Nick's story

“Volunteering has given me the new challenge I was looking for and enabled me to apply my experience and skills in completely different environment.”

Nick Kinnie (pictured above right) volunteers for Haynes Motor Museum where he brings the displays to life through research and storytelling. In this blog, he talks about his experience of volunteering and how it has enriched his life.

“After I retired, I wanted to become involved in an activity which interested me, and provided a way to use my existing skills in a new environment and meet like-minded people. I had been to the museum as a visitor and thought volunteering with them would be a good opportunity to do this.

“My role involves four main activities; carrying out research using the resources of the archive, the knowledge of other volunteers and various published and online sources, writing up this research to produce vehicle descriptions, website and social media content, developing and conducting tours for visitors, and producing commentaries for the running displays.

“My work creates content which contributes to the aims of the museum and in particular seeks to improve the visitor experience by giving them interesting and engaging information.

"As I hoped, I have learnt a great deal about cars and the motor industry and I have enjoyed meeting visitors. I particularly like helping visitors to place the cars in their context and see them as examples of a particular time period – they are not just a mix of metal, plastic and glass!

“Unexpectedly, I have learnt a great deal from the other staff and volunteers on a whole range of topics who have quite different backgrounds and experience. 

“I would strongly recommend volunteering because it gives a focus of work-related activity in an environment of your own choosing, it allows you to contribute to the work of a charity and it is fun and very social.

“I would particularly recommend Haynes Motor Museum because the staff give me plenty of scope to contribute in the way I choose. They welcome volunteers using their initiative and encourage us to contribute new ideas and make suggestions. They often give me tasks which allow me the freedom to develop content which will be of interest to different audiences.

Jon Ducker, Visitor Experience & Volunteer Officer at Haynes Motor Museum, comments:

“Nick helps the Museum tell stories. Whether that’s through his research which helps inform our written interpretation, or in conceiving tours and talks that bring our vehicles to life. He’s great at involving all generations of visitors to the Museum and helping them get closer to a movie car, reminisce about times gone by or understand how the cars in our collection have contributed and advanced transport for the masses.”

If you would like to volunteer for Haynes Motor Museum, click the link below to find out how.