Volunteers’ Week – New Volunteer Opportunities

A huge range of volunteering opportunities for everyone at cathedrals across the country.

Volunteering opportunities at a Cathedral Near You.

Cathedrals are inviting people to come and volunteer and join our unsung army of volunteers without whom our cathedrals would be so much less.

Birmingham Cathedral has launched a special recruitment campaign for new volunteers to join its Divine Beauty Project as window guides.

The cathedral has been awarded £640,000 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund for the Project which will conserve the four windows by Birmingham-born Edward Burne-Jones and create new interpretation trails alongside an exciting programme of activity and engagement.

Scaffolding has gone up in the cathedral to provide a unique window on the Project for visitors to get up close as extensive conservation begins to the four Burne-Jones windows: The Ascension 1885, The Nativity 1887, The Crucifixion 1887, and The Last Judgement 1897.

Visitors will be able to see the conservation work as it happens via an accessible platform.

The cathedral has launched a campaign to find volunteers to help tell the stories of the windows, how they were made, their history and how to care for them to ensure they are here for future generations. The new volunteers will learn about the history and heritage of the stained-glass windows and share their knowledge with visitors. Full training will be provided.

Find out more here.

Throughout National Volunteers’ Week, Durham Cathedral set up an ‘Appreciation Station’ stand with images and details of volunteering activities at the Cathedral, along with space for visitors, staff and volunteers to pin messages of appreciation and thanks to its volunteering community. It also shared testimony and story from current and past volunteers.

And this Friday (9 June), they will run a stall at the Durham Community Action Volunteer Recruitment Fair from 10:00 – 15:00 in Market Square to talk to people about volunteering opportunities at Durham Cathedral and where anyone interested can hear first-hand from volunteers.

Hereford Cathedral is hosting a Cake in the Cloisters event next Friday (June 16), an informal drop-in session hosted by the cathedral’s Visitor Engagement Officer for potential volunteers to see what happens behind the scenes of the cathedral, and how volunteers play a vital role in keeping the organisation running.

As well as free cake and a hot drink, there will be private tours of the cathedral and a visit to the Mappa Mundi and Chained Library exhibition.

Owen Towndrow, Visitor Engagement Officer at Hereford Cathedral, said:

“We are incredibly fortunate to have a fantastic community of volunteers here at Hereford Cathedral who support us in so many ways, and we are always on the lookout for new people to join our team.

“For some people, signing up to become a volunteer can initially be a bit daunting, which is why we are holding Cake in the Cloisters to give people an idea of what is involved.

“This is a relaxed opportunity to get a better understanding of the cathedral, what types of roles we have available and get a feel for the organisation before formally signing up. This event is perfect for people who may benefit from an in-person conversation or have concerns or worries about becoming a volunteer.”

Email – visits@herefordcathedral.org

Peterborough Cathedral is holding two recruitment days today (Wednesday 7 June) and Monday (12 June) to recruit a special volunteering team to help it host its summer exhibition of Star Wars-themed objects from one of the largest private fan collections in the world.

Unofficial Galaxies includes 121 pieces of memorabilia connected to the franchise including a full-size Landspeeder purchased from London’s Elstree Studios, the desk of young Anakin Skywalker from the 1999 film The Phantom Menace, costumes for characters such as Princess Leia, Han Solo, Chewbacca, Darth Vader and Star Wars toys from 1977 to 1999.

There are four main roles: exhibition volunteer, welcomer, ticket checker and shop volunteer.

Find out more here.

The exhibition will be on display from mid-July to August 29, 2023.

Rochester Cathedral held a celebration to say thank you to its volunteers earlier this week as part of National Volunteers’ Week.

Rochester has a team of over 300 Volunteers who work across a wide variety of roles from brass cleaners to welcomers, and are essential to the success of the cathedral as a place of worship,a place of history and a cultural destination.

More about volunteering at Rochester Cathedral here.

Salisbury Cathedral is holding a special Discovery Day today (Wednesday) to mark the last day of National Volunteer Week to showcase some of the many roles and activities carried out by our volunteers.

The Cathedral has a volunteer force of nearly 600, with 770 different roles and over 27 different groups with volunteers aged between 16 and 90! There’s even a small alumni group for retired guides so that they can keep in touch with colleagues.

Like many of our cathedrals, St Edmundsbury has run a campaign across its social media for each of the 7 days of volunteer week, highlighting a different volunteer each day.

The volunteers at St Edmundsbury Cathedral are collectively known as the Guild of St Edmund and yesterday,  the cathedral held its annual Guild get-together. It was attended by over 70 volunteers, representing many different volunteering roles and was super pleased to welcome the 40 new volunteers who have joined in the past year.

The cathedral gave out 28 long service awards to volunteers who have done 5, 10, 25, 30 and 40 years volunteering!

The get-together was a chance to join in a range of activities – some volunteers discovered parts of the Cathedral they had not visited before, such as the bell tower and organ loft – before Choral Evensong together and supper in the Cathedral’s restaurant, Pilgrims’ Kitchen.

All our cathedrals rely on volunteers to be the special places they are at the heart of their communities. If you have the time and/or talent to share, please get in touch with your local cathedral to find out how you too can join our unsung army of volunteers. 

You can find the contact details of all of all of our cathedrals here – they’d love to hear from you.