The volunteer programme was set up to try and encourage a wide participation
and get people who wouldn’t ordinarily get involved with galleries or art or even archives
and it is just trying to get a different kind of culture within the whole organisation.
The more diverse people you get in, the more it starts to affect the culture of the organisation itself.
The purpose of the preservation volunteer programme is to go through the archive material and check it
to see if it's in a state that can be photographed.
At the beginning you feel a bit intimidated by these really old papers or really delicate materials.
The first time you actually panic but then the second time you know how to handle it.
Every day I learn something new.
When we have a conservator in the room they're very keen to ask all kinds of questions
to find out more about the processes that are involved in taking care of archives
but it actually opens up opportunities for people to get involved, carve out careers for themselves
and it gives them insight to behind the scenes.
I have a bit of a gap in my working experience because I took time to look after my family.
So, although I did specific training, some years I didn’t work so I thought, let’s brush up some skills,
to fill some gaps in my CV as well.
It's been great because we’re not professional but we've got a lot of support both from our coordinator and the conservators at Tate.
It's quite nice, they pass on their knowledge and you feel like every time you come here you learn something more.
You finish your folder and think, look at this, I've done this.
t was a really old folder, dusty, and now it's great and it's ready for people to look through it.
I am going to apply for an MA in paper conservation and so it's a great lead into that and to put on my application form
and just get some experience working with the materials and learning how to handle the papers,
and just meeting people in conservation as well.
I think it's a unique experience to be able to go through the archive of artists,
you can actually have an insight in their lives.
In a way, it's also like being a detective.
You build up an idea of the personality of the artist that can appeal to you, or it cannot, it depends.
But it keeps your mind intrigued.
By looking at works of art, you're only seeing one side of the story.
Once you see all the letters, there's so much more you find out about what was going on at the time in their lives,
it adds another dimension to the works and to their lives as well.
When there is an element that you share, ideas that you share, with the artist
you would obviously look at their painting with more interest, you know, because you feel nearer in a way.
It keeps your mind entertained, definitely.