Volunteering at the Elmstead Museum of Rural Life

About the museum

The Elmstead Museum of Rural Life tells the story of farming and village life in the county over the past two hundred years. Its collection includes working farm machinery, a restored blacksmith's forge and a village schoolroom. The museum employs only six paid staff and relies on a team of around ninety volunteers to open to the public seven days a week from March to October. In the winter months the building is also hired out for weddings, concerts and private events.

Volunteer roles

Volunteers can help in many different ways. Gallery guides welcome visitors, answer questions and give short talks on the collection. Learning assistants support school groups, helping children to try traditional activities such as butter making. Behind the scenes, collections volunteers clean and catalogue objects, while garden volunteers look after the cottage garden and the orchard. Volunteers with practical skills may also help to repair the machinery.

Who can volunteer

We welcome volunteers from all backgrounds, and no previous museum experience is needed. Volunteers must be at least sixteen, although younger people can join our family volunteering days with an adult. Anyone working with school groups will need a background check, which the museum arranges and pays for. Please let us know if you need help with access, as most areas of the museum have step-free routes. We ask volunteers to give at least one half-day session a fortnight for a minimum of six months.

Training

All new volunteers attend an introductory morning, which covers the history of the museum, health and safety, and what to do in an emergency. Gallery guides then spend two sessions shadowing an experienced guide before working alone. Collections volunteers are trained in how to handle objects by the museum's curator, and they must not handle any object until this training has been completed.

What we offer

Volunteers receive free entry to the museum for themselves and up to three guests, a ten per cent discount in the shop and café, and invitations to talks and trips to other museums. Travel costs are refunded for any journey of more than five miles, on production of a ticket or a record of the mileage. Many volunteers say that the best part of the role is the friendships they make.

How to apply

Please complete the application form on our website and indicate which roles interest you. You will then be invited to an informal chat with our volunteer coordinator, Priya Mensah, who will show you around the museum. There is no interview, but we will ask for the name of one person who can provide a reference. Applications are accepted throughout the year.