Our volunteers are at the heart of the Museum and we appreciate every one of them! Find out about our Front of House volunteer Carlotta and what it’s like volunteering with us.
Hello! My name is Carlotta, and I have been a front of house volunteer at the Museum of Cambridge for about 6 months now.
While studying classical civilisation at university I joined a volunteering project ran by the Archaeology Department to digitise thousands of film slides used by the department from the 60s to the 90s. This project propelled my interest in working with historical archives and inspired me to pursue a career in the museum and heritage sector. And so, when I moved back home to Cambridgeshire after graduating, I knew I wanted to get some experience working in this field.
Upon looking at the various opportunities around the Cambridge Museums I saw there were vacancies for front of house volunteers at the Museum of Cambridge. I had visited the museum before as a child, when it was known as the Folk Museum, but didn’t know an awful lot about it. So, when I started volunteering, I soon discovered how wonderful the museum is!
Volunteering at the Museum of Cambridge is a joy. There is a real close-knit feel to all the staff and volunteers here which is lovely, and working on the front of house desk enables me to mingle with a diverse range of people, from tourists looking to learn more about Cambridge, to locals who haven’t visited the museum in years, to families looking for a nice day out. I always like seeing people’s reactions to the vast collection of artefacts the museum has to offer. My favourite artefacts to look at are always the old maps and illustrations of the city and the wider Cambridgeshire area as I love comparing how things have changed or stayed the same (and you’ll realise a lot of the city has remained unchanged for years!)