Leap into something fresh at Portsoy's Salmon Bothy
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A new crop of volunteers is being sought to help run a four star museum on the Aberdeenshire coast.
The award-winning Portsoy Salmon Bothy wants to strengthen its team ahead of the 2022 season and is specifically seeking volunteer guides to show visitors around the historic building and help share the story of the area’s heritage.
What’s of immediate importance is to have enough volunteers to assist the venue to operate for a couple of hours five days a week from April to October.
However, if enough people come forward the seasonal attraction may be able to open seven days a week for the first time ever.
As well as welcoming visitors and telling the story of Portsoy and its trades, guides handle purchases from the Bothy’s small souvenir display and signpost visitors to other places of interest.
It’s a great chance to meet visitors, develop skills, and make friends along the way, says Dr Anne McArthur.
She added: "Helping out at the museum is a way to be part of an organisation that values its volunteers.
"Portsoy Community Enterprise was awarded the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service in 2020, the highest honour given to UK volunteer groups and is regarded as the equivalent to the MBE.
"We’re looking for people who are prepared to staff a two-hour session once a fortnight. A rota will be devised and the duty dates are interchangeable.
"We are dependent on people coming forward.
"It’s not an onerous task and training is available.
"New volunteers would always been on duty with someone with experience."
The Salmon Bothy remained shut in 2020 due to coronavirus.
But last year it was able to operate from June to October, welcoming almost 1,000 visitors during that time.
Some of its existing team have shared what they enjoy about being part of the Salmon Bothy story.
Volunteer Brian Sutherland said: "Visitors from around the world are intrigued by how Portsoy’s heritage has been shaped by the sea and industries of the past.
"I’m proud to be able to share these stories."
Genealogist Alison Smith said: "When the opened, my husband Brian and I had newly returned to Banffshire.
"Joining the team of volunteers was a fantastic way of making new friends.
"It gives me an immense sense of satisfaction when someone arrives at the museum, having travelled many hundreds of miles, and they get a glimpse of the lives their ancestors led."
Fellow guide Rev John Gow added: "The Salmon Bothy is a huge part of Portsoy's history and volunteering as a guide gives me the chance to play just a small part in it.
"It doesn’t need a big commitment, just a couple of hours every fortnight.
"As well as the pride I feel in showing and explaining the exhibits it’s also a wonderful opportunity to meet and spend time with visitors from all over the world."
The Salmon Bothy is located within a former working salmon house which was restored.
It houses a museum, a base for family history research and a fully functional community space and venue.
The museum and family history base reopens in April but Upstairs at the Bothy is available for hire any time for meetings, workshops and classes.
Portsoy Community Enterprise receives no public funding towards operational costs.
Instead, these are met through donations and venue hire charges which are kept as minimal as possible.
Anyone interested in volunteering should call Dr McArthur on 01261 842474 or email contact@salmonbothy.org
More information about the Salmon Bothy can found at salmonbothy.org
