Man shares story of his volunteering activity at Chard Museum

The Chard and Ilminster News spoke to Vince Lean has been a volunteer at Chard Museum for seven years in the role of chair to mark National Volunteers’ Week which runs from June 1 to June 7.

Vince retired in 2013 and since then he tried to find a way of “making a difference” in his community.

He said: “I retired in 2013 from the Met Office. To some extent, one of the reasons was to find something in your retirement that you could do to the best of your ability.

“It’s to help myself. When you retire from a full-time job, you go from working hard to suddenly doing nothing. It helps, and it gives a structure to your retirement.”

Vince during a talk at the museum

On his most recent experiences as a volunteer he said: “It can be ups and downs. It can be very rewarding but at the same time, especially during the pandemic, it has been very up and down.

“It’s about being positive when things are not. It’s about making a difference for yourself and for other people.”

Howard Bailey, a trustee at Chard Museum, said: “I think Vince is a great cameo, he has been chair of the Museum for approximately seven years and led the Museum through some challenging times.

“Like many volunteer-led organisations, the volunteers are often excellent at being involved in the organisations’ outputs but can be less enthusiastic about the day-to-day running and administration. Vince has carried all of this in his time.”