Skip to main content

Volunteering at Lancashire Museums

We are working in partnership with Lancashire Volunteer Partnership to promote new opportunities to work with our unique museum venues including Helmshore Mills, Queen Street Mill, Gawthorpe Hall, Padiham and Judges' Lodgings, Lancaster.

The roles offer you an opportunity to assist with activities, from greeting visitors to assisting with events. You will get to meet new people, learn a range of new skills, and help us bring the buildings and their collections to life for a wide range of audiences.

You don’t need any previous experience or qualifications to volunteer, just enthusiasm and a willingness to learn.

Our current volunteers shared their experiences of what it's like take on these interesting roles and create a warm, friendly and welcoming environment for our visitors.

Helmshore Mills consists of two historic working mills: Higher Mill a wool-fulling mill and Whitaker Mill a cotton mill. Explore the site to learn about an industry that shaped local Lancashire lives and the industrial heritage of Britain. There is lots to discover to feed curious minds of all ages including our amazing working original machinery demonstrations. We are looking for Museum Support Volunteers, helping to provide knowledge and guidance to visitors.

Apply to volunteer at Helmshore Mills

We are also looking to recruit volunteers to be part of the gardening team that will help maintain the grounds to a high standard for our visitors.

Apply as a garden volunteer

Alex has been volunteering at Helmshore Mills Textile Museum since returning from university in October 2024. She is looking to pursue a career in Museums and feels that volunteering is helping her to gain experience and knowledge in various aspects of museums.

Alex is particularly interested in pursuing a career in Collections and has enjoyed being involved in the conservation of museum objects and helped with the deep clean over the winter months when the museum was closed.

Alex said:

"The best thing about volunteering at Helmshore is the people who work here, they have made me feel like part of the family and have made me feel so welcome. I am gaining a wide range of knowledge through volunteering and my aim is to work in a museum looking after Collections and eventually run and manage a museum."

Queen Street Mill is a historic cotton mill in Harle Syke in Burnley and houses the last steam powered weaving shed in the world. It is a unique survivor of Lancashire's cotton industry and home to Lancashire's nationally Designated collection of textile machinery. The museum runs demonstrations of weaving and has a café and shop which sells products made from cotton cloth woven on its historic looms.

Apply to volunteer at Queen Street Mill

Richard, a volunteer at Burnley’s Queen Street Mill, said: "What I enjoy most about volunteering is welcoming visitors to our unique and important site and explaining textile processes and how they took place at Queen Street Mill.

During a tour there can be requests for information and questions by individuals whose relatives have worked in a mill. When an answer is given – you can see the delight on their faces. It’s a case of making visitors important.

Judges' Lodgings is a unique historic house and museum in the city of Lancaster – close to its famous castle. It is Lancaster's oldest town house and was once home to judges who worked in Lancaster Castle. It is now home to an extensive collection of Gillow furniture from beds to billiard tables. Gillow was a major British furniture maker in Lancaster for over 200 years. The museum also houses Lancashire's childhood collections with galleries featuring dolls, toys and games.

Penny, a volunteer at Judges’ Lodgings, said: 

As a volunteer over the last two and a half years, I truly feel as though I have found a new home.

My role as a Volunteer Transcriber and Researcher of the 'Judges' Visitors Guest Book' has sent me off on new adventures, meeting new people doing new things deepening my knowledge of the museum industry and world. Talking to our lovely visitors made me realise that people make a place; that buildings and histories would not exist unless we had people to tell them too to continue their life story.

Apply to volunteer at Judges' Lodgings

Gawthorpe Hall is a superb historic house in Padiham in East Lancashire. Formerly the home of the Shuttleworth Family it was gifted to the National Trust but leased to Lancashire County Council who operate it as part of their museum service. It contains period rooms with fine art and furniture and houses a permanent display of the Gawthorpe Textile Collection which was the private collection of Rachel Kay-Shuttleworth.

Ruth, at Gawthorpe Hall, said:

Volunteering at Gawthorpe has given me a huge confidence boost in dealing with the public and has been really valuable work experience for the future. I’ve enjoyed talking to lots of interesting people about their memories and interpretations of  the historic hall and its surroundings.