BEHIND the scenes at Hereford Museum is far from the dusty, dormant affair you may envisage.

A band of volunteers has been helping with a wealth of small tasks - boxing fossils, labelling tools, going through donations - and donating expertise that the full-time museum staff may not possess.

"Our eight to 10 regular volunteers are a great help to the service," said principal heritage officer Kate Andrew. "They contribute a lot."

A mixture of retired people, and people who have finished courses and want to secure a toe-hold in the museum world, they work on special projects.

"The good stuff," as Kate calls it.

Volunteer Tess Ormrod has been helping to sort and box Hereford's museum collection for the past six months.

A former nurse and teacher, she has had an interest in geology for many years.

The West collection of fossils was donated to Hereford museum in 1945, by George West, a wartime temporary resident. He submitted a 60,000 word manuscript along with the 253 specimens, and it is deciphering that, and tying it up with the correctly labelled fossils, on which Tess has been working.

"It's something I've always wanted to have a go at," she says. "It's much easier to make special displays to go out to the museum if everything is organised."

Among the items being catalogued are 290 million years old fossil plant stems.

Working with the staff at Hereford Museum, including Kate - a geologist by training - has been a pleasure.

"The staff are very kind and helpful," Tess said. "I'm learning myself."

Fellow volunteer Sally Purcell completed a history degree at Sheffield University last year and is preparing for an MA in museum studies.

Her work at Hereford involves logging and evaluating donations.

All volunteers worked together in the run-up to the recent Museum-on-the-Move launch, ensuring that all artefacts were properly contained in foam-filled drawers for their journeys around the county.