Heritage sector ‘over reliant’ on volunteers, survey suggests

Parts of the heritage sector are too dependent on volunteers, according to the findings of a recent survey.

The latest UK Heritage Pulse Survey, of individuals and representatives of heritage sector organisations, focused on the management and retention of volunteers and found 45% of respondents agreed heritage organisations are over reliant on volunteering.

In comparison, 31% said their organisation’s reliance on volunteers was ‘about right’, while around a quarter (24%) said there was opportunity to make more use of volunteers.

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Heritage organisations were found to be most often reliant on volunteers in public facing roles, such as tours, with 47% of respondents stating their organisation requires volunteers to operate at full capacity in this area.

In total, there were six areas of business operation where more than a third of respondents said they require volunteers to operate at full capacity, including administrative or financial work, research, and delivering education and learning programmes.

A spokesperson for The Heritage Alliance told Arts Professional that heritage volunteering accounts for 5.5% of all voluntary work undertaken in England, with 75% of heritage volunteers reporting improvements to their wellbeing after one year.

“From caring for remote rural sites to engaging the next generation of visitors, volunteers form the backbone of the heritage sector,” the spokesperson added.

The Heritage Pulse report states finding a “stark difference” in responses from organisations of different sizes.

Those with lower turnover are relying on volunteers “much more heavily” than those with higher turnover, with more than half of organisations with lower turnover saying they were reliant on volunteers for administrative or finance work and public facing roles.

English Heritage’s Volunteering and People Development Manager, Annie Bethell, said that thanks to volunteers, the charity had been able to open up more spaces within its sites than ever before.

“As [our] volunteer numbers have grown, we’ve built on a number of critical elements of any volunteering programme including the importance of equipping our leaders of volunteers with the skills, tools and above all, time to look after our volunteers properly and to truly listen to their feedback.”

Recruitment and retention

Elsewhere in the survey, 44% of respondents said the recruitment of new volunteers over the past year had been challenging. 

The percentage increased to 58% when respondents were asked if they had found the recruitment of volunteers from a broad range of backgrounds challenging, while only 14% stated that it had gone well.

“We attract lots of volunteers as the prospect of working outdoors is very appealing to a lot of people. We’ve put emphasis on diversifying our volunteer base, but we aren’t having much success in attracting people from more varied backgrounds,” one survey respondent said.

Although the retention of volunteers appeared to be less of an issue across the whole sector – with only 22% of respondents stating that it was challenging – some voiced concern that poor volunteer retention was impacting the long-term viability of their organisation.

“Covid has had a huge impact with volunteers. Our charity is run entirely by volunteers, and we are genuinely struggling. People’s priorities have changed,” one survey respondent said.

A spokesperson for the Heritage Alliance said many heritage sites are facing challenges, with volunteer numbers halving during the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis “compounding the issue further”.

“For organisations seeking to retain volunteers and widen their appeal, being flexible and creative is important to account for the changing pressures on people’s time, as is offering various ways in which people can contribute,” the spokesperson suggested.

Bethell also told Arts Professional the ability to be flexible is key for heritage organisations.

“Having systems and processes in place so that volunteers can easily stop and start volunteering and so accommodate the pressures of everyday life is critical to the future of volunteering programmes,” Bethell explained.

“That’s no easy task but is one way of appealing to as wide a range of volunteers as possible.”

“The traditional model of volunteering at heritage spaces is changing and must continue to change in order to offer the opportunities that people want and need.”