If it’s broken I’ll fix it

Steve’s story from IT professional to volunteer

All Charities need estate management. Steve plays that role for the West House and Heath Robinson Museum Trust. He started his charity work solving IT issues, but moved on to do so much more. Now he is part of the estate team that looks after West House and Heath Robinson Museum buildings. He’s still very much involved in the IT side of the trust updating the email listings and fixing the occasional computer or network issues as well as managing the environmental controls.

Apart from keeping him up-to-date with the latest technology, being involved with the trust maintains his contact with the community and the other volunteers. During his more than 45 years as an IT professional he’s not come across more than half-dozen problems he couldn’t resolve.

Satisfaction from volunteering at the Heath Robinson Trust

Steve shies away from paperwork and prefers to work with a hammer and screwdriver. “I get a kick out of fixing things when they go wrong.” says Steve. He gets tremendous satisfaction when one of the quarterly exhibitions at the Trust finishes so he can use his tools to make good the gallery ready for the installation of the next exhibition. This process involves making good, repainting the walls and making the place look like new. He prides himself on a job well done and at the same time knows that he has helped the trust save money through his efforts and improved the visitors’ experience.

How can you help?

The Heath Robinson Museum relies on volunteers to help run the place. The Estate Team, of which Steve is only one of two, always needs additional help. If you are an effective DIY’er and can you use a hammer and paintbrush effectively or perhaps you have other useful skills then contact the Trust.

45 years in IT

Steve began work in 1975 at a firm called Burroughs who manufactured adding machines and typewriters which he would repair. The company also made mainframe computers the size of a sitting room and Steve was soon employed in this more sophisticated work. After the company merged and became Unisys, Steve felt it was time to move on and joined Lloyds Bank IT department. Later Lloyds decided they should concentrate on banking and outsourced their IT to IBM and Steve moved with the change. IBM then passed the work onto ATT and then BT took on the role.

Throughout this journey Steve coped with the technological change from mainframes to standalone PC’s, to networking and on to today’s laptops, phones and tablets – a true IT professional.

West House and Heath Robinson Museum Trust

If you’ve never visited the Heath Robinson Museum in Pinner Memorial Park you should. The display features the work of one of the 20th century’s most eccentric illustrators and cartoonists. William Heath Robinson’s (1872-1944) illustrations frequently feature whimsical and elaborate machines that fix simple problems. His notoriety coined the phrase a “Heath Robinson” solution, which meant using anything to hand like string and plaster to create fanciful contraptions.

The museum also displays work by local artists and is involved in art education, storytelling and face painting. Find out more about the Heath Robinson Museum and their activities from their web site.

Discover more

Find out about many more volunteers Learn about their their stories, their motivations and how they help the community. Follow the links on this page.