on day coming up on 18 February when we’ll be getting the site spruced up, ready to open for Easter. Would-be volunteers are very welcome to come along and lend a hand, offering a great introduction to volunteering at Flag Fen. Last year people helped with painting, tidying the gardens so they were presentable, and with pulling up reeds from the meres to stop them clogging up and to maintain their wildlife value.

Getting back confidence: Jason’s story
I help to run the Learn My Way course on using computers and the internet. I enjoy working one-to-one with our customers and watching them achieve their goals, whether it be using email, typing a document or simply searching online.

I’ve volunteered with Vivacity since June 2015 and would recommend it to others for many reasons, including building your work experience and CV. Having had numerous health problems in the last ten years I have had to change my career. Volunteering has been a great way to boost my self-respect and confidence.

It’s clear that volunteering opportunities are incredibly varied! Aside from specific skills, what sorts of qualities do volunteers need?
The common factor among all our volunteers is a can-do attitude, of wanting to make a genuine difference. It may be a general desire or something very specific. For example, one of our volunteers in the library service, looks after our CDs and cassettes for visually impaired visitors to the library. She cares about making sure all the CDs are in the right order, that they are working correctly and that any cassettes are rewound ready for the next person. Then there are volunteers who have a “niche passion”, like the volunteers who run the Rollers roller skating discos every Saturday night. Many of our volunteers enjoy the more personal, one-to-one side of things. For example, our swimming assistants help to support our swim academy in the pool. They lend their encouragement and guidance to the learner swimmers and in doing so make a noticeable difference to their progression.

Volunteers help the city’s culture, heritage and sporting venues run smoothly. Peterborough has a lot to be thankful for, but what do volunteers stand to gain from the experience?
Aside from the fun, there’s a sense of selfworth and satisfaction that comes from volunteering. On a more tangible level we have volunteers looking to build up their CV, either to gain confidence and experience before returning to work, or if they’re younger people, maybe wanting to try something out to see if they’d like to take it further. There’s also the fact that your knowledge bank massively increases when you volunteer, particularly when you factor in the opportunities available at the three big heritage sites. You are mixing with people who have been volunteering for more than 20 years. You talk to people and you discover details about history, or in the case of the Must Farm boats different processes that are going on to preserve them. That sort of knowledge only comes from regularly going out there and chatting to fellow volunteers or members of staff. It is a really good feeling when you can have an informed conversation with a visitor about the sites history or an exhibit on display.

A chance to be me!: Dr Rachel’s story
I love volunteering at Longthorpe Tower because for three hours every month I get to be me! Helping our interesting, interested visitors understand what they see is really rewarding. The paintings are a bit faded after 700 years and were challenging even in their day, so it’s not immediately obvious.

Bringing the whole scheme, as well as the little details alive is wonderful. Some of our visitors and the other stewards are really knowledgeable and it’s great to learn from them too.

You’ve given the example of people trying to broaden their experiences or perhaps fill gaps in their CV. At the other end of the spectrum you must get a lot of semi-retired and retired people looking to give something back to their community.
Absolutely. And we get people who are new to the area, because volunteering is a great way to build up a social network. Then there is another wave of volunteers who are maybe retired but whose partners are still working, so they are looking for some new routines and/or interests. Essentially volunteering is a fantastic way to meet like-minded people either through work that they do, or dedicated social events and activities they go on too. Volunteer events don’t stop at the Christmas party, we have ghost walks for our volunteers and special tours of the Priestgate Vaults. There’s a social side to things, where volunteers can learn something or just kick back, relax and get to know their fellow volunteers.

Why is now such a great time to start volunteering?
The start of a new year is traditionally a great time to consider doing something new or to finally pursue a different interest. And that’s great for organisations like Vivacity because we have plenty of sites that we need to recruit volunteers for. We don’t just drop our volunteers into their roles. Would-be volunteers needn’t worry about their lack of experience. As long as they are enthusiastic, we’ll give them the training, the tools and the knowledge to get started. There are always other experienced volunteers about too, as well as members of staff on hand to help.

Join the team!
Whether you’re unemployed or the CEO of a multinational business, anyone and everyone can apply to volunteer. To get involved with any of the opportunities described or to find out more, simply email or search ‘Vivacity Volunteering’ on Facebook and Twitter. You can learn more at www.vivacity-peterborough.com