Volunteers are at the heart of many heritage projects—bringing passion, local knowledge, and vital support to historic spaces and the communities that use them. But how do we attract the right volunteers, give them the tools to thrive, and ensure they stay engaged?
People Power is a practical event for heritage, community, and creative organisations based in historic buildings and spaces across the West Yorkshire Combined Authority districts. Whether you're just starting out or looking to strengthen your approach to volunteer management, this session will share strategies and examples to help you build a sustainable volunteer programme.
What You’ll Learn:
- How to attract and recruit volunteers effectively
- Defining clear roles and expectations for different types of volunteer contributions
- Best practices for training and supporting volunteers
- How to manage volunteer teams confidently and fairly
- The importance of policies and procedures in creating a safe, supportive environment
- Real-life case studies from organisations doing it well
Who Should Attend:
This event is ideal for heritage groups, community organisations, and creative collectives working with or within historic buildings in West Yorkshire. Whether you're volunteer-led or professionally staffed, you’ll leave with practical ideas to grow and support your volunteer network.
Organisations in West Yorkshire Combined Authority area can book for free, we ask that you also fill in the programme sign-up form.
Heritage Toolbox
Heritage Toolbox is a pilot programme that has been commissioned by West Yorkshire Combined Authority and will be delivered by Heritage Network and Locality. It is part of the £2.3 million You Can Make It Here programme. Funded by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, You Can Make It Here aims to support and grow the region’s creative sector through a range of training and investment opportunities.
Heritage Network
Heritage Network (previously Heritage Trust Network) is the UK’s umbrella organisation for not-for-profits rescuing and restoring historic buildings, structures and places. We’re a member-led organisation with networking and peer-to-peer advice and learning at its heart.
Locality
Locality is the national membership network supporting local community organisations to be strong and successful. There are high numbers of Locality members based across all parts of Yorkshire. A significant number of Locality members run community hubs often with heritage value but not necessarily listed.
Speaker Bio - Josie Baker
Josie is a development officer for Locality, based in Sheffield and working across the North of England. She provides support to community organisations across a wide range of areas including business planning, bid writing, fundraising, community engagement, partnerships, capital development, and theory of change and impact measurement.
Over the last two years, Josie has supported multiple organisations to apply for the Community Ownership Fund, a process which has involved rigorous business planning and financial forecasting. This included support writing bids, as well as developing fundraising plans both for generating capital match funding and sustaining assets following capital projects. Ultimately, Josie believes that it is the inherent skills and expertise of community organisations which has enabled them to be successful; with Locality’s support guiding and advising them through this process.
Across the last six months, Josie has led the Leeds City Council Community Asset Transfer Support Programme, coordinating and delivering a programme of workshops for community organisations, alongside one-to-one support. This programme has covered many of the same areas as the Heritage Toolbox Programme, aiming to build capacity of community organisations. Specific areas of focus included exploring how to embed community engagement in ongoing governance, and the importance of strong financial planning.
We aim for all of our events to be inclusive, safe spaces where everyone's views and experiences are respected. Please read our code of conduct for more information.
To prevent cyber hacking, this online event will be ‘locked’ 10 minutes after the advertised start time, we therefore encourage you to join early or on time.
Privacy
By submitting your details, you acknowledge and agree to the sharing of submitted personal data for evaluation purposes, with Heritage Network, West Yorkshire Combined Authority, and evaluators SQW. Further information, including contact details for the Data Protection Officer and information on your rights under the UK GDPR, can be found on the Combined Authority’s online privacy notice: West Yorkshire Combined Authority
Read our privacy policy
If you would like to join the Heritage Trust Network and receive discounted ticket prices alongside lots of other membership benefits please go online to find out more information. Annual membership starts from just £75 for individuals, £100 for not-for-profit organisations, £250 for businesses. Heritage Trust Network is the UK's umbrella organisation for not-for-profit organisations that are rescuing, restoring and managing historic buildings and places. Join us today at www.heritagetrustnetwork.org.uk/members/join-us/
