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As cultural organisations rely more and more on volunteers, they risk becoming the exclusive domain of the middle class, argues Sam Reyes.

Over recent years, public museums have become increasingly dependent on volunteers, who act as a sticking plaster over the gaping wounds inflicted by government cuts. The care with which museums differentiate between paid and unpaid roles cannot disguise the blurring within the heritage sector of traditional “leisure” volunteering and the use of a vast unpaid workforce driven by hopes of eventual entry into the sector.

In 2013, the Museums Association’s Cuts Survey found that 37 per cent of museums had been forced to cut staff, while 47 per cent increased their numbers of volunteers in the same year. It was noted that front of house roles in particular are now assigned to volunteers. In my own time volunteering for two London museums, it was apparent that behind-the-scenes volunteer work has also become a vital cog in the heritage machine... Keep reading on New Statesman