Bilsthorpe heritage museum are appealing for volunteers to support with opening hours
A heritage museum in Bilsthorpe is on the hunt for ‘enthusiastic’ volunteers to help out with daily tasks.
Bilsthorpe Heritage Museum, on Cross Street, Bilsthorpe, is run by volunteers.
The museum was opened by Bilsthorpe Heritage Society in 2014 and is open to the public on Wednesdays, Sundays and Mondays, from 10am-4pm.
Entry is free and includes a drink and guided tour by an ex-miner if requested.
The committee said they have various mining and social artefacts, including an archive of your Chad newspapers dating back 70 years.
Cris Cooper, museum chairman, said: “When I moved up from the South Coast, I answered an advert in the Chad asking for people to help archive old copies of the newspaper, which the museum was given.
“I thought it would be a good way to meet people and I have become totally involved with keeping the village history alive.
“I jumped at the opportunity to become the chairman and get us involved with lots of new projects through Miner2Major and Century of Change among other organisations.
“We rely entirely on selling hand made gifts and donations from supporters.
“All of our volunteers are getting older and, of course, people have various appointments, which means we might be down to two volunteers, or even one which impacts opening times.
“As you can imagine, this makes running difficult.
“We just want people who might be interested to volunteer as much time as they can give.
“Ex-miners are a good one, as they can take people around the museum and talk them through the mining history.
“People with office skills would be a great fit too, as we have a reception area and often people just want to sit and talk.
“But there is no pressure and you can do whatever you feel comfortable with.
“Everybody here is very enthusiastic and just wants to see the museum succeed.”
Alongside Cris, committee members include vice-chairman Alan Ward, secretary Chris Cooper and her husband, George, the former chairman.
Cris said if anyone is interested in getting involved, they can visit the museum to find out more about volunteering roles, or call 01623 871533.