Volunteer to join rich tapestry of Scottish life

Staff from Scotland’s Jute Museum at Dundee’s Verdant Works are gearing up for a blockbuster summer reopening next month – and they are looking for some help.

The museum is being readied to exhibit the renowned Scottish Diaspora Tapestry for the first time after its worldwide tour.

Volunteers are needed to help supervise the exhibition and welcome visitors back after a long lockdown closure.

Staff are hoping that people will sign up to assist for the full run of the exhibition, until September 13 2021, but say volunteering can be flexible to allow people to take part.

The special exhibition, Stories Of Scots Abroad will showcase the links Scots have with the rest of the world using the 300panel Scottish Diaspora Tapestry.

After a year of separation and isolation due to the pandemic, the unity of Scots in this tapestry seems like a poignant and appropriate celebration with which to emerge from lockdown.

It was illustrated by Andrew Crummy, who designed the Great Tapestry of Scotland. He illustrated the outlines for the tapestry’s linen panels, which communities around the globe then embroidered using their own techniques and colours.

Verdant Works volunteer and former Dundee mill worker Lily Thomson, 81, said she is “desperate” to get back into the museum and hopes the exhibition will be popular.

“I hope it’s a big success,” she says. “A lot of people have worked hard on it.”

The tapestry will be displayed in the striking three-storey 1833 High Mill Gallery at Verdant Works.

Fellow volunteer Rhoda Sinclair Miller, 73, said she is “delighted” the museum is showcasing the tapestry as the High Mill Gallery is “a fitting venue” for the piece.

“The tapestry celebrates Scotland’s contribution to the world, and jute and linen played such an important role in the shaping of the 19th and 20th Century, world,” she said.

“It covered the wagons of the early American pioneers, made sails for ships. It even made linoleum, carpets, sacks. So this is a fitting venue.”

It is no secret that Covid19 has changed the landscape of community activities all over Scotland. As organisations begin to reopen after lockdown, a mass call for volunteers is battling people’s new instinct to “Stay At Home”.

Craig Ferguson, head of operations and advice at the National Trust for Scotland, admitted that in a broader sense, “some volunteers may feel unsure about being out in public spaces again”.

However, he commended volunteers who have kept up their enthusiasm and generosity throughout the pandemic.

“It’s fantastic that so many have stuck with us over the past year and are really keen to get back out to our places,” he said. “Their role in helping us protect Scotland’s heritage is vital.”

As Verdant Works reopens after lockdown, the team are keen to ensure all visitors and volunteers can enjoy a safe and reassuring museum experience. The venue was awarded “Good To Go” status from Visitscotland last year, confirming it is a Covid-secure venue.

And although most of the current volunteers are retirees – and therefore in higher-risk age categories – the museum has succeeded in making them feel safe.

Anyone interested in helping with this project is asked to contact Mel Ruth Oakley at collections@ dundeeheritage.co.uk or leave a message on 01382 309060.