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Volunteers’ Week Profile Showcase: Jasmin’s Experience

This is #VolunteersWeek, and we’re feeling particularly thankful for our team of 20 volunteers who dedicate their time and skills to help us preserve records of milling heritage. Meet Jasmin, who has been with us for 4 weeks and is currently helping our Archivist, Nathanael, to digitise the Mining and Water Resources section of the Richard Hills Collection…

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“Archiving this part of the collection means individually scanning and uploading 193 photographic slides, in order to create an online database profile that will eventually be available to the public,” explains Jasmin. “It’s a long process and requires a lot of patience and concentration, but I enjoy the methodical and organised way of working, and find doing inventories to be really rewarding.”

After completing a degree in Archaeology and Classical Civilisation, Jasmin started volunteering at a local Reading museum, which kickstarted her interest in archiving.

“If it wasn’t for volunteering, I’d never have known about archiving,” she explains, “It just wouldn’t have been on my radar. Now I’m hoping to do a Masters in Archiving, with the goal of becoming a full-time archivist.”

As well as fuelling the idea for a future career, Jasmin has found volunteering at the Mills Archive to be a calming and enjoyable experience.

“As a volunteer, it’s a less pressured environment to be in than when you’re emplo​yed. I like being able to go at my own pace and set my own goals. My positive volunteering experience has inspired me to pursue a new career as an archivist.”

It’s thanks to volunteers like Jasmin that the Mills Archive can continue to flourish. You too can help us preserve milling records and make them freely available to people around the world, either by #volunteering yourself, or by helping us financially.