Volunteering with Museums, Galleries and Exhibitions

Volunteers contribute to the work of Durham University’s museums and collections in many ways, from engaging with visitors in the galleries, to supporting the work of our learning and engagement team.   

We have a limited number of opportunities to work as a volunteer alongside our curatorial team. These volunteering opportunities are highly specialised and are in very high demand, so please be aware that we cannot accept every volunteer. We do, however, seek to ensure that every volunteer we accept has the best possible experience during their placement. 

What might you be doing?  

• Helping with research into objects in the collections  
• Cataloguing new objects and improving the quality of existing object records
• Photography of objects 
• Adding resources to our database to support research  

What we ask of you: 

• Curiosity and enthusiasm 
• An eye for detail and willingness to undertake repetitive work
• Dependability 
• Familiarity with using a computer  
• Commitment to a regular time slot so that we can ensure we have staff to support you  

If you are interested in volunteering with us, please contact us via oriental.museum@durham.ac.uk telling us a bit about yourself, your experience and the kind of volunteering you are interested in. Please also indicate if you are interested in working with a particular part of our collections:  

• Durham Castle
• Museum of Archaeology - no current vacancies 
• Art Collection  
• Biosciences Collection 
• Oriental Museum - no current vacancies 

and we will direct your enquiry to the most appropriate member of staff.