Volunteering at Newcastle Cathedral

From 16 - 19 May 2022 Newcastle Cathedral will be hosting the annual National Cathedrals' Conference, with around 400 delegates from Cathedrals all over the country in attendance.

Volunteers will be involved in meeting and greeting delegates and helping them to navigate their way around the Cathedral and the city. Sign up now for the chance to help us offer that famous Geordie welcome and make sure all the delegates see us in the best possible light!

Do you enjoy meeting people? Would you enjoy providing excellent customer service in our Cathedral retail outlet?

As a Cathedral Retail Volunteer, you will directly support our Hospitality & Visitor Experience Coordinator in the day to day running of our retail outlet within the Cathedral Nave.

The role will involve:

• Serving customers 
• Maintaining stock levels on display
• Use of the till, handling cash and card payments
• Taking bookings for Cathedral events and selling tickets

This role is available for volunteers aged 16 and over (additional safeguarding measures are in place for volunteers aged under 18)

Do you have a passion for history and a head for heights?!

Our Lantern Tower Tour Guides play an essential part in enabling visitors to get the most out of their visit to Newcastle Cathedral.

In this role, you will work in pairs to take small groups of visitors up to the top of the Cathedral's lantern tower, sharing with them key information about the history of the tower. Once at the top, you will be able to point out key views across the city and answer visitors' questions. 

Full training will be given in basic tour guiding skills as well as specific training related to the Tower itself and the challenges of the role.

NB The tower has 162 steps and the stairway is extremely narrow in places. This role is only suitable for volunteers with good levels of general fitness who are comfortable with enclosed spaces and heights.

This role is available for volunteers aged 16 and over (additional safeguarding measures are in place for volunteers aged under 18)

Do you have a passion for history and a desire to share that passion with others?

Our Cathedral Tour Guides provide a range of tours for visitors from short and snappy "My Favourite Things" tours delivered by Cathedral Welcomers as part of their regular shift, to longer more specialist pre-booked tours around a specific theme (such as the stained glass windows or ledger stones).

Full training in basic tour guiding skills and access to a wide range of resources will be provided.

This role is available for volunteers aged 16 and over (additional safeguarding measures are in place for volunteers aged under 18)

Do you enjoy choral music and have an interest or experience of working with children and young people aged 6 - 18? 

We are looking for volunteers to support our music department to provide a positive and nurturing environment for the children that participate in the various groups of the choir, where safety and wellbeing is paramount. This is volunteering at its most rewarding, particularly as the Chorister Supervisors will be playing an important role in these young people’s development, as each child grows in skill, confidence, and maturity. 

As a Chorister Supervisor, you would work with our Music Assistant, acting as a second adult at choir rehearsals, providing an additional pair of eyes observing the choristers during the rehearsal and carrying out a variety of tasks as appropriate from caring for a child feeing unwell to preparing refreshments for the choristers. 

This role will require a DBS check.
This role is only suitable for volunteers aged 18 and over.

Do you enjoy or are you interested in working with children and young people?

Would you like to support us in making families feel welcomed, accepted and inspired to play and make in Newcastle Cathedral?

Our Family Engagement volunteers will:

• support our Learning and Activities team with the set up and delivery of Family Tours, drop-in play sessions and Creative workshops.
• engage with visitors to share our self-led offers for families including; Family trails and our Investigation Station.
• liaise with our Learning and Activities Officers to develop ways in which to make visits for families as engaging and effective as possible.

Full training and resources will be provided.

This role will require a DBS check.

This role is available for volunteers aged 16 and over (additional safeguarding measures are in place for volunteers aged under 18)

Do you enjoy working with children and young people and helping them learn?

Would you like to gain experience supporting engagement with schools?

Our Learning & Schools Engagement volunteers support our Learning & Activities Officers in the delivery of our work with schools including a selection of educational sessions exploring many areas of the curriculum; including Art, History and Religious Education. 

The role will include:

• Supporting with the set-up and delivery of workshops and tours, for Key Stage 1-4 school visits to the Cathedral.
• Developing understanding and knowledge of Newcastle Cathedral in order to answer basic questions by students.
• Developing knowledge and understanding of the suite of workshops that we offer school groups.
• Liaising with the Learning and Activities Officers to develop ways in which to make educational visits as engaging and effective as possible.

Full training and resources will be provided.

This role will require a DBS check.

This role is available for volunteers aged 16 and over (additional safeguarding measures are in place for volunteers aged under 18)