Volunteer development officer Sharda is celebrating National Student Volunteering week by sharing more about professional placement opportunities at the Palace.
The land on which Fulham Palace sits has been constantly inhabited since the Neolithic period. In 704 AD the land became known as Fulham Palace as it was the country home to the Bishops of London. Bishop Stopford was the last Bishop to live at the Palace, before moving out in 1973. Today our unique historic site includes the museum and historic rooms, café, garden, natural play area and more.
By continuing to share the long and layered history, we work towards fulfilling our mission — to engage people, through the stories of Fulham Palace and the Bishops of London, in 6,000 years of English history, and to become one of the UK’s most inclusive and inspiring historic houses and gardens.
In 2019 we completed a three-year National Lottery Heritage Fund restoration project which involved the conservation of the Tudor palace and the development of new museum spaces and interpretation, ensuring the Palace provides a high-quality visitor experience.
This is a great year for students to learn more about our heritage and history, engage with visitors and help support the Palace as we prepare to launch our new exhibition about the Bishop of London, colonialism and the transatlantic slave trade.
Whether you’re interested in visitor experience or learning and education, we offer two professional placement opportunities for students ages 16 and above.
The visitor experience placement involves working in our friendly front of house team, welcoming visitors, sharing the history of the site and gaining valuable knowledge of managing the visitor experience. Students here will gain knowledge and experience in project management, research, public engagement and event planning.
Our education placement students work within the Palace’s education and learning team and support school sessions, education workshops, project manage a family activity event day, develop a themed self-led trail around the site and assist with the ongoing school review.
All placement students have the opportunity to get involved in managing an evaluation project related to engagement in the museum or develop an interpreting and collections-focused activity for school/family visitors.
We have had really fantastic placement students volunteer for us at Fulham Palace – some even stick around well after their placement ends! It’s a great opportunity for students to learn but also for staff to learn from the students’ expertise, knowledge and ideas about how we can make the Palace even more engaging and exciting for our visitors.
Here’s what former student placements had to say about their experience:
- ‘Thank you so much for a rewarding two months as the placement student at the learning and engagement team in Fulham Palace. I appreciated your willingness to let me explore a wide variety of duties within the palace. I supported the school sessions and the Green Meet day, conducted research for community engagement projects, and processed the donation recording with the development and finance team during this time. You really allowed me to learn how a cultural organisation works from the ground up. I have gained skills in communication, researching, and event planning. I look forward to going back to school and completing my degree in Culture, Policy and Management. This placement has only helped increase my desire to work for an organisation like Fulham Palace in the future.’
- ‘Working at the Fulham Palace with lovely learning team has remained the most grateful moment of my university life, I really appreciate it.’
- ‘Fulham Palace is very dear to my heart and I cherish all the experiences and the kindness you shared towards me to this day.’
- ‘While finishing my MA in museology and curatorship, I did a high-level course on fundraising which is now giving me the chance to try this new career path in museums. At the same time, I’m a volunteer coordinator which gives me the possibility to gain some experience in managing a group of people. All this is surely thanks to working at Fulham Palace.’
To submit a professional placement enquiry form or if you’d like to learn more about volunteering and professional placements, please get in touch with a member of our team by emailing volunteer@fulhampalace.org.
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