Volunteering at National Museums Scotland

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Volunteers help in many of our departments and play an important role, increasing our visitors' enjoyment and understanding of our collections.

Thank you for visiting the volunteering section of our website. Due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic we are currently unable to offer specific volunteering opportunities. Please do check here again soon, or follow us on Twitter to be updated when we get our Volunteer Programme up and running again.

National Museums Scotland has over 500 volunteers making a valuable contribution to our work. Our main volunteering opportunities can be split into four main groups: administration, collections, public programmes and events.

Events

Volunteering at our events is a great way to get involved, even if you don't have the time to make a regular commitment. We run an exciting programme of ‘one-off’ events at our four museums and often need volunteers to help. No experience is necessary, just lots of enthusiasm and a 'hands on' approach.

Administration

Volunteering with administrative and clerical tasks are of enormous value to our departments. This may include helping staff with data entry, office tasks such as filing or envelope stuffing for mail-outs.

Collections

Volunteering within collections will be behind the scenes, helping us with support work. This type of volunteering will depend on your own skills and experiences. It could include labelling specimens, archiving collections and packing items.

Public Programmes

Volunteering with our public programmes may include becoming a volunteer guide, assisting with visitor surveys or helping with workshops.

Katty is a Collections Volunteer within our Natural Sciences department
This is a group pf Event Volunteers at a Museum Late
David is a Public Programmes Volunteer with our tour guide group
This team of volunteers from the Edinburgh Decorative and Fine Art Society who have worked with our textile collections over a number of years.
David is a Collections Volunteer with our Natural Sciences department

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.

Explore more

Blog
Blog posts by our volunteers
Discover more about volunteering with National Museums Scotland.

Read

Feature
Meet our Volunteers

Volunteering with National Museums Scotland can be hugely rewarding. But don't take our word for it, here's what some of our volunteers say about their time with us.