Volunteer Stories: Ian Perry

Ian chatted with us about their volunteer role at Maryhill Burgh Halls and what volunteering means to them. Maryhill Burgh Halls are a community-led organisation that display local heritage and history, host tenants and provide spaces that are regularly booked out to use for dance recitals, weddings, parties and conferences.

Q: What is your favourite part of volunteering?

I began volunteering at Maryhill Burgh Halls last August 2021. As a Museum Studies graduate, I have always been interested in local histories and the Halls felt like it had its roots in community heritage and this really appealed to me.

Volunteering at the Halls has given me so many gifts from day one. I have learnt so many hands-on, practical, and invaluable skills – a far cry away from the heavily theoretical side of academia! I was happily put in charge of their collection, which meant the recording, cataloguing, labelling/marking, researching, photographing, and digitising their eclectic trinkets of Maryhill’s past.

Another favourite thing at the Halls was being one of the participants for Jos Treen’s (a local photographer) Faces & Echoes exhibition, where I got to talk about my passion for all things Glaswegian, my adopted city, since moving here a decade ago. The icing on top of the cake was being honoured with the role of flag bearer of Maryhill’s new community flag!

Q: How has volunteering impacted your life?

Volunteering at the Halls has been such an enriching force for good in my life. The pandemic has massively impacted funding for the arts and heritage sectors. Places like the Halls are crucial in being a lifeline for the people of its community by improving their health and wellbeing, including mine, being a member of that community. It has also helped me develop greater confidence in public speaking, as I assisted in giving some of the tours on event days, such as the September Open Day.