Thank You Events for our Volunteers

This September bore two very important annual occasions, the Cosford and London Volunteer Thank You Events. These events are vital to the Museum and its extended community. It is a time in which we can take a step back and reflect on the achievements of our 400+ volunteers across both sites and remote and give thanks to not only them but the staff members, friends, family and carers who support them along the way. These are events are hosted by the Volunteering Team and supported by our Senior Leadership Team, Trustees and key staff who work with our volunteers.

Our first thank you event at our Cosford site was held on the 10 September while our London Thank You Event was held on the 12 September. Upon arrival guests were greeted with two panels. One listed all the names of volunteers who hit milestones since the last year’s event and another with accumulated volunteering hours of all the teams at the Museum by site. Together this year Volunteers have achieved in total a whopping 21,736 hours!

Since our last thank you event we had an impressive number of volunteers reach a milestone with us:
49 volunteers reached one year
10 reached three years
11 reached five years
13 reached eight years
9 reached the years
1 reached fifteen years
3 reached twenty years!
A big congratulations to all of them!

Guests in Cosford were treated to afternoon tea with lots of pastries, sandwiches and enough cakes to feed a squadron, before taking a spin in a Spitfire as part of our Virtual Reality Zone. For this year’s group photo, we gathered in front of three very iconic aircraft of the Second World War (Hurricane, Spitfire and Messerschmitt Bf 109) for group photo which can be seen down below.

Images of the Thank You Event at RAF Museum Midlands

Two images Thank You Event at Cosford

Group photograph volunteers RAF Museum Midlands

The Thank You event in our London site this year was held on the Mezzanine level of Hanger 1, with a spectacular view over the Sunderland Flying Boat. London’s event was held in the evening, so a hot meal and drinks were provided. Their group photo was taken in front of the Sea King before our guests were given the opportunity to tour the helicopter after by two members of the Aircraft Access volunteer team with help from the Visitor Experience team staff.

Group photograph volunteers RAF Museum London

Two photos from the Thank You Event at RAF Museum London

Both events were great fun and a good chance to reflect all we have achieved. So once again a massive thank you to all our volunteers and all those who support them at the RAF Museum at home. Until next year!
Below are the accumulated hours of all the volunteer teams from both sites so you can see just how much work is put in by all our volunteer teams – enjoy.

Hours by Volunteers at Cosford and London

About the Author

Kieron Mantle: Digital Marketing Apprentice for the Volunteering Department

My main responsibility is to share the stories of our volunteers, their activities and volunteering within the Museum. I feel that it is very important to highlight the invaluable work of our volunteers and to celebrate how much we have achieved together.