Helen Robertson, Volunteer and Activities Coordinator
When did you join Carers’ Support East Kent (CSEK)?
I joined CSEK at the beginning of April 2022 and, like the coming of Spring, am excited to be starting a new role with an organisation brimming with enthusiasm as we head out of the pandemic.
What roles have you done before/charities worked for and how long have you worked in the charity sector?
I’ve had a varied career history. I originally worked as a lecturer before running away to sea for 10 years. On returning to the UK I retrained in object conservation, ironically specialising in ship model conservation following an internship at the National Maritime Museum.
I joined the heritage sector, as a conservator, 10 years ago but the teacher in me couldn’t resist the opportunity to reach out and engage with the community. Through various initiatives during my time at Royal Museums Greenwich (RMG) I was eventually appointed Site Manager for The Prince Philip Maritime Collections Centre (PPMCC).
This is a purpose-built facility hosting the majority of the museums’ vast collection and conservation studios, but with a twist. PPMCC was designed to be RMG’s 5th public site allowing visitors to see behind the scenes and delve into the highlights of the unseen collection.
The principle aims of this new role was to create a community hub to open access to the collection through the development of public engagement, learning and school programmes whilst linking the collection and ‘behind the scenes’ operations across of our 4 existing museum sites. Through this we successfully delivered a range of collection-based community initiatives to engage those who felt alienated from the traditional museum environment.
Tell us one interesting/exciting activity you’ve been involved in – that you’re proud of – during your career
For the opening of PPMCC I worked with the collection team to facilitate the discreet rehousing and movement of 37,000 objects and 2,500 linear metres of archive to the new stores.
To enable this mammoth move I developed the RMG conservation volunteer programme. The initial 35 volunteers assisted with the rehousing of the collection, including the production of bespoke packaging to ensure safe movement and maximize storage space, as well as cleaning and surveying our open display collection, integrated pest management (IPM), data collection and input and public engagement initiatives.
Our volunteers received in depth training and day to day supervision and support. To quantify this, and to offer them formal recognition of their contribution, I introduced the NVQ Level 3 Cultural Heritage (conservation and collections management pathways).
What are you excited about in terms of your new role at CSEK?
Moving to Deal is coming home, after 30 years. Although I’m completely new to the care sector I’m excited to bring my volunteer management experience, with RMG & The National Trust, and my passion for community engagement, outreach, and co-production of activities to CSEK.
I will be working across the organisation and carer community to identify where we need support and developing new volunteer roles to enable us to maximise our potential in delivering our key support objectives.
Over the coming months I will be reaching out to you all for your ideas and feedback so we can deliver activities that best suit your needs. This will be in conjunction with an outreach programme to help signpost new carers to our services across the region.
If a Carer is interested in volunteering, how can they get involved?
I’m really keen to hear from our Carers and find out what activities they’d like to get involved with and how we can best support them as we move from the virtual to the real world again. Simply send me an email to volunteer@carersek.org.uk with your ideas and suggestions.
If you’re interested in volunteering, that would be amazing! The same applies, drop me an email to volunteer@carersek.org.uk and we can have a chat to see how you’d like to get involved and discuss which roles would suit you best.