Opening Doors: How Inclusive Volunteering Is Transforming Lives at Ripon Museum Trust

Ripon Museum Trust is committed to ensuring that museums are places where everyone can belong and thrive. With support from grants and other fundraising, the Trust’s Inclusive Volunteering programme focuses on making volunteering truly accessible for people facing a wide range of barriers.

Creating Inclusive, Person-Centred Opportunities

The programme works with partners in education, health and social care to support volunteers aged 12 to 89 from across North Yorkshire. Volunteers may be living with physical disabilities, learning differences, mental health challenges, social isolation or difficult life circumstances such as homelessness.

Each volunteer receives personalised support and opportunities tailored to their goals—whether building confidence, gaining workplace skills, reconnecting with the community, or taking steps toward employment. This approach has created a diverse volunteer community now embedded across every part of the organisation.

In the last 2.5 years, 36 people have volunteered or completed placements, each completing at least three sessions, with many staying for far longer. All came from groups underrepresented in heritage volunteering, and now contribute across gardening, learning, front-of-house, collections and more. The Trust’s growing network of referral partners reflects strong confidence in the programme.

Five volunteers have moved into employment, and others have progressed into education or community roles. One volunteer journey has been particularly inspiring. After being referred from an in-patient mental health recovery unit, he spent several years volunteering in the gardening team. This summer, he transitioned into full-time employment. He and his family have expressed how crucial the museum community has been in his recovery.

Volunteer feedback continues to highlight the programme’s significance:

"I was involved in a nasty accident on Christmas Eve when I was hit by a car, but I have continued to come to the museum. It’s what’s kept me going. I know I can talk to Freya if I have any worries. I absolutely love working at the museum."

A study by the University of York also found a significant reduction in participants’ health service use, alongside an estimated £19,923 productivity gain when someone moves into employment—demonstrating the wider social and economic value of inclusive volunteering.

Strengthening the Trust’s Culture

The programme has reshaped how Ripon Museum Trust supports all of its volunteers, introducing a more flexible and person-centred model that has strengthened volunteer satisfaction and retention across the organisation. Inclusive practice is now woven into every stage of recruitment and induction, ensuring all volunteers receive the adjustments and support they need from day one. The restructuring of roles has also played a key part in this cultural shift, with the Volunteer Manager now sitting on the Senior Management Team and ensuring accessibility remains a strategic priority. What began as a standalone project has now evolved into a core part of the Trust’s organisational identity.

Sharing Learning Across the Sector

Ripon Museum Trust is increasingly recognised for its leadership in inclusive volunteering, with its expertise being sought by organisations across the cultural and environmental sectors. The Trust has published an Inclusive Volunteering manual in partnership with the University of York, contributed to international research on participation in museum spaces, and delivered workshops at national volunteering conferences. Its influence continues to grow as it supports major institutions—such as the Imperial War Museum, London Zoo, Beamish Museum and Forestry England—in developing or enhancing their own inclusive volunteering programmes.

Looking Ahead

Looking to the future, the Trust is exploring ways to expand its capacity while maintaining the personalised, high-quality support that defines its approach. Upcoming projects include a creative health partnership with North Yorkshire Council and Orb, aimed at developing a framework that links cultural activity with improved health and wellbeing outcomes. The Trust is also embarking on a new community-of-practice project with the University of York, supporting other organisations to build their own inclusive volunteering models. Internally, plans are underway to expand the gardening volunteer team as part of wider outdoor redevelopment, creating additional opportunities for placement students and volunteers with diverse support needs.