Derby Museums

Do you get a kick out of making someone’s day with a helping hand, a smidge of encouragement or a fantastic fact? This may be the role for you! Join the team that has been nominated for best welcome in the '2022 Museum & Heritage Awards' and share your time, knowledge and skills with visitors as they explore and ‘make’ around the museum.

Time commitment 

The Museum of Making is open from Tuesday to Sunday. We will work with you to accommodate your preferences and availability. 

Location 

The Museum of Making is open from Tuesday to Sunday. We hope you can give at least a couple of hours of your time to maximise your experience. Working with you to accommodate your preferences and availability. 

Tasks 

• You enjoy talking and engaging with the general public
• You like to hear and tell stories around our collections and the heritage of the building (our visitors have lots to tell!)
• You are passionate about Derby Museums and would enjoy championing our collections, values and aims
• You are a friendly and enthusiastic individual
• You are interested in heritage and historic collections
• You have a thirst for learning new things

This role can be combined with: 

• public programming activities such as Tours or Lifelong learning activities 
• gallery making
• temporary exhibition support 

Training: 

We will provide you with training to ensure you feel happy, safe and confident in your role. Get an introduction to the spaces, people and the role by attending our site volunteer introductions.

Proposed dates for these are shared in the "Getting Started" section. Click on the link to browse available times or get in touch to explore alternatives. 

With you in mind: 

Count on our Visitor Experience Assistant Team and Site Managers to be your point of contact once in place.

Hope, the Coproduction Volunteer Coordinator, manage your overall volunteering experience, supporting you with Wellness Action Plans and/or Goal Setting Plans to discuss any physical, mental health or vocational needs or goals.   

Volunteering can help you to gain new skills, boost your confidence, make new friends, and feel connected to a community of people. It is rewarding to be part of a network of people supporting a charity by creating wonderful things and experiences together. We'll provide you with hot drinks, occasional biscuits, and reasonable travel expenses. 

Joseph Wright: A Life on Paper Volunteering- Become a Wright Ambassador! 

Our exciting summer exhibition Joseph Wright: A Life on Paper runs between May - September 2025, and we're looking for volunteers who might like to help share his story and encourage visitors to bring out their inner artist!

The show will exhibit works on paper by Joe normally only accessible through the Study centre, as well as sharing stories about his early life, career and drawing methods. With dramatic installations, interactivity activities and new research, it will be an exciting exhibition for all volunteers who are fans of his work.

How you’ll be making a difference

 As a volunteer, you will play a vital role in engaging and giving visibility to hidden narratives within the artworks, engaging visitors in discussion and storytelling and encouraging visitors to discover their inner artist with many of the creativity stations throughout the exhibition. 

Proposed time donation

We would be grateful for any time you could give to facilitating the experience for our visitors. The exhibition will take place between May to September 2025 and volunteering can take place any time within Museum opening hours. We will work with you and other volunteers to accommodate your preference and availability wherever possible.

Location

Derby Museum & Art Gallery in the second floor temporary exhibitions space.

Tasks

• Interact with visitors around the museum to share your passion, knowledge, enthusiasm or curiosity for the work of Joseph Wright
• Be an attentive ear and engage with curious visitors through sharing knowledge, curiosities, anecdotes, personal favourites, hidden features and other unexpected delights.
• Encouraging visitors to find their inner artists with some of the creative activities on gallery.
• Join the team in making sure all areas are clean and tidy, ensuring all spaces are welcoming, safe and ready for visitors.
• Promote activities, fundraising initiatives, events, and commercial events – acting as ambassadors for Derby Museums.
• Be there for people. Proactively looking out for those who need assistance or guidance.

This role may be for you if you are: 

• Friendly, helpful, and love talking to people and listening to their stories  
• Wanting to engage and communicate with others and share knowledge, passion, enthusiasm and/or curiosity for an exciting Joseph Wright collection
• Are willing to be creative and have a go at some of the activities on gallery
• Intrigued and excited to know more
• Someone who takes pride and is enthusiastic for Derby and Derby Museums.

Getting started

• We proudly commit to enriching our team by progressing diversity, inclusion, relevance and accessibility into all we do - including volunteer engagement. We especially welcome applications from the global majority, and we'll work with you to break barriers. Get in touch if you'd prefer to talk in person about volunteering.
• We will provide training to ensure you feel happy, safe and confident in your role. Your training will cover themes within the works, historical context, as well as the volunteer role within the galleries and basic health and safety within the space. 
• The "Getting Started" section shares proposed dates for training, including a talk on Joseph Wright by our Head of Exhibitions and gallery inductions. Expect an email from us beforehand should this be your first time volunteering within our spaces. 

Getting support

• Hope Slater coordinates your volunteering experience at Derby Museums. They can support you with Wellness Action Plans for any physical or mental health needs, arrange volunteer socials, or discuss personal goals linked to the opportunity.

Inspire people so they leave appreciating and admiring the natural world around them by supporting us within the Notice Nature Feel Joy gallery. 

Time commitment 

The Museum & Art Gallery is open from Tuesday to Sunday. We hope you can give at least a couple of hours of your time to maximise your experience. Working with you to accommodate your preferences and availability. 

Location 

This role takes place primarily in Notice Nature Feel Joy gallery at the Museum and Art Gallery, although Object Walks can happen across all galleries.  

What you may be doing:

• Friendly, helpful, and love talking to people and listening to their stories  
• Wanting to engage and communicate with others and share knowledge, passion, enthusiasm and/or curiosity for the natural collections
• Aware and sensitive towards the approach of the gallery – one that welcomes discussion, sharing and empathy   
• Intrigued and excited to know more
• Someone who takes pride and is enthusiastic for Derby and Derby Museums. 

This role can be combined with: 

• public programming activities such as Tours or Lifelong learning activities 
• gallery making
• co-produced activities
• temporary exhibition support 

Share with us any areas of personal interest that you want to develop, along with your existing experience, to work with you to create an enriching and meaningful role.  

Training: 

We will provide you with training to ensure you feel happy, safe and confident in your role. Get an introduction to the spaces, people and the role by attending our site volunteer introductions.

Proposed dates for these are shared in the "Getting Started" section. Click on the link to browse available times or get in touch to explore alternatives. 

Getting support: 

Count on our Visitor Experience Assistant Team and Site Managers to be your point of contact once in place.

Hope, the Coproduction Volunteer Coordinator, manages your overall volunteering experience, supporting you with Wellness Action Plans and/or Goal Setting Plans to discuss any physical, mental health or vocational needs or goals.   

Help us inspire visitors with our archaeological collection and in co producing the new gallery! 

What you may be doing:

Time commitment 

The Museum & Art Gallery is open from Tuesday to Sunday. We hope you can give at least a couple of hours of your time to maximise your experience. Working with you to accommodate your preferences and availability. 

Location 

This role takes place primarily in Archaeology gallery at the Museum and Art Gallery, although Object Walks can happen across all galleries.  

This role may be for you if you are: 

• Friendly, helpful, and love talking to people and listening to their stories  
• Wanting to engage and communicate with others and share knowledge, passion, enthusiasm and/or curiosity for the archaeology collections
• Aware and sensitive towards the approach of the gallery – one that welcomes discussion, sharing and empathy   
• Intrigued and excited to know more
• Someone who takes pride and is enthusiastic for Derby and Derby Museums. 

This role can be combined with: 

• public programming activities such as Tours or Lifelong learning activities 
• gallery making
• co-produced activities
• temporary exhibition support 

Share with us any areas of personal interest that you want to develop, along with your existing experience, to work with you to create an enriching and meaningful role.  

Training: 

We will provide you with training to ensure you feel happy, safe and confident in your role. Get an introduction to the spaces, people and the role by attending our site volunteer introductions.

Proposed dates for these are shared in the "Getting Started" section. Click on the link to browse available times or get in touch to explore alternatives. 

Getting support: 

Count on our Visitor Experience Assistant Team and Site Managers to be your point of contact once in place.

Hope, the Coproduction Volunteer Coordinator, manages your overall volunteering experience, supporting you with Wellness Action Plans and/or Goal Setting Plans to discuss any physical, mental health or vocational needs or goals.   

Nightlight Lullabies Project Volunteer

April-October 2025

Murmuration Arts and Derby Museums are looking for enthusiastic volunteers to help conduct oral history interviews for the Nightlight Lullabies Derby Project. This exciting project will capture community stories, heritage lullabies and bedtime traditions of parents from diverse backgrounds, including deaf parents and BSL speakers to reflect the personal experiences of parenthood and bedtime routines across Derby’s communities. The project will complete with an exhibition at the Museum and Art Gallery that will contain a listening post playing lullabies, a soundscape of oral testimonies collected by volunteers, and a Visual Vernacular (VV) film created with deaf parents.

No prior experience in oral history is required as full training will be provided!

Murmuration Arts create participatory, community-engaged oral history, theatre, dance and multi-disciplinary arts projects that collaborate with communities. Find out more about Murmuration Arts: www.murmurationarts.co.uk 

Main Contact: Marion Duggan, Project Director and Hope Slater, Volunteer Coordinator for Derby Museums

Time Commitment

We ask for a total time commitment of 14 hours between April and July, which includes:

• Training by the Oral History Society on Monday, 28 April | 10:30–17:00 at Derby Museum and Art Gallery. This training will cover all of the basics of oral testimonies, including how to record, ask questions and more.
• Training with Murmuration Arts on Tuesday, 29 April | 10:30–12:30 at the Museum and Art Gallery. This training will cover interviewing parents and how we will support you in gathering oral testimonies.
• Conducting the oral history interviews between May - June 2025): Conduct 1–2 interviews (with full support).
• Preparing paperwork for the archive between June - July 2025: Summarising interviews and preparing cover sheets (training provided).

Location

Training will take place at the Museum and Art Gallery. Oral testimony recordings will take place in a range of settings which may include family homes, community centres, the Museum and other such places. You will be supported by the team when conducting oral testimonies, and will never be on your own! Help with travel can be offered to help you reach interview spaces.

Tasks

• Conducting equipment checks- ensuring equipment, batteries and forms are ready before the interview.
• Explaining interviewees’ rights before interviews, sharing the purpose of the interview, how the recording will be used, and what happens after with the support of staff. (Full training in this given)
• Obtaining signed copyright release forms with accurate contact details with the support of the team. 
• Inform interviewees they can review the transcribed interview and remove sections if needed once the interview has been conducted.
• Listening to your recordings and noting key moments with time stamps throughout the interview.
• Be kind and caring to all participants.
• Share event details and encourage interviewees to bring family and friends to view the final work.

This role might be right for you if you:

• Are interested in learning how to conduct oral testimony interviews
• Are a good listener and enjoy learning from other people’s stories
• Would enjoy contributing to a community project and art installation
• Are passionate about recording Derby heritage
• Would like to champion Derby heritage and culture, including being an ambassador for the Museums and Murmuration Arts

With you in mind

Murmuration Arts can contribute a travel budget of £20 per training or interview day, along with lunch on Monday 28 April.

If you require childcare support to participate, please let us know and Murmuration Arts will work with you to support.

Nightlight Lullabies Derby is created and produced by Murmuration Arts. Made possible by The National Lottery Heritage Fund and Arts Council England. In partnership with Derby Museums and The Royal School For The Deaf Derby. Supported by D-Youth Hub, Action Deafness and Family Hub Derby.