I have been volunteering on the Access to Archaeology project for several weeks now and I am fully enjoying myself. I am spending a day a week working with the curatorial staff to update and expand the Historic Environment Record. After using the HER extensively in my research for my Master’s dissertation I took the opportunity to volunteer for this project to give something back, even if it means taking time away from writing the dissertation! I have also worked with the Trust on a variety of volunteer projects, as well as working for them as a paid archaeologist, and my experiences with them only furthered my desire to get involved with something else.

During my time on this project I have used the computer HER to input and process a variety of reports and sites for the public’s future reference. This required sifting through a lot of documents to gain an accurate picture of the archaeology and recording it in a way that is both useful and easy to understand. At first the software can be quite daunting to use, but after a few entries the process becomes almost second nature.

It has been fun to distract myself from the worries of writing a dissertation and it is unfortunate that this will probably be my last project at GGAT as I am leaving for Scotland soon. I have enjoyed my time spent with the friendly and helpful staff that work here and wish them, and the HER, all the best for the future.

Callum Allsop, Volunteer