Heritage Detectives: Volunteering at Seventeen Nineteen

Holy Trinity Church, Sunderland, Tyne & Wear

We are looking for volunteers to help dig up our hidden stories and help share the history of old Sunderland and Holy Trinity. The ideal people will be curious and canny to help us find inspiring images, sounds and more to share with everyone. We think that history should be reawakened, not trapped in the past!

With so much that we can still learn, we don’t want our stories to be stuck in time. Seventeen Nineteen wants to reconnect Sunderland with its past by transforming Holy Trinity into a venue that brings the heritage of the church and the old town to life through storytelling and other activities- having an accessible resource of information means that we can inspire others to get involved easily.

What will our Heritage Detectives do?

• Take part in one zoom meeting a fortnight (could be in person soon) to work with the Seventeen Nineteen team to identify our hidden stories for us to uncover.
• Work with local history centres, volunteers and others to develop a collection of stories to share.
• Work alongside our team of volunteers and staff to understand and explore.
• Inspire creativity and curiosity.
• Our treasure trove is filled with items from our history that reflect our shared story of Sunderland.

The project will give you an opportunity to:

• Have lots of delightful chats about the hidden stories of old Sunderland.
• Share our story of Sunderland
• Develop a unique way to get these stories into people’s hands
• Generate oral histories, document objects and create other inspiring stories

The package will celebrate the life of Sunderland from 1700 to today. Capturing and sharing a history of the people by the people who know it, feel it and live it. Our archive includes objects, paper ephemera and recordings of performances in various formats, you will be able to reference the existing information and generate more. The package needs to be an appealing and engaging resource for visitors from all over the world.

What skills does our Heritage Detective need?

• Curiosity! You’ll be naturally nosey and have lots of questions.
• Helpful. You’ll want to help other people, whether that’s helping them learn something or achieve something, you’ll need to be patient with a range of users to develop your product
• Digitally skilled- we’ll be working remotely via zoom and other digital collaboration platforms so you’ll need to feel comfortable communicating in new and unusual ways.

If you want to develop your skills this volunteering opportunity will give you the opportunity to:

• Meet new people and try new things
• Talk, chat, discuss and build your communication skills with a range of clients
• Take part in something to be proud of
• Gain a reference from the CCT after three months of volunteering

What is the commitment?

Depending on your schedule, we would like to meet once a fortnight to discuss progress and issues arising, you must draw up a design timeline with a realistic end date.

The ideal candidate would be willing to stay in touch to resolve any snagging issues after completion.

Length of role: from May 2021 to flexible deadline (Approx. August 2021)

The Details

Volunteers must be at least 18 years old

You must apply by May 1st 2021

While social distancing is recommended all activity will be conducted digitally, any activity that needs to happen on site will be risk assessed to be Covid safe. At no time will volunteers will be asked to take part in any activity where they feel unsafe.

Where a volunteer is disabled, every effort will be made to supply all necessary aids, adaptations or equipment to allow them to participate fully in all aspects of the opportunity. We want our volunteers to feel comfortable and supported- if there’s anything you’d like to discuss with the team we’ll make every effort to accommodate any changes you need.

As an equal opportunities organisation, we welcome applications from all suitably qualified persons.  We particularly welcome applications from those who feel under represented by the heritage sector.  All volunteering placements will be made on merit.

Curious about volunteering?

Send us an email to Lily Daniels, Participation and Engagement Officer at Seventeen Nineteen, at [email protected]