Public-spirited residents step forwards to ensure community museum will survive

Numbers of volunteers at the Maurice Dobson Museum and Heritage Centre, in Darfield, had dwindled so low that the committee which operates it could not open last Saturday.

It relies entirely on volunteers and has seen numbers reduce in recent years, as those involved have become increasingly old.

The Covid-19 pandemic also hit numbers and although it still had around 20 people actively involved, that was too few to cover twice-weekly openings in the five-week month of May.

That resulted in a temporary Saturday closure last weekend, but a band of new prospective volunteers have stepped forwards to offer their time following an appeal by the committee.

Committee member Carmen Hancock said: “Like every organisation, getting volunteers is becoming more and more difficult.

"The age-group is 70 plus and mainly 75 plus. They are all getting that little bit older and we have had three or four who have decided enough is enough, because they are in their 80s.

"This month is a five week month and it is holiday time, so we had no-one to run the cafe. When it comes to a five week month, it creates a problem, because people are doubling up.

"Thankfully, we have had lots of people saying they didn’t know we needed volunteers. We will be having a new volunteer day, to get them orientated and get them in as quickly as possible,” she said.

The museum was once a shop, run by Maurice and his partner Fred Halliday, who were openly gay in an era when homosexuality was illegal, reflecting the tolerant nature of the community of Darfield.

When they lived at the shop, they were avid collectors of antiques and amassed a large collection of artifacts, which were passed to Barnsley’s Cannon Hall Museum after their deaths.

The shop building ended up being restored and re-opened as a community-based museum.

In its early days, it opened on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays but declining volunteer numbers meant Sundays had been dropped and hours reduced.

It may be that increased volunteer numbers will allow for longer Saturday openings in future.