Bradford Libraries, Museums & Galleries Volunteers’ Handbook Contents Welcome ................................................................................................................... 2 Our Mission ............................................................................................................... 4 About us .................................................................................................................... 5 Support for Volunteers ............................................................................................. 10 Code of Conduct ..................................................................................................... 12 Health and safety .................................................................................................... 15 Policies and procedures .......................................................................................... 17 Bradford Libraries, Museums and Galleries Volunteer Policy ................................. 19 Volunteer Agreement .............................................................................................. 23 Volunteer Exit Form ................................................................................................. 24 Volunteer Training Record ........................................................................................ 25 Additional Notes ...................................................................................................... 26 Appendix 1 Volunteer role description exemplars ................................................... 27 www.bradfordmuseums.org Page 1 https://www.bradford.gov.uk/libraries/volunteering-in-libraries/volunteer-in-a-library/ Welcome Get Involved! – in a range of exciting opportunities as a volunteer. Volunteers contribute to our museums and galleries in many different ways, from engaging directly with our visitors to working behind the scenes with our exhibitions, events and collections teams. They help us provide valuable services that we would not otherwise be able to provide. Could you support our work by sponsoring, donating or volunteering? All opportunities have flexible commitment requirements and aim to provide a rewarding and enriching experience for all. Our vision is for Bradford is to be an attractive place where people are prosperous, healthy, and safe, supported by excellent services, a place where we value everyone being different and through our actions demonstrate that everyone matters. Bradford Council believes that our volunteers are a crucial part of working towards this vision. Volunteering with the Council is not about replacing paid staff, but about complementing and adding value to the work we already do. Volunteers bring specialist knowledge and skills to their roles and the Council recognises that some of the work it does would not be possible if it were not for volunteers. The Council is committed to a high standard of volunteer management and as a volunteer you will be valued as a member of a team and by the Council as a whole. We hope you will find that the Council is a place where you will feel that your views will be heard, your ideas valued and where you think you can make a difference. Finally, thank you for choosing to volunteer with Bradford Council and by donating your time to deliver services for the people of the district, you will enjoy your time with the authority and welcome to the team. A volunteer museum assistant working on the ‘A Squash and a Squeeze: Julia Donaldson’ (Gruffalo) exhibition at Cartwright Hall Art Gallery www.bradfordmuseums.org Page 2 https://www.bradford.gov.uk/libraries/volunteering-in-libraries/volunteer-in-a-library/ Volunteers contribute to our museums and galleries in many different ways, from engaging directly with our visitors to working behind the scenes with our exhibitions, events and collections teams. They help us provide valuable services that we would not otherwise be able to provide. Volunteer roles within the service include: working behind the scenes documenting and digitising our collections; taking a front of house role in the galleries, welcoming our visitors; conservation housekeeping assisting the collections officers with cleaning and caring for the collections; and guiding visitors wanting to be shown around our exhibitions or special events. This handbook is designed to be a guide on the basics of volunteering with Bradford Council and to support you in your volunteering activities. It will inform you of what you can expect from us and what we expect from you. You may also receive additional specific information not mentioned in this handbook, relating to the volunteering roles you undertake. Bradford Council wants to demonstrate its appreciation of your volunteering with us and show our commitment to making sure your volunteer experience with the Council is positive and rewarding. This handbook guidance is not intended to be legally binding or to create a contractual relationship with our volunteers. www.bradfordmuseums.org Page 3 https://www.bradford.gov.uk/libraries/volunteering-in-libraries/volunteer-in-a-library/ Our Mission Bradford Libraries, Museums and Galleries exists to provide a high quality museums and galleries service that is responsive, inspiring and challenging, and, through active community engagement, enriches the lives of the citizens of Bradford and district, and enhances the profile of Bradford as a place to visit. Cartwright Hall Art Gallery Bolling Hall Museum and Library Cliffe Castle Museum and Park Bradford Industrial Museum www.bradfordmuseums.org Page 4 https://www.bradford.gov.uk/libraries/volunteering-in-libraries/volunteer-in-a-library/ About us Bradford Libraries, Museums and Galleries consist of four museum and gallery sites run by the City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council; they are Bolling Hall Museum and Library, Cartwright Hall Art Gallery and Lister Park, Cliffe Castle Museum and Park in Keighley and Bradford Industrial Museum. Volunteers work at each of these sites. Volunteer working with the exhibitions team and Craft Council London on the exhibition ‘Knit’ at Cartwright Hall Art Gallery. www.bradfordmuseums.org Page 5 https://www.bradford.gov.uk/libraries/volunteering-in-libraries/volunteer-in-a-library/ Bolling Hall Museum and Library Bowling Hall Road, Bradford, BD9 4NS Tel 01274 431212 Bolling Hall, the oldest public building in Bradford, has been open as a museum since 1915. With parts of the building dating from the medieval times, Bolling Hall is a mixture of styles with every nook and cranny packed with history. During the Civil War the household supported the Royalist cause, and the house provided a stronghold during the ‘Siege of Bradford’. The ghost room is where the Earl of Newcastle is said to have been visited by a ghost begging him to ‘Pity poor Bradford’ causing him to change his orders. Rooms are furnished and decorated to give an accurate taste of life at different periods of the house’s history, and the fascinating furniture on display includes a superb bed made for Harewood House by Thomas Chippendale. Bolling Hall Library is now located in Bolling Hall Museum. Further information is available on the Bradford Libraries website. www.bradfordmuseums.org Page 6 https://www.bradford.gov.uk/libraries/volunteering-in-libraries/volunteer-in-a-library/ Bradford Industrial Museum Moorside Mills, Moorside Road, Eccleshill, Bradford BD2 3HP Tel 01274 435900 Opened in 1974, this museum was one of the first industrial museums in the country and is housed in an old spinning mill. Bradford was once Britain’s fastest growing industrial city and was nicknamed ‘Worstedopolis’ because the district grew rich making ‘worsted’, a fine wool fabric used in top quality clothing. In the latter half of the 20th century, the textile industry declined rapidly and this museum was created to preserve the industrial heritage of the city. On the ground floor, there are galleries with steam engines, printing machines and the transport collection as well as a temporary exhibition area with a programme of displays that change throughout the year. On the first floor, spinning, combing, drawing and weaving machinery are demonstrated daily. Outside, the mill-manager’s house and a cobbled street with back-to back houses display how managers and mill floor workers lived over the decades. www.bradfordmuseums.org Page 7 https://www.bradford.gov.uk/libraries/volunteering-in-libraries/volunteer-in-a-library/ Cartwright Hall Art Gallery Lister Park, Bradford, BD4 7LP Tel: 01274 431212 Cartwright Hall Art Gallery is one of the U.K's leading regional art galleries. Situated in the picturesque Lister Park, the civic art gallery has permanent art collections. In addition, the gallery plays host to a number of temporary in-house curated exhibitions and visiting exhibitions, working with partners such as the National Portrait Gallery, V&A Museum of Childhood, the British Museum in London and many more national and international venues. The art gallery is one of four sites and is council run. It very much depends upon private donations, business sponsorship, grants from trust and foundations, admission charges and the support of our benefactors, donors and friends. Cartwright Hall Art Gallery has been collecting prints for over one hundred years and its collection includes works by master printmakers such as Francisco Goya, William Blake and Walter Sickert and by modern masters - Pop Artists Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein and Richard Hamilton.