A day in the life of a Welcome Host volunteer - Depot edition

Back in December 2021, I wrote a blog explaining a day in the life of a Welcome Host volunteer at London Transport Museum, but with the focus on having special needs and disabilities like me.

In this blog - my sixth for London Transport Museum - I will share a day in the life of a Welcome Host volunteer at the Museum Depot! I hope you enjoy reading it as much as my previous blogs.

My Dad likes a challenge, and more often than not, it involves me! On this occasion, he surpassed himself, and what started off as normal volunteering duties turned into somewhat of an epic adventure. It feels like we are following along the same path as the great TV series ‘Breaking Dad’ featuring Bradley Walsh and his son Barney! (We could be on to something here).

This time, our focus turned from the Museum in Covent Garden to the Depot Open Days in Acton, which took place from 22-25 September 2022. Owing to the number of nights we were staying, we took the easier route to Acton Town, by taking a taxi as opposed to the train to Liverpool Street from Norwich. With all our luggage and wheelchair, public transport would have been a non-starter.

With four days of volunteering at the Museum Depot to look forward to, we had breakfast at the hotel and then left at 09:15 to arrive at the Depot well in time for the 10am briefing. It was great to see so many familiar faces, and everyone as always was so helpful and friendly. My buddies for the weekend were, as usual, my good friends Brian and Bill.

I really like the Depot as there is so much room, and it was extremely easy to get around in my wheelchair even when it was very busy. My main duties were to meet and greet the customers and show them around all the exhibits.

I really enjoyed interacting with the public, and many took a keen interest in the different badges I always wear. This in itself is now becoming a bit of an issue, as Dad has another 20 of them for me to wear, apparently most of them are courtesy of one Sam Clift, the Museum’s Volunteer Resources Manager.

It was great to meet The Director and Chief Executive Officer, Sam Mullins OBE, who spent a long time chatting to me and making me feel a valued member of the team.

I also had the pleasure of seeing my good friend William Audland KC, who is a one of London’s leading barristers. He was taken on a tour of the Depot by Bill, whilst I was welcoming people into the Depot on my own. This is one of the things I love about being part of the London Transport Museum team, as they allow me to be independent and have the confidence to leave me on my own at times. I feel very grown up and important!

Thank you to all the staff and volunteers for such an enjoyable time.

After my work, Dad was back on duty, and we tried a variety of places to eat in the evenings, my favorite being an Indian restaurant opposite Ealing Common Tube Station. On this occasion I let Dad choose my meal as I don’t like anything too spicey. I will not be asking him again!

Thank you for taking the time to read this blog, and I will be writing again after my next visit to the Museum. If you have a spare moment, please take a look at my own blog website, Being Tom, and leave me a comment. I like to see this blog site as an inspiration to others who find themselves in a similar situation to me, so I am sure you will appreciate it!