Volunteering at National Museums Scotland

National Museums Scotland has over 500 volunteers making a valuable contribution to our work. Volunteers help in many of our departments and play an important role, increasing our visitors' enjoyment and understanding of our collections.

Event volunteers at the Museum Late: Celts
David has been a Volunteer guide with us for over 15 years.
Viktoria started as a Volunteer Gardener in March 2016.
A team of volunteers from the Edinburgh Decorative and Fine Art Society who have worked with our textile collections over a number of years.

Our main volunteering opportunities can be split into four main groups: administration, collections, public programmes and events.

Events

Would you love to volunteer but don’t have the time to make a regular commitment? We run an exciting programme of ‘one-off’ events at our museums, for which we need volunteers to help. No experience is necessary just lots of enthusiasm and a 'hands on' approach.

Administration

There are many departments where assisting with administrative and clerical tasks are of enormous value. This may include helping staff with computer or data entry, or office tasks such as filing or envelope stuffing for mail-outs.

Collections

Within collections you will mostly be behind the scenes helping us with essential support work - from sorting and labelling specimens of materials, cataloguing or archiving collections to re-housing or packing items to literature research, depending on your own skills and experiences.

Public programmes

Within this area there may be opportunities as a volunteer guide, assisting with visitor surveys, helping with workshops and activities for all age groups.

What's in it for you?

Opportunities to develop valuable skills and experiences within the museum sector.
Enjoyment in doing something you like while meeting new, like-minded people.
Involvement with helping to support the work of National Museums Scotland.
Voluntary work experience which can be an invaluable addition to your CV.