Last year I thought I'd do Open House differently. I thought I'd volunteer.
In a normal year it takes 1500 volunteers to keep Open House weekend up and running. All you need to do is sign up on the website, enter a handful of details and pick a slot.
Volunteers can choose to be either a Guide or a Steward, the former leading people round and telling them about the building, the latter more of a reassuring and helpful presence. Being a Guide requires a certain level of swotting up beforehand, which I'm sure I would have been capable of, but I preferred an easy life so went for the Stewarding option instead.
Volunteering sessions tend to last half a day, typically 10-1.30pm or 1.30pm-5 (but slots vary according to actual opening times). Essentially you're committing to spending at least 25% of Open House weekend in a single location, but at least you get to choose that location yourself from a very long list.
I ummed and ahhed for a very long time before choosing a middle-of-the-spectrum building in a not especially overloaded part of town. I made sure it was large enough that I'd be one of several stewards on duty, not the schmuck with sole responsibility for advice and hospitality. This may or may not have been a good choice. Open House duly despatched a confirmation email giving contact details for the lady who'd be the duty manager on the day in case I needed to tell her anything, and all seemed well.
A free Open House guide rapidly arrived in the post. This was excellent payback, indeed a proper perk, given that the guide plus postage and packing now costs in the region of a tenner. Included in the package was a green Open House badge to wear which would confirm my official status. It also meant I'd be allowed to jump queues across the weekend, pre-booked venues excepted, becoming one of those annoying people who pushes past after you've been waiting in line for hours.
Another perk of being an Open House volunteer is that everyone gets invited to a party on the Sunday evening. An email was circulated giving details of the party venue in Spitalfields, plus a link to register on Eventbrite, with the major caveat that only 300 places were available. I was out when the email arrived and by the time I logged in all the tickets had been reserved, so the Open House Closing Party was immediately out of bounds. Admittedly I wouldn't have wanted to go, I hate parties with hundreds of unknown people, but I never got the option anyway.
At the end of August Open House sent an email asking if anyone was interested in doing a double shift. Several buildings remained in need of volunteer help and perhaps we'd like to trawl through these extra slots and sign up. A week before Open House weekend they sent another email listing 50 venues in need of help, but checking the website revealed the total to be rather higher than that. Many locations would function perfectly well with fewer people, but those with only one volunteer due to be on duty might not. I didn't fancy giving up more of my weekend so decided against.
With just two days to go my chosen building's duty manager contacted me by email and told me not to come. "Unfortunately we’re over capacity for volunteers," she said, "so your help is no longer required." I'm not sure quite how that could have happened, but fine, it left me free to volunteer at a different property.
I logged back into the website to pick again, but the system didn't know I'd been released from my duties so refused to allow me to rebook. I could have volunteered on the other day of the weekend, but I had plans for that wasn't so willing to switch dates. I clicked on 'cancel' to revoke my volunteering slot but again the system refused. It's too close to the actual event, it said, you need to email us instead. So I emailed and waited, and waited, but nobody replied.
The day before Open House weekend I received another automated email confirming my original booking, with the caveat "If you have any problems or queries, please get in touch so we can help." I did indeed have problems and queries. This time a different email address had been provided so I replied to that, only to receive an Out of Office reply which said "the Open House team are out and about checking on the events taking place across London. This email will not be being monitored regularly." Communication, I decided, was not one of the team's strengths.
I heard nothing else so went out and enjoyed the whole of Open House weekend as a participant. It meant some serious replanning because I suddenly had four hours free I wasn't expecting, and I didn't really maximise the opportunity. I could have used my badge to visit all the popular sites and queue-jump, but decided that wouldn't be fair so my magic pass stayed firmly in my pocket all day.
I did of course pop in on my chosen venue, briefly, but without letting on. One of the successful volunteers handed me a leaflet and directed me inside, while all the others sat on a sofa relaxing and having a cosy chat. Two of them were still having that cosy chat when I went to leave. I can see now that my volunteering slot would have been a total waste of time, offering limited opportunities to be usefully hands-on, and that the building was totally overstaffed even without me. It pays to choose your Open House volunteering slot with care.
On Monday afternoon Open House sent me an email thanking me for my contribution. It also said they'd had a lovely volunteer closing party last night, with Ivan's cupcakes a particular highlight, and hoped I enjoyed myself.
As far as Open House are concerned they think I did a wonderful job for them in 2019, whereas in fact my opportunity had been cancelled and nobody was interested when I informed them. I had been wondering how to respond when they sent a further email in summer 2020 inviting me back... but in the end the opportunity never arose.
Open House weekend is very different this year. Much of the programme is virtual, several of the self-guided walks can be walked at any time and a bank of short films is being uploaded at nine o'clock this morning. But several properties will still be opening physically and remain reliant on volunteers. If you've successfully negotiated the system this year and are pinning on your green badge as we speak, London offers its collective thanks.
