Case Study: Broadening Inclusive Participation Within Heritage Projects

What is this case study about?

Britannia Sailing Trust (BST) is a small charity in the south-west of England, with trustees, 5 part-time staff, and 15 volunteers who worked closely together to restore a 19th century fishing ship, the 108-year-old East Coast Smack Britannia, to sailing condition.

Volunteers get involved in the many different aspects of this work, including:

• Hands-on in the workshop
• Supportive roles, organising events and fundraisers
• Face-to-face outreach work
• Grant-writing
• Business planning
• Producing souvenir items for the ship's shop

Britannia Sailing Trust has worked hard to make the restoration project accessible to everyone. Our local community's demographic is primarily comprised of people 70 years old and above, and our initial volunteers were elderly single gentlemen.

We aimed to broaden our volunteer workforce by raising our local profile. We offered to write articles and give talks for local youth groups, schools and voluntary organisations. We simply started by phoning and emailing them.

The Devon Community Foundation helped us find local charities that could benefit from collaborating with us.

We established our presence in the local community by maintaining a regular stall at the monthly village market and hosting regular Open Days and fundraising events in the village. This has resulted in our creating an intergenerational environment that is mixed-gender and neurologically diverse.

The project has worked from the outset, with considerable success, to provide a welcoming and supportive environment for those suffering from mental health issues.

Successes

We take pride in our diverse and inclusive team. We can draw from the decades of experience of older individuals, as well as the youthful dynamism, energy, and new ideas of the younger folk. Seeing people from all walks of life work together, bond, and learn from one another is immensely rewarding.

Inclusivity is at the heart of the BST community and has been a key factor in our success. The diversity of our team gives it incredible strength, flexibility, and resilience.

Additionally, we have celebrated success with improving the lives, wellbeing and careers of the individuals who have worked on the project.

One of the young volunteers credited their involvement with the project with helping her in "becoming a new person and gaining so much experience. I now know what I want to do with my life". She added, "I don't feel like a volunteer, I feel like part of the crew".

We have witnessed immense personal growth in many volunteers, and several have gone on to achieve further career successes elsewhere, directly as a result of their involvement with Britannia. Relationships between individuals have flourished, and we are proud to have been the backdrop to the formation of multiple life-long friendships.

Lessons learned

We recommend looking high and low while recruiting trustees, volunteers, and staff.

Volunteer feedback indicates that what they appreciate about working with us is that it doesn't feel like a 'programme', but rather like getting involved with friends. They like the personal nature of what we do and the fact that there are no faceless bosses or 'off limits' areas of work. Staff and volunteers are treated as equals, and each individual is valued for their unique contributions.

Advice on who to contact

• If your heritage requires hands-on skills, it can be beneficial to recruit volunteers past retirement age who have the time and knowledge to contribute. Retired tradespeople and engineers often want to 'keep their hand in' while enjoying a social setting
• Young people bring great enthusiasm to any project. Establish connections with local schools, youth clubs, Scouts, and other charitable organisations (for example, those supporting disadvantaged or homeless youth). Many young people feel lost in today's world, and volunteering or taking on traineeships with your charity can inspire them, upskill them, and provide a launching pad for their professional development
• Musicians and artists, especially those working in genres relevant to your heritage, are great allies. They can help bring attention to your project and engage your audiences emotionally. For example, we are in touch with 2 shanty bands who sing at our community events, adding to the nautical atmosphere and making our events memorable. We have also had artists inspired by the ship who have created artwork featuring her, helping to spread our image further afield, and sell prints in our shop
• Colleges or specialist trade schools may have course graduates looking for opportunities. We have advertised opportunities in nearby boat-building colleges and have had skilled graduates come to us. If you are seeking specialists in a highly specific skill, you may even have luck recruiting from abroad. One of our trainee boatbuilders learned the basics of boatbuilding at a school in Maine, USA. We have also had volunteers from abroad

Advice on how to reach them

• List your opportunities in local newsletters and magazines. Big platforms are great, but the majority of people who see your message will not be physically close enough to take you up on it. Going local ensures that the majority of those seeing your message actually live within commuting distance of the opportunity. Paper media (flyers, magazine articles) ensure that people take the message home with them and have a physical reminder to get in touch
• Visit clubs, membership societies and special interest groups relevant to your cause. For us, this has meant yacht clubs and local history groups
• Make contact or put a call out for individuals who have a personal history (or other connection) with your heritage. Even if you do not know them personally, you might share a 'mutual friend' (your heritage asset). Most people are delighted to be contacted and reconnect. Some may be happy to bring their career skills to the cause
• Never underestimate word of mouth! Mention your needs to confident or well-connected team members. They will often spread the message far and wide. You never know who your team members may be in touch with until you ask
• Your cause will often align well with other charities. Forge a mutually beneficial relationship by offering their beneficiaries opportunities at your charity as well
• Share photos of happy team members. Maintain a regular and up-to-date visual record of your activities on your website, showcasing what you're doing and how engaging it is. We have had many skilled individuals contact us after discovering our website, and they have brought great value to our team
• If you are receiving press or media attention of any kind and are looking to expand your team, be sure to mention this to the contact and ask them to highlight your opportunity in the article, radio piece, podcast, or TV segment

Conclusion

We have had success with all of these activities and are always looking for more imaginative avenues to pursue when seeking to expand our team. This helps us bring diverse voices and skills into the project, which not only makes for good company and interesting anecdotes in the boat shed but also gives us many different opinions to consider when solving a problem.

No 2 individuals will approach the same job the same way and will often come up with innovative solutions that make the job easier for everyone.

For more information, visit https://britanniasailingtrust.org