Sophy & White Project: Volunteer Update

The Sophy and White: The Dunollie Collections Unboxed Project is now fully underway. In January we started the recruitment process to create a team of volunteers who would contribute to the project by reviewing, auditing and recording the collections in the Dunollie storerooms. Through advertising and hosting a volunteer open day, we have managed to form a team of 15 fantastic volunteers!

In early April, we organized a guided tour of the grounds for volunteers, this helped to provide everyone with some background history, helping to contextualize the project and collections. We organized training sessions for volunteers on object handling and packing. Delivered by Catriona, the curator at Glencoe’s Folk Museum, these sessions taught our volunteers valuable skills which are needed to work with our collections. This included handling objects, identifying different materials and labelling items. Following this, Trustee Jayne MulQueen delivered training sessions on textile handling. This gave our volunteers an in-depth understanding of working with our vast textile collection. Jayne highlighted the importance of materials sensitivity, preservation, proper storage and display techniques.

We are now eight months into the project and our volunteers are making great progress. We are incredibly grateful as in this time, we have uncovered a huge number of items which had been accumulated by Hope MacDougall and the Clan over the years. Most of Hope’s collection is local, holding many items of great significance to Oban and Dunollie. This 1902 Oban High School Dux Medal is still in its original presentation box:

Hope’s collection also contains objects from a range of countries and periods. In their first week volunteering, Helen and Fiona uncovered a ceramic oil lamp of Roman descent, which Hope acquired when visiting the Holy Land.

Many of the collection’s objects were given to Hope by her friends and relatives. This carved, wooden Maori Tiki with paua shell eyes, was gifted in 1967 by Christina MacDonald from Wellington, New Zealand.

Our volunteers stay in regular contact with one another using a group chat, sharing these exciting finds and discussing their origin, date, use and importance. They help each other better understand objects and often send in research regarding items that we are uncertain about!

We would like to thank the incredible dedication and hard work our volunteers have put into the Sophy and White Project so far. Your efforts and enthusiasm have been truly invaluable. The time and care that everyone has invested in handling, cataloging, and preserving our collections ensures that these artifacts are protected for future generations to learn from and enjoy. Your contributions are crucial in bringing the history of these items to life and will allow us to share their stories.

Thank you once again for your exceptional work. We could not have achieved such amazing progress without you. Your support is not only enhancing the quality of our collections but also strengthening our entire museum community. 

We are always looking to recruit new volunteers. If you want to get involved in the Sophy and White Project, please email anna@dunollie.org

This project was made possible by the National Heritage Lottery Fund for Scotland, thanks to National Lottery Players.