Kathleen is one of our Lead Volunteers and along with co-volunteer, Angela Stout, runs our Craft, Create and Catch-up group. This is a social community that uses ancient techniques to create crafts and materials which are then used throughout Jarrow Hall museum and grounds. Kathleen guides the group on leather-working, embroidery, textile dying and creation, costume design and calligraphy to name but a few.

Kathleen weaving in Saxon style

Kathleen first found Jarrow Hall after a period of social isolation and difficulties coping with a series of chronic health problems. She would rarely leave her Newcastle home and felt cut off from the outside world. But then she saw a free basket-weaving workshop featured at Jarrow Hall. She had always had a keen interest in this type of work, and had a love for Anglo-Saxon period, but had not been in a position to afford the high-priced workshops that she had previously seen advertised. After attending the session she became hooked and Jarrow Hall has now become like a second home to her.  

She quickly joined the other volunteers on how to build Anglo-Saxon furniture, how to create dyes from plants growing in our herb garden for the fabrics decorating the museum, used newly learned skills to assist in building the Thirlings Hall, and the replica medieval structure in our Anglo Saxon Village. Kathleen had for a long time kept many of her skills unused, but she is now in a position to release her artistic flare.  

After being with us for over two years she now has a genuine love for Jarrow Hall; finding a place to utilise her skills and artistic passions and making many life-long friends along the way. She has built up a stack of great memories in her time here, like woodworking medieval furniture while listening to her fellow volunteers and friends sing traditional folk songs while they worked away. 

The confidence and artistic progress that her volunteering has given her has meant that Kathleen has now embarked on a Post Graduate Certificate in Experimental Archaeology and Material Culture at Dublin University which she is set to begin next year. She intends to continue to grow in her knowledge and skills and will continue to support Jarrow Hall in her Lead Volunteer role.  

Kathleen is a kind, compassionate, talented woman who is both cherished and respected by everyone at Jarrow Hall. We are incredibly lucky to have her as part of our volunteering team and are excited to see what happens next in her journey.

If you would like to volunteer with us, or in the green spaces of Jarrow Hall, please contact [email protected]. Find out about other opportunities to get involved here.

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