The Arts Society at 50: the volunteer’s story

From selecting Lecturers to making sure our grants reach great causes, member-turned-volunteer Pat Wood reflects on her involvement with The Arts Society – the latest in our series on the people who have shaped our history.

Photo: John Millar 

I was busy with my career at a major retail company when, along with a friend, I decided I needed to get out more in the evenings. In 1982, we joined the Richmond branch of The Arts Society, or NADFAS, as it was then. It was wonderful, but the Society needed help. Before long, we were both volunteering. I got more involved after taking early retirement.
 
Today, I work in the Education Department, so I’m also involved in everything to do with Lecturers: recruiting, monitoring and planning the annual Directory Day, which allows them to showcase their talents to Societies’ Programme Planners. We look for what a Member wants from a Lecturer: information, inspiration and enjoyment. When a prospective Lecturer gives us a 20-minute presentation, we hope to be left wanting to know more!
 
We’re always looking for new subjects, from lectures on street art to tattoos. Some subjects might raise eyebrows, but once the audience has heard them, they often ask: ‘why didn’t we do that before?’
 
I’m also on the Grants Committee: a lovely job. Funds go to initiatives such as Young Arts, as well as prison, carer and dementia art. As funds for arts in schools decrease, there’s a gap that our Society can step into. The potential for what we can do in the future is exciting.
 
I also volunteer for the Study Days. People come from all around to attend and, as with any Arts Society initiative, gender, age or background is irrelevant: we are all there to learn about something that fascinates us.
 
Somehow, through the Society, I’ve carved out an unexpected second career. I only offered to go in originally to answer the telephone. I haven’t stopped since!
 
As told to Sue Herdman for The Arts Society Magazine spring 2018.