Pollok volunteer takes UK award

An inspiring and energetic volunteer, devoted to bringing the National Trust for Scotland’s Pollok House to life for visitors, has been honoured with a top UK volunteering award.

An inspiring and energetic volunteer, devoted to bringing the National Trust for Scotland’s Pollok House to life for visitors, has been honoured with a top UK volunteering award.

Beth Talbot (24), from Cambridge has won the overall award at the British Museum and Marsh Trust Award for Museum Learning. She also took the regional award for Scotland. The exciting new award recognises best practice and the innovative ways in which volunteers work in museums and galleries to engage the public with collections.

Nominees were judged on three main criteria:

Making a difference to their museum
Improving the museum experience for visitors
Positive feedback from museum visitors and staff
Beth, who has been volunteering at Pollok House in Glasgow’s Southside for eight months, amply demonstrated all of these qualities, impressing judges with her creativity and enthusiasm. She attended the award ceremony at the British Museum on Thursday 18 June.

Alison Burke, Learning Officer with the National Trust for Scotland said:

“Beth’s contribution to the National Trust for Scotland is huge. She throws herself wholeheartedly into everything that she does and the response from the public is fantastic. Beth has been my right hand in delivering our programme of learning at Pollok and has played many roles as part of that – from Alice in Wonderland, to Tilly the Housemaid and even the Ice Queen. Beth brings such grace, intelligence and style to her work with us. She is a huge asset to our charity and we are very pleased that her efforts have been recognised at a UK level.”

Beth studied History of Art at the University of Glasgow and graduated with Honours in June 2008. Her studies inspired a desire to work in heritage education specifically in Scotland. Since starting as a volunteer at Pollok in September 2008, she has worked full time (often including weekends), learning how to deliver a wide range of events.

Beth Talbot said:

“My friend recommended that I should come to Pollok House to work with Alison. She told me that I would learn about what working in the heritage field was really like and gain valuable experience, whilst working in the most beautiful venue.

“My experience has been dynamic and innovative. I feel that I have been at the cutting edge of education and incredibly lucky to have been part of the development and delivery of the new learning programme.”