Volunteer FAQs

Everyone!  If you share our passion for history or The Guards in particular, we will welcome your interest in volunteering with us. Whether you’re retired, working part-time or a student, there are roles available to suit you.

There is no upper age limit for volunteering; however, we only offer volunteering opportunities to volunteers over 18 years old.

We have volunteering opportunities in our Front of House, Learning, Collections and Digital Comms teams.  At the moment, we have vacancies for Welcome Volunteers and Tour Guide Volunteers.

The skills required for a role depend on the opportunity and the nature of the role. For some roles, there are no specific sets of skills required, but we look for enthusiasm, commitment and a pleasant manner from all who volunteer with us.  Please read our role descriptions for further information.

The Guards Museum recognises that work experience is different from volunteering.  The museum is currently focussing on core activities and consequently regrets that it does not have the capacity to organise work experience placements. 

You’ll certainly be in the right place to hear about any upcoming job vacancies – but we can’t promise you’ll always be successful. If you do take up a paid role with us this would mean you would be required to cease your volunteering arrangement with us.

Whilst we reimburse volunteers for out-of-pocket expenses, this doesn’t count as payment or income. Depending on the type of benefits you receive, you might need to let your work coach, Jobcentre Plus or local council know about your volunteering. The Citizens Advice Bureau provide helpful guidance on making sure your volunteering doesn’t affect your benefits, and this can be found at;

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/benefits-introduction/how-volunteering-affects-your-benefits/

The Museum is open seven days a week, and our opening hours are from 10:00am to 4:00pm, with the last entry for visitors at 3:30pm.

We ask all volunteers to provide at least one day of volunteering to the museum per fortnight, either volunteering for a full day, from 9:45am to 4:00pm, which equates to 6.25 hours or a half-day shift, either mornings (9:45am to 1:00pm, 3.25 hours) or afternoons (12:30pm to 4:00pm, 3.5 hours.  Many of our volunteers regularly attend a day each week.

We try to be as flexible as possible and understand that volunteers will have holidays booked and, depending on their situation, could also have exams/stressful periods, so we hope that you will feel able to discuss these with us and we can work around your availability.

-          “I liked that the team was small, so it was easy to get to know others and take my time to learn how things worked. Everyone was incredibly kind.”

-          “I really enjoyed the tasks I was given, everyone was lovely, and the extra events like Trooping the Colour and the Musical Spectacular were so much fun.”

-          “I truly appreciate the support I have received throughout my time at the Museum.”

-          “During every shift, I feel a friendly and supportive atmosphere which is created in the Museum. I am not afraid to ask for help or information, and this means a lot to me.”

-          “Meeting an elderly couple who had travelled a long way to have a private viewing by a particular regiment of a family member’s VC medal. Because of my knowledge of the books that we sell, I was able to show them a full-page writing and photo of their relative, whom they had never seen a photo of him. There were tears all around, and an extremely rewarding experience for me.”

-          “Meeting and talking to people from many different countries has definitely boosted my confidence.”

What you get from your volunteering experience depends on your motivations for wanting to volunteer. Volunteering is a great way to use your existing skills and experiences or to further your skills and knowledge. It’s an opportunity to meet new people and gain confidence. Volunteering is also a good addition to your CV.

We don’t want you to be out of pocket as a result of volunteering with us, so we will reimburse your travel costs and the cost of buying your lunch if you volunteer for up to a certain amount of time with us. Further details of the amounts that you can claim will be provided on the progression of your application.

We complete an annual review of volunteering, with the aim of ensuring that your experience continues to be a good one, and we will also carry out a personal annual review with you so that we can discuss your volunteering experience and your role, to ensure that you are still enjoying and benefiting from the experience.

We try to run several social events for our volunteers throughout the year, such as museum visits to further your development and a volunteer Christmas lunch.

If there is anything in particular that you want to learn or experience whilst you are with us, we will try where possible to accommodate this, so please do discuss any particular aims with us.

We are happy to provide volunteers with a basic reference if requested by potential employers or other organisations that you may want to work or volunteer with, following the completion of your volunteer probation.

Following your volunteer probation (a minimum of 12 days of volunteering shifts), you are also entitled to a 10% discount in the Museum’s Gift Shop and five FREE Museum tickets per year, which you can use to bring friends and family to the Museum. 

Please complete our Volunteer Registration Form to provide us with some basic details. We will then contact you to let you know the next steps.

If we think that we have an opportunity to suit you, we will arrange for you to come in and meet our Visitor Experience Supervisor for an informal visit and assessment, to give you an overview of the museum, discuss your interest in the role and your aspirations, understand your relevant skills and aptitudes, and explain the requirements for volunteering at the museum.  We will also explain the next steps in the process should you be successful at the asessment session, which will include taking up references and scheduling orientation sessions prior to any role offer.

Currently, none of our volunteer roles require a DBS check.

Yes, as part of your registration process, we will ask you for the names and contact details of up to two referees.

If you have any questions regarding the information on our Volunteer pages, please send an email to volunteer@guardsmuseum.org.uk, and we will try to answer to the best of our ability.