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English Heritage - Kenwood House
English Heritage champions our historic places and advises the Government and others to help today's generation get the best out of our heritage and ensure that it is protected for future generations.
Description

On the edge of Hampstead Heath surrounded by tranquil landscaped gardens, Kenwood is one of London's hidden gems. The breath-taking interiors and stunning world-class art collection, including Rembrandt's 'Portrait with Two Circles' are free for everyone to enjoy.

We are looking for friendly and enthusiastic people to help our visitors to understand and enjoy their visit to Kenwood House, and help us to bring this magnificent site to life.

Duties

Based in the magnificent rooms at Kenwood House you will:

  • Provide a warm and friendly welcome for all visitors
  • Help preserve and protect the collection
  • Tell stories about the House, Estate or collection, both engaging visitors individually and helping with tours and family trails
  • Increase your knowledge of the House, Estate and collection through training, special events, personal and peer-learning

As a result you'll be expected to learn:

  • Knowledge of local heritage
  • Experience communicating with diverse audiences
  • Experiences in storytelling, and presentation skills, with the opportunity to develop and lead talks and tours once they have been with us for some time

We also have many benefits for our volunteers – access to English Heritage sites and other heritage sites across the UK, discounts at specific retailers, belonging to a vibrant and diverse community and access to exciting opportunities such as talks and tours, and special visits to other historical collections and locations.

Who will the volunteers be working with?
Members of the public, other members of he volunteering cohort, Kenwood Staff
Training
We ask all volunteers to attend a recruitment session, followed by an induction and training session before they begin volunteering.

No prior knowledge is required. We will give you all the information you need to be successful in this role. This will include:
• Content-focused training, focused on the architecture of the House, the historic landscape, and our collections.
• General induction about the English Heritage volunteer programme and how to support positive visitor experiences
• Site induction, including clear guidance on how to address security or safety issues

Time commitment

We are looking for people who can regularly volunteer, ideally for one session every week, or a minimum of two sessions per month. Typically there are two long shifts per day, as well as two shorter break cover shifts:

• AM shift: 9:45am-1:30pm
• AM Break cover shift 10:45am-1pm
• PM shift: 1:15pm-5pm
• Break cover shift 2pm-4:15pm

This organisation is one of our community partner organisations.

Like all volunteer recruiters we work with, they have signed up to our service standards, agreeing to abide by our policy on partnership working to keep you safe and supported whilst you volunteer.

You’ll never be out of pocket for volunteering through us – with in-London travel expenses to and from your volunteering guaranteed.

In addition, the team here at Students’ Union UCL Volunteering Service is here to support you throughout your volunteering journey – you can get in touch with us at any time.