Volunteering with us

The Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust owes its very existence to volunteers and volunteering has remained at the heart of the Trust throughout its history.

Four men in works overalls, smiling and with their arms raised in front of them as if they are celebrating something, standing outdoors in front of two locomotives under a brick arch and accompanied by a smiling woman pointing towards the men as if to draw your attention to them because they have done something good..

Help support the work we do

As a Trust volunteer, you will be part of a large, friendly team of people who share a passion for our magnificent sites, collections, unique history and stories.

You will have a chance to learn new skills and share your expertise and knowledge; get to know amazing places and history; receive valuable work experience, training and support; and meet new people and make friends.

We provide high-quality opportunities for everyone to enjoy, explore, value and share our story with our visitors.

Carol Morris, Volunteer, In The Garden At Blists Hill Victorian Town (2) 03 2024

Current opportunities

We are always looking for volunteers to help us carry out our heritage conservation and education work. So whether you want to pursue a career in heritage, share your expertise, or just want to meet new people, we want to hear from you.

We can match you to roles based on your experience, interests and availability, whether you would like to meet people and welcome visitors or work behind the scenes work carrying out research in our library or conserving steam engines.

If you think you might be interested in volunteering with us, please tell us a bit more about yourself in the form below and we will get in touch.

Volunteer enquiry form

Corporate Volunteers From Capgemini At Blists Hill Victorian Town (2) 03 2024

Corporate volunteering

Corporate Volunteering is a great way to build teams, deliver on your CSR targets, develop your teams' skills and ensure they have lots of fun.

Each project is different and can be matched to your team’s needs and objectives. They can be physical or desk-based, indoors or outdoors, but are always fun and rewarding.

Volunteer with your organisation

Frequently asked questions

There is no minimum time you must give but some roles do benefit from a regular involvement. We have opportunities that are for a few hours a week and continue on an ongoing basis, but we have a range of roles from full-time to one-off events. You can decide with your volunteer supervisor what arrangements suit you and your place of volunteering.

The minimum age for volunteering is 16. There is no upper age limit to volunteering; a volunteer’s ability to complete a task or role will be assessed on an individual basis.

If you are under 18, a parent or guardian must give permission for you to volunteer and you must be supervised by an adult. We cannot always provide supervision so this may restrict younger people to volunteering with their parent or guardian.

Yes, you are free to volunteer while you are receiving benefits as long as the work you do is unpaid, and you meet the rules of your benefit. You can find all the latest information about volunteering and benefits on the GOV.UK website.

The majority of our roles do not require any specific skills or experience. The skills and qualities we are looking for are always specified in the role description. If our volunteering roles require you to have a particular skills these will be clearly stated.

Your volunteer supervisor will help to prepare and support you to fulfil your role, training will be different for different roles. All volunteers have a staff member who they can go to for help and support.

You will receive an induction to the Trust and site your are volunteering at so that you are confident in what we are asking you to do.

Whilst as a volunteer you give your time for free, we do not expect you to be left out-of-pocket for any volunteering activity you carry out on behalf of the Trust. You are able to claim reasonable travel expenses.

You could volunteer in one of our museum sites across the Ironbridge Gorge.

Most of our museum sites use word of mouth, for example a face to face briefing or one to one chats to keep volunteers and staff informed of what is happening where they volunteer.

A printed and electronic newsletter or important messages will be sent to volunteers and posted on notice-boards to keep volunteers informed and to ask for input on decisions.

You can contact the volunteering team by email or by phone on 01952 435 919. We will get back to you as soon as possible.