Volunteer at Killerton House

Before coming to Buckingham University I volunteered a lot at Killerton House in Exeter https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/killerton/ , (National Trust). This was mainly over the Christmas period.

Walking into Killerton house sent people into a Christmas paradise wonderland. With numerous amounts of fairy lights and handmade decorations the colours in the house were spectacular. A trail was made around the house based on the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, ‘A Christmas Carol’. Children were to walk around finding illustrations of Scrooge and many other objects based from the story.

A Christmas tree was found in every room with homemade decorations, each with a colour trend. Purple and silver, red and gold, blue and red. A couple of carts were set up around the house, one being a presents corner and another showing off Christmas chocolates and candy canes. The creative and vintage look of the stair decorations created a feel of festive wonderland. Twigs taken from the gardens and then spray painted with silver, decorated with lights and white foam to represent snow generated a utopian festive feeling.

Volunteering for this day I was placed in the ‘Objects of Desire’ exhibition upstairs. I was positioned to answer any questions and to encourage visitors to write their new year’s resolution on a tag and place it onto a bare Christmas tree.

Being at Killerton House in Exeter during the Christmas period was truly magical. A man came riding in his vintage golf cart and old fashioned green outfit. With holly on his head and bells ringing to silence the chattering of excitable children was the entrance of Father Christmas. Queues of children and parents waited to visit Santa. His presence created a huge Christmas feel towards the house, even with the vibrant decorations and twinkling lights everywhere. I’m already excited to see what next year’s theme will be.