Room Guide Volunteer

Our Room Guide Volunteers add the sparkle to any visit – giving everyone a warm welcome, bringing stories from Dunster Castle and Watermill to life and helping people get the best out of their day. Room Guide Volunteers also play a valuable part in safeguarding our interiors and collections.

By getting involved, you could…

· Spend time in our fabulous places that are packed with history

· Get to know Dunster Castle and our visitors

· Be part of a varied and enthusiastic team and form new friendships

· Gain experience in storytelling and visitor welcome, answering visitor questions, helping with children’s quizzes and trails

· Develop and share your knowledge of our wonderful place

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?

· Creating a warm welcome for everyone who visits

· Responding to the different needs of different visitors, including people with additional access needs

· Finding out what visitors are looking for from their visit and helping them decide how to get the best of their day

· Sharing inspirational stories, curious facts and practical information or simply the space for visitors to wander at their own pace

· Learning more about Dunster Castle so you can share all that’s special – indoors and out

· There’ll be plenty of opportunity to do the little things that make a big difference, such as opening a door to a secret corridor or room.

· Responding to the changing needs of Dunster Castle

· Supporting with health and safety and evacuation procedures when required, becoming familiar with and then following the National Trust’s Health and Safety Policy and Dunster Castle specific information at all times

· Helping our visitors to understand the conservation message supporting the protection of interiors and collections from damage

· 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 …

· Friendly and enthusiastic

· Enjoy meeting people and making new friends

· Enjoy being part of a team

· Keen to learn and share your knowledge

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

Additional screening questions or training: You will shadow an experienced volunteer initially and have the opportunity of joining tours of other areas when available

How we get things done - National Trust values

· Love people and places People and places need each other to thrive. We care for nature, beauty and history for everyone, for ever.

· Welcome everyone We are for everyone. We play a positive role locally and nationally connecting and inspiring people.

· Think now and for ever Be part of creating a lasting legacy for the future by valuing what we have, embracing change and moving forward.

· Make it happen We move forward with purpose and focus, always aiming to simplify and improve.

How we support our visitors and each other - Inclusive Service Principles: Create a great first and last impression; Put visitors’ needs first, never last; Do little things that make a big difference

In this role you’ll be personally helping to support our work around:

· Looking after land and nature

· Offering great visitor experiences

· Growing support (increasing fundraising, membership, visitor and volunteering)

· Looking after our houses & collections

· Increasing access to nature and history in urban areas

· Being a welcoming and inclusive place to work, volunteer and visit

· Taking positive climate action