“Irrelevant Amateurs?  Professionals, Consumers and Volunteers in the Heritage Sector”

Helen is a doctoral student at the University of Oxford.  She worked in education and community development for over twenty years, including ten years in developing countries.  She is involved in several research projects, all of which have the aim of informing policy making.  Her current work looks at the contribution of volunteers to mitigating the effects of the skills gap in the Historic Built Environment sector, at the role of volunteering in the historic environment for wellbeing, and developing a toolkit for people who want to work in their local communities.  Helen has also researched the role of theatres in community cohesion, and has published ‘In Battalions’, a report on the effects of budget cuts in the Arts and how to mitigate their effects.  Much of Helen’s research challenges current methods of measuring impact in interventions in the arts, communities and historic environment.