Membership of the Friends

Members. Have you thought about being a tour guide? We are looking to train more guides in this most enjoyable of volunteer activities.
Contact Steve Brown via 0790 2271 323 to find out more!

Membership of the Friends of Smithills Hall .

Membership is open to all. If you become a member of the Friends of Smithills Hall you will join a group of people who ‘love’ the Hall and seek to preserve its history and environment and have a lot of enjoyment whilst doing so.

You have the opportunity to attend yearly activities run by the Friends including social events with interesting speakers which would normally including the Annual General Meeting, Christmas Social, Christmas Carol Service etc.

You will receive a free quarterly Bulletin with news of what is happening in the Hall, with articles and forthcoming events.

Friends Bulletins

As a member you can help reduce Friends’ postage costs if you have an email address and are happy to receive the Bulletin to your email address.

Bulletin 53 has been posted to members or emailed to members. If you are a member and have not had your copy of this Bulletin please contact us using the contact form on this site: enquiries@friendsofsmithillshall.co.uk

Comments, and articles for the Bulletins are always welcome. Next Bulletin is ‘Winter’ 2023′.

The Friends of Smithills Hall is a registered charity whose objectives include:-

The preservation and improvement for the public benefit of Smithills Hall, being a Grade I listed building of historical, architectural and constructive interest. To advance the education of the public. To promote the benefit of visiting the Hall to the inhabitants of Bolton and surrounding district and by providing facilities in the interest of social welfare, for recreation and leisure time occupation, with the object of improving their conditions of life.

The Friends work very closely with Bolton Council and their staff to offer practical, and financial support through fund raising where necessary. They conduct research into the history of Smithills Hall, and help with the recruitment and development of volunteers.

Volunteers

If you have any time to spare and feel you could help there are opportunities to spend time at the Hall in company with others of like mind. Other than garden volunteering these are occasional activities.You choose how much time you can spare and when you can spare it (subject of course to the Hall being open, but gardening volunteers can work any day!) Those who do volunteer find it a pleasurable, satisfying and stimulating experience. If, for example, you are waiting to start work why not volunteer to keep your skills honed or acquire new ones, and help your CV at the same time.

Volunteer activities include:-

Guiding and Stewarding

The following are the thoughts of a volunteer.
I began guiding under the tutelage of an experienced guide, by following other guides around the Hall to see how they delivered the script, and when I felt more confident found myself eventually giving a tour without even my prompt cards. There were things in every room which acted as an aide memoir and so I was off! I still enjoy guiding to this day showing visitors our lovely Hall with all its extensive history. Perhaps you could find time to join our team of guides and enjoy the history of this house with us.
Guiding helps to learn about the plethora of interesting facts and stories there are about Hall and area history.

As a steward you will help to secure the museum objects on busy days whilst helping the public enjoy their visit.

Gardening

The Friends wish to continue to improve the gardens which surround the Hall. Activities include weeding and planting, clearing ivy from the borders and keeping the paved areas free from weeds and litter. The gardens around the house are easier to maintain thanks to the work and hours spent by Friends volunteers. We would like to stay on top of this work but need more volunteers to help maintain the beds.

The Committee have been helping to keep the parterre tidy and weed free – but more volunteers are still needed to help with the maintenance of the formal gardens.

Volunteers in the Parterre – now much improved on the picture above.

Are you interested?

Contact Paul on 07712 253203, or the Friends via the contact form on this site.

Other volunteer activities

Friends volunteers put up Christmas decorations in the public rooms and help with annual deep cleaning in the Hall. They also support the organisation and running of events at the Hall. All activity depends on how much time you can spare and are physically able to do.

Membership subscription rates:

Members	£10
Retired or Unemployed Members	£7.50
Life Members	£100
Families	£25
Affiliated Members	£20

Students (currently in education) £2.00

If you join midway through a year (which runs from 1 May to 30 April) you will pay only half of the annual membership.

Membership Application Form

An Application Form can be downloaded by clicking Membership application form 2022 or can be collected from the Smithills Hall reception desk. A form can be requested via the Contact page of this website.

If you require more information about membership please contact:-

The Secretary
The Friends of Smithills Hall
Smithills Dean Road
Bolton
BL1 7NP

Protecting Members Data.

As a Charity the Friends of Smithills Hall is committed to ensuring information given us by members or those applying for membership is fully protected. Our commitment is set out in our Privacy Policy as required under the General Data Protection Regulation set out via the Data Protection Bill 2017-19, which came into force from 25 May 2018. To see a copy click Privacy Policy