Sophie Westlake
About Sophie
Current role: Activity & Diversity Officer at the Vindolanda Trust
Degree studied: MA Heritage Studies, 2020
What is your current role?
I am currently working on a National Lottery Heritage Funded Magna Project with the Vindolanda Trust.
The project focuses on the impact of climate change on our cultural heritage and will have a legacy for future management of ancient Roman resource at Magna Fort along Hadrian’s Wall.
My role is to work alongside archaeological excavations to bring history and archaeology to life with a year-round programme of education and visitor engagement.
I am also working to make the Vindolanda Trust as accessible as possible with the aim to reach new audiences. This is a dream job, and I have been so fortunate to be at the inaugural excavations of a Roman Fort, which is making history!
A real highlight of my job is engaging with lots of different people, from volunteers to members of the public. I love talking with people and finding that hook that gets them enthusiastic about history!
Studying at Newcastle
What did you enjoy the most?
I had a wonderful experience during my time at Newcastle University, it has truly helped me gained invaluable skills and experiences.
The best part of my degree was the opportunity to be able to get involved in practical experience of designing an exhibition, and being embedded in different cultural institutions in the North East.
Being given agency to work within a budget, design our own interpretation, and host a launch night was a key experience that I draw on now in my current role.
Having the opportunity through my degree programme to take knowledge and theory into a heritage environment was a real highlight for me.
The staff were well-connected to the museum, galleries, and heritage industries, meaning their teaching was relatable to a real-world environment and careers.
What skills and knowledge have you found useful in your career?
Being able to engage in extra-curricular activities like curating an exhibition has given me key skills that I use in my job day-to-day.
Although the plan wasn’t to do a dissertation (but I finished my degree during the first COVID-19 lockdown), completing a research dissertation brought me to a new area of the museum, gallery, and heritage industry that I hadn’t considered much: accessibility.
This directly feeds into my work on a day-to-day basis and inspired something that I am really passionate about. My degree with Newcastle also involved visiting lots of different cultural institutions in the north-east, which as someone who was new to the city, gave me a real sense of ownership and fondness for these spaces.
