The Heritage Buddy

 6th June 2024 - 80th Anniversary of D-Day Did you know that HMS Belfast was involved with the D-Day landings off the Normandy Coast? The Town-class light cruiser was one of the first ships to open fire as early as 05:27am on 6th June 1944.  It had been quite a long time since I supported some conservation-based family activities on board the Belfast and met up with the volunteer leader to learn about the visitor experience side of volunteering 2 weeks prior. 2024 was a big year for  Queen B  (as I affectionately call her -  not  to be confused with Beyonce), because it marks the 80th anniversary of the D-Day Landings. I was kindly invited to the gun salute to commemorate the historic event and the ship's involvement.  As a 'homecoming' volunteer, I fantasised me and Frankenstein (the ship’s cat) being 'piped aboard' (where the boatswain or an officer will blow 'pipes' on a call when a VIP visits a ship - a call is like a whistle or flute used to give ...

Happy Volunteers Week 2025! It is volunteers week this week and can only mean one thing... a huge celebration of volunteering in lots of different sectors and celebrating the work of volunteers themselves. It is not just charities, children's services, care homes and animal rescue centres where people volunteer, it also includes museums, arts and culture. I first started volunteering as a poppy collector with the Royal British Legion which was a heartwarming experience and considering going back when the time comes as I have done some individual fundraising for them since. I am proud to share I have been involved with museums for 8 years which has been such an incredible journey. I'll start by sharing where it all began: my autism group set up a work experience project with the Museum of London in their archives and collections. The title itself is self explanatory; the Museum of London explores the history of London from the Roman settlements in Britain (whereby London was kno...

I stepped out of Portsmouth Harbour train station one freezing cold Saturday afternoon in January this year. I was slowly making my way to my hotel and stopped to admire how beautiful HMS Warrior looked against the winter sunset over the harbour, so I sat down on a bench to bring myself out of anxiety about getting lost, shutting down or dissociating and losing awareness of my surroundings and into the present. After a moment, I noticed an obelisk with HMS Royal Oak inscribed on it; I quickly learnt it was a memorial commemorating the 85th anniversary of the sinking of HMS Royal Oak. I knew I had to take some photos for some volunteering. (This memorial will be discussed in a future post - watch this space!) 😀 The reason I was visiting Portsmouth was because I am a board member at the National Museum of the Royal Navy and our board was encouraged to visit for branding reasons. After spending a couple of hours chilling in my hotel room by video-calling family to let them know ...