We were lucky enough to have Leanna join the team for a little while. She explains what she got up to and what she learned...

Hi! My name is Leanna and I have been at The Postal Museum for the last two weeks on work experience. I am currently a student, studying History as one of my subjects, so being at the museum has been really interesting and helpful!

Leanna at The Postal Museum

Leanna, ready for Postal Museum life

One of the best things I have done whilst at the museum is learn from Matt, one of our archivists, about the old photographs of Mail Rail and postal equipment from the 1950s and 60s.

Leanna and Matt working together in the Search Room

Matt says Leanna helped him make huge strides in his photography cataloguing project

When I went down to Mail Rail earlier in the week they used the tunnels as a feature for a BBC documentary. It was really cool to see the transformation of the tunnels from now to how they looked in those old photos.

Mail Rail in the 1930s vs today

Mail Rail in the 1930s vs today

During my second week I sat with Yvonne from HR and learnt about the recruitment and administrative features of The Postal Museum. It’s a really busy time right now as they are preparing for opening which means lots of new people joining to help the project! I learnt how to use Octopus, the HR system, which was interesting because this differed so much to the other departments.

Photo of the top floor of The Postal Museum, under construction

Lots of staff will eventually work here

I have learnt so much over these 2 weeks and have picked up lots of new skills. I learnt a lot about British history and the role of Royal Mail, which I did not know much about before.

Photo of exterior of Mount Pleasant Post Office

Leanna researched local history groups who might want to volunteer

It was really fun working in the office and visiting Mail Rail – I can’t wait to come back and visit next April when The Postal Museum opens!

There are lots of great opportunities to volunteer and work with the team coming up – see the latest ones right here!