Welcome to North East Museums VolunteeringVolunteers are essential to the work that we do. You can help to ensure our 12 museums and galleries are innovative, imaginative, creative, totally inclusive, secure and sustainable.
In turn, volunteering can help you to develop new skills and interests, meet friendly, like-minded people, gain confidence and a sense of well-being, and even strengthen your CV.
We want all our volunteers to have an enjoyable and rewarding time and to feel part of the team that delivers a world class museums service to the communities of the North East and beyond.
So why not come and join us?
How volunteering with us works:
Applications are currently open and will close on Thursday 18 December 2025.
Roles available at the Discovery Museum
| Activity | Shifts | Start | End | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canny Christmas Crafter | 20 | 12/11/2025 | 12/23/2025 | |
| Canny Christmas Greeters | 18 | 12/11/2025 | 12/23/2025 | |

Roles available at Great North Museum: Hancock
| Activity | Shifts | Start | End | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home Educators Day support | 1 | 2/13/2026 | 2/13/2026 | |
| Home Educators Day support- briefing | 1 | 1/31/2026 | 1/31/2026 | |
| Time Odyssey Support (schools) | 13 | 12/10/2025 | 3/30/2026 | |
Volunteer Opportunities at Hatton Art Gallery
| Activity | Shifts | Start | End | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gallery Invigilator - Uta Kogelsberger: Some Kind of Love | 56 | 12/10/2025 | 1/24/2026 | |

This category is for volunteer opportunities that are not venue specific but are core to the entire organisation.
| Activity | Shifts | Start | End | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16/12/2025 - New Volunteer Induction - In person at Discovery Museum | 1 | 12/16/2025 | 12/16/2025 | |
| Access to Volunteering group | 1 | |||
| Health and Social Care Activity Delivery | 1 | |||

| Activity | Shifts | Start | End | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Informal Language Skills Volunteer | 1 | |||

Volunteer roles at South Shields Museum and Art Gallery
| Activity | Shifts | Start | End | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gallery Steward- National Gallery Masterpiece Tour : Monet exhibition | 88 | 1/17/2026 | 3/25/2026 | |
| Monet Exhibition- Wellbeing Weekend Host | 9 | 1/24/2026 | 3/21/2026 | |

Volunteer roles at Stephenson Steam Railway
Volunteers are needed to help maintain and operate our heritage railway, the North Tyneside Steam Railway, which runs passenger trains on selected days from Easter until early November.
| Activity | Shifts | Start | End | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carriage and Wagon Volunteer | 1 | |||
| Seasonal Event Decorators - Corporate / Employee group volunteering opportunity. | 3 | 1/7/2026 | 1/28/2026 | |
| Train Operations | 1 | |||
| Waggonway Tea Room - Tea Room Assistants | 1 | |||
| Woodland Walk Gardening and Design | 1 | |||
Our mission is to welcome and connect people to the past, present and future of the North East through stories, shared spaces and experiences.
We will help people understand and act on local and global challenges: