CIfA 2021 A Guide for Clients

32 Excavation for wellbeing – volunteering in the Covid-19 pandemic The Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust has excavated at locations across the Chirk Castle estate near Wrexham in north-east Wales for several years. Investigating landscapes from early medieval linear earthworks to 17th-century workshops and formal gardens, the project has combined research objectives with volunteer opportunities and public outreach to develop a programme of work that is firmly embedded in the local community and the wider region. Volunteers on the project have ranged from undergraduate archaeology students to National Trust volunteers, Young Archaeologists’ Club groups to members of local societies. With a broad age range and some diversity in background, the varied volunteer groups have worked well together on tasks across the site Socially distanced site briefings become the daily norm – and also the time to check in with how everyone feels about procedures and safety. ©CPAT – some working on their Archaeological Skills Passports, others filling CPAT’s own Volunteer Skills Handbook, others preferring a less formal approach. By offering a variety of ways to interact with archaeology in this way, the project can accommodate volunteers with different backgrounds, skills and confidence levels. Volunteers at Chirk Castle excavations have shared the impact of their experiences with CPAT staff through both formal and informal evaluation, and the outreach team observed significant positive wellbeing and health outcomes from working on the project. There were several members of the regular volunteer crew living with chronic or long-term health conditions, who have shared their observations on how working on site has made them feel