Markand Patel

Background

About Markand Patel

Since June 2013 I have been volunteering at the Museum of the Order of St John in Clerkenwell. The role of gallery assistant not only includes welcoming and making the visit entertaining and educational for the visitors but i have also found a wealth of knowledge amongst the volunteers and senior guides. I have written a small article for the museum newsletter and am now writing a book review for every edition. I have learnt about environmental control and calibration and have been working on cataloguing and archiving a variety of materials, from medals to a plethora of materials concerning the St John Ambulance Association and the St John Ambulance Brigade and indeed the Order of St John. Since the turn of the year I have been involved as part of a team in setting up a new library room and I have been given the responsibility to catalogue all furniture in the museum and Priory Church ready for a furniture conservator. I have also attended fire marshall and first aid training sessions offering vital life saving knowledge and hope in the near future to be involved in emergency procedure training and protocols. Since September I have been lucky enough to be offered a position at the Sir John Soane’s Museum as a voluntary assistant conservator gaining valuable practical work experience and learning from the head conservator who has worked there for over thirty years. I believe that this position is critical and keeps in adherence with the final wishes of Soane and the private Act of Parliament passed in 1833, bequething his home to the nation, stipulating thtat it be kept ‘as nearly as possible in the state in which he shall leave it’. This makes it a unique museum in London. These two museums offer a range of opportunities allowing me access and insight into a museum’s day to day activities and will better prepare me and work well together with the online Masters in Museum Studies from the University of Leicester which began in April 2014.