As part of Volunteer Week 2023, we spoke to Doug about how he feels about volunteering on board the ship: 

My name is Doug, I’m from Dundee and I have been volunteering here for three years.

I do cleaning and maintenance but I’m also able to help out with tours and events and activities like Halloween at HMS Unicorn and the regular Brew and Blether meetings.

Volunteering here means I have greatly improved my ability to communicate with colleagues and the public as well. I’ve also been able to learn how a museum like HMS Unicorn is run and the amount of hard work it takes!

My health and wellbeing has improved as I’m able to keep active while on the ship, going about and doing my duties and my confidence has also improved – I’ve been able to do things that I never thought would have been possible!

I am proud of being able to keep Unicorn spick and span as part of my regular duties but I’m most proud of the events that I’ve helped out with. I love seeing it come together and the public reaction. I never thought in a million years I’d be able to run screaming through a crowd, pretending to chew on a severed hand when playing a cannibal as part of HMS Unicorn at Halloween but I’ve done that twice now!

I would absolutely recommend volunteering here. It’s not just skills and confidence I’ve gained but also some really good friends. The people I work with are great, especially the HMS Unicorn staff team and for me it’s one of the comfortable and safe atmospheres that I’ve been fortunate enough to be included in.