Manchester’s Victoria Baths is celebrating an awards win at the Sporting Heritage Awards, which were held last night (Thursday 9 May) at Headingley Stadium in Leeds. The heritage attraction has been presented with The Ark (Heritage) Recognising Sporting Volunteers Award for the work that it does with its incredible team of volunteers.

This is the second year the awards have taken place, which are intended to acknowledge the work that takes place within the sporting heritage sector and the impact that this has across the UK. There are nine different categories that cover a range of topics.

Dr Justine Reilly, Managing Director of Sporting Heritage says, “The volunteering community play a pivotal role in ensuring our sporting heritage is protected, promoted and preserved for people to enjoy today and in the future. Victoria Baths is a perfect example of the important and valuable work undertaken by volunteers.”

Ella Walker, Engagement Manager for Victoria Baths, says, “We are thrilled to have won the Recognising Sporting Volunteers Award. Without volunteers we wouldn’t have made the progress that we have at Victoria Baths; from the moment that the community campaigned to save our building in the early 1990s they have been an instrumental part of everything that we do. We now have a team of 55 amazing volunteers who help with all sorts of tasks; from running guided tours of the building to working in the archives.

“Lots of our volunteers have been with us for a long time and we try to ensure that they benefit from the time they spend with us in as many different ways as possible, including with fun social activities. For some it is valuable work experience, for others it is a way of building up a new skill base and for some it is an enjoyable way of meeting new people and being a part of the community.”

If you are interested in becoming a future volunteer at Victoria Baths then you can join the volunteer mailing list; this will give you access to information about new roles and opportunities as they arise. All the information to do that is here.

For further information on Victoria Baths visit www.victoriabaths.org.uk. To find out more about the role of Sporting Heritage visit www.sportingheritage.org.uk.