Bring the secrets and stories of Knightshayes to life. Make people feel at home, sharing your passion for the history, collections and architecture. Share the must-see spots and help us to explain the ways we’re looking after them.
By getting involved, you could…
- Become part of a friendly and dedicated team of staff and volunteers
- Meet people from all walks of life and of all age groups
- Share your passion and enthusiasm for special places and people
- Enjoy new experiences and learn something new every day
- Give back to the community
You’d also be joining Europe’s largest conservation charity and the wider National Trust team proudly looking after 780 miles of coastline, over 250,000 hectares of land, over 500 historic houses, castles, ancient monuments, gardens, parks and nature reserves (including lighthouses, villages, pubs and a gold mine!). We are a unique charity welcoming millions of people each year and with a vision to open up places for the benefit of everyone, for ever.
What’s involved?
- Providing a warm, friendly and positive welcome to all visitors as the public face of the National Trust.
- Sharing inspirational stories, curious facts and practical information or simply the space for visitors to wander at their own pace.
- Learning more about Knightshayes, so you can share all that’s special – indoors and out.
- Helping visitors to discover more, making suggestions so they can enjoy their day and make the most of their visit to Knightshayes.
- Helping if people ask, and thinking about the needs of all visitors, including families and those with access issues.
- Getting to know security, health and safety and evacuation procedures.
- Showing visitors the safest routes out of the building in an emergency
- Helping visitors understand why we need to take care of special places.
- Being part of a team that may need to adapt and change in response to local needs, National Trust priorities or changes to government guidelines e.g .Covid
We want all our volunteers to feel welcome and to have an equally positive experience when volunteering with us. So, volunteers will:
- Be provided with the necessary induction, training, equipment and reasonable adjustments to do this role well and safely
- Be offered expenses to cover agreed travel costs between home and place of volunteering.
- Have remote access to support, news and rotas via our volunteer website
This role will suit you if you …
- Are interested in learning about the house and collections
- Enjoy talking to people and being part of a team
- Are enthusiastic about history
- Can bring the history of Knightshayes to life for people of all backgrounds, ages and interests.
All National Trust volunteers will be asked to
- Respect and uphold the National Trust values whilst volunteering with us
- Complete training required of all NT volunteers and any role specific training
- Adhere to relevant policies and processes including safeguarding, health and safety, and equality and diversity