Time
We welcome volunteers and are developing our Volunteer Programme to provide a variety of opportunities for people wanting to give us their time. Volunteers are allocated to specific projects depending on their interests and the time they have available.
Find out more about one of our volunteers here or skip to Current Projects to find out about our latest vacancies, or Future Projects to find out how to get your name on file.
Meet the volunteer...
Name David Ashby
Age 22
Role Volunteer in the geology department of the Yorkshire Museum.
What has the work involved? I’ve been identifying rocks donated to the museum and putting them into categories. I’ve also been labelling items in the mineral and rock collections. I tend to come in most days and I meet Camilla Nichol, the curator of geology, to talk about the work and agree the hours I’m going to do.
How did you get involved? I saw an advert for volunteers on the Yorkshire Museum website after graduating from Edinburgh University, where I studied geology. I live in York so I got in touch and had an informal interview with Camilla.
Would you recommend it to others? For what I’ve been doing, you need to like rocks – fortunately I do! I do enjoy coming in to the museum. I’d like to start post-graduate studies next year and this is good for my CV and keeps me busy.
Our verdict Camilla says: “We’re absolutely delighted with David’s work – he’s identified, classified and re-boxed a donated collection of around 2,500 rocks.”
If you are interested in any of the current projects listed below, click here to download and complete the Volunteer Application Form and return it to the address on the form.
York Art Gallery - Summer activities, 2008
We are looking for volunteers to help with our family, youth and adult activities this summer, from the beginning of May onwards. Duties vary, but all volunteers will be working in our Studio space, preparing for and helping with practical art activities for the public.
Click here to download full details of the project.
York Art Gallery - Territories, Summer 2008
Would you like to work with groups from our Territories community art project on practical art sessions? If you feel you could offer the support and encouragement needed, we are looking for volunteers to help with six sessions this summer.
Click here for details of the project
Click here to find out more about our Territories project
York St Mary's - Installation work, 6 - 9 May, 2008
Volunteers are needed to help artist Keiko Mukaide with the preparation work for the re-opening of her exciting contemporary installation, The Memory of Place.
Click here to download full details of the project
Click here to find out more about The Memory of Place
York Castle Museum - Kitchen, Military and Costume&Textile Activities, from Spring 2008
We are looking for volunteers to run activity sessions and demonstrations for visitors at York Castle Museum in three new themed areas which focus on our domestic, military and costume and textile collections. Full training is given and the time commitment is one half-day session per week.
Click here to email us for more details of the latest Studio opportunities
York Castle Museum - Documenting objects from the Military collection, April 2008
We need a volunteer to assist in adding digital photographs of objects from the military collection to our collections database. Training will be given and the time commitment required is one day, or two half days, a week.
Click here for full details of the project
York Observatory - ongoing
We are also looking to recruit volunteers for a project based in the York Observatory in the Museum Gardens.
Click here to download a brief summary of the project.
Several more projects are at the planning stage and we keep a list of interested people on file. Information about future volunteering opportunities will appear on this page.
If you would like to register an interest in our volunteering programme, please complete our general online form below.