Volunteering in the HER by Liberty Vaz Townsend

I volunteered for 3 weeks in July and August 2014 at GGAT as part of my Cardiff University BSc Archaeology degree with two other students. Everyone was very friendly and welcoming. On my first day the HER looked daunting, but explanation and help from Leonora when we got down to work made it a lot easier and by the end of the two weeks I had no questions. I got to do the whole process from inputting reports into the HER, using GIS via Map Info, working in the Archive and scanning the reports. The former was very interesting, the latter-well to put it this way I will be having nightmares about the spirally binding machine-.

I came across some very interesting sites while working, and my enthusiasm for castles was encouraged by Leonora who gave me some amazing castles, one of which I ended up visiting on my way home! The disappearing church has to be a highlight-I roped in the other students and after half an hour of research it had been located in three different places, and actually not in our area. I am also very proud of the fact I can now type 'Archaeological' without making a typo!

I would love to come back and volunteer again this year and I would recommend GGAT to my coursemates at Cardiff.

Liberty Vaz Townsend, Cardiff University Archaeology Student & A2A Volunteer

Volunteering in the HER by Richard Thomas

I started as a HER volunteer in October (2013) after a placement became available at the last minute. I decided to take part in the project because I wanted to get some work experience outside what I’ve been doing since I graduated in 2007.  

The project's flexible times were ideal for me, as I had already agreed to work as a volunteer at Swansea Egypt Centre and had other commitments which meant I could only take part on certain days.  Another factor was my passion for history. Helping to create records to help members of the public to have better access to the past was appealing to me. 

Despite my enthusiasm for the project I did feel nervous coming in for my first day, though.  Having only done a limited number of History modules for my degree in American Studies from Swansea University, and having no previous archaeological experience, I was concerned I wouldn’t last very long on the project. Thankfully, I needn’t have worried. Leonora, who is the project manager, is an excellent teacher, and if they awarded Olympic medals for patience and understanding she would win the gold every time, easy.  At no time did I ever feel like there was a question I couldn’t ask Leonora about, even if I had asked her the same question twice before already!

While the software went over my head initially, with the help of the easy to follow instructions Leonora typed up to help new volunteers, it wasn’t long before I knew what I was doing well enough to get on with using the HER alone without much help or oversight.

Now that I’m at ease with adding sites to the core, the most difficult part I’m told, I fully intend to finish the dates I have committed to and hope to come back next year if time permits or even perhaps participate in other GGAT projects.

Richard Thomas, A2A Volunteer