Welcome to our Volunteer Opportunities page!
Here at the Derby Museums, we believe that the most meaningful partnerships are built upon active involvement, shared values and fun. We are thrilled you’d like to join our team, it’s an exciting time to get involved and we hope you’ll feel as inspired as we are as you learn more about our projects and take your first steps to become part of the Derby Museums community.
Please take a look at the opportunities and if anything appeals, please fill in our online application form.
Most site Tours and Inductions for these opportunities are shared in the "Getting Started" section further below. Although some opportunities might have their own specific requirements and these will be specified within the role.
Do also browse our "Co-production" section to have a look at opportunities open to everyone who wants to feed into our events, programmes and activities.
We're looking for volunteers to lend a hand listening to the oral testimonies taken as part of the Derby Yaadaañ project- help create digital archives and exhibition legacies with and for South Asian communities in Derby.
About the Project:
Derby Museum is working with Black Country Visual Arts to capture the migration stories of South Asian communities settling in Derby from 1950 - 1980. We aim to digitise and archive 500 images from personal family archives as well as other documents like letters and posters. These will be added to audio interviews and modern photographic portraits, with the project culminating in a digital archive of migration stories accessible for the years to come, as well as an exhibition at the Museum of Making!
It’s an ambitious project, with partners including the Indian Community Centre and the Pakistani Community Centre acting as community hubs to collect and capture stories from the community, and the Derby Asian Strategic Partnership supporting partnerships.
About the volunteer role:
We are looking for volunteers who might be interested in learning more about these previously untold stories and who are looking to develop skills in transcribing, research and making connections between audio interviews and the Museum collections. Your volunteering will help to make the exhibition more accessible to a range of audiences and will help to create a legacy for the project by placing the stories in amongst the Museum collections.
Time commitment
We hope you can give at least a couple of hours of your time per month to maximise your experience and we’ll work with you to accommodate your preferences and availability.
Transcribing can take place on site or remotely to suit your preferences. Research can take place at the Local Studies Library.
Location
This role takes place primarily in Derby Museums or at home. It may also include travel to the Local Studies Library, should you wish to conduct some research!
What you may be doing:
This role may be for you if you are:
Please feel able to 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, including in listening to oral testimonies, transcribing and using the local studies library.
Getting support:
Count on our project leads to be your point of contact once in place. The Co-production Volunteering Programme team, Pippa and Hope, manage your overall volunteering experience and can support you with Wellness Action Plans and/or Goal Setting Plans to discuss any physical, mental health or vocational needs or goals.
Encourage visitors to explore themes around what it means to be a history maker.
History Makers: Unfolded aims to continue conversations begun in the previous History Makers exhibition, launched last year. It will consider what it means to be a history maker and challenge the historical record that often overlooks or misrepresents Derbyshire women and gender diverse history makers.
Help create a wonderful welcome for visitors by encouraging them to have a go with gallery makes, being a listening ear for those that want to share stories of the history makers in their lives and tell stories about the collections on display.
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. We will work with you to accommodate your preferences and availability.
Location
This role takes place primarily in the History Makers: Unfolded exhibition in the temporary exhibitions gallery at the Museum and Art Gallery.
What you may be doing:
Interact with visitors to the exhibition to tell stories around the collections on display
Be an attentive ear, learning with and from visitors who may want to contribute their story to the exhibition or talk about the history makers in their own lives
Encourage people to take part in the interactive elements of the exhibition, including making leaves remembering the history makers that have inspired us and green plaques to celebrate achievements of local people.
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 the exhibition
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 Lifelong learning activities
gallery making
co-produced activities
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. The Co-production Volunteering Programme team, Pippa and Hope, 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.
Support, promote and interpret the Objects of Love, Hope and Fear: A World Collection gallery, and engage with visitors so they feel inspired, feel curiosity of the world around them, and are intrigued by the co-production methodology used across Derby Museums.
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 Objects of Love, Hope and Fear: A World Collection gallery at the Museum and Art Gallery, although Object Walks can happen across all galleries.
Tasks
This role may be for you if you are:
This role can be combined with:
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. The Co-production Volunteering Programme team, Pippa and Hope, 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 travel expenses (up to the value of £7 and with the provision of a receipt).
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:
This role may be for you if you are:
This role can be combined with:
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. The Co-production Volunteering Programme team, Pippa and Hope, 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.
Here you'll find our list of site inductions and informal volunteering chats. Site or project inductions are needed before volunteering in some of our roles, so be sure to book one when the role description says it's required- otherwise you won't be able to see the opportunities!
| Activity | Shifts | Start | End | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finding Your Place With US | 1 | 12/14/2023 | 12/14/2023 | |
