Apply to volunteer now

Volunteering with visitors

Whether it's welcoming people in, leading a tour, helping with learning sessions, running an object handling table, or stewarding a temporary exhibition, our volunteers are essential in making the museum a fun and welcoming place to be.

If you are cheerful and confident, with a love of local history and an enthusiasm for sharing it, then we want to hear from you. 

Volunteering behind the scenes

A small number of volunteers work behind the scenes of the museum, assisting the curatorial, administrative, marketing and education staff in non-public facing roles. 

You might be cataloguing collections, digitising records, transcribing oral histories, packing items for storage, or helping us to restore items for display. Attention to detail, a methodical approach and reliability are essential.  

Volunteering at events and open days

Chelmsford Museum run an exciting programme of events, open days and celebrations.

Can you help make them a success? 

We need stewards, ticket sellers, tour guides, learning assistants, photographers, and anyone who can roll up their sleeves and get stuck in. This is a great opportunity to see another side of the Museum, to enjoy the festivities of an open day and help create a safe and exciting day for all involved.  

Perfect for those who can't commit to a regular role. 

Doug's story

"When first asked if I would help at the Essex Regiment Museum I simply thought “why not?” Now some years later, it has enriched my life. I am a former soldier from a family with military links and my wife, son and grandson were all in the RAF. I thought that putting something back would be worthwhile, and so it is. I work two days a week transferring the information of the original Regimental Enlistment books onto a computer database.

These books were completed by the army clerk at the time the soldier joined the Regiment some 90 years ago. All the soldier's details were entered; name, age, school, employment, address, family. Really it is a man's life story in a dusty old book. But then comes the sad bit.

Their war service, wounds, injuries and, worst of all, their death. I have sat at the PC with tears rolling down my cheeks while some of the stories have unfolded in those dusty pages. The worst is the notation "No Known Grave". Were they buried in the mud of Flanders or were they blown to pieces by a shell?

Many we shall never know. But I will remember the sacrifice these men made in the service of their country. This is why I come back every week to record the histories of these men who gave their all.

In my own way I am saying 'Thank you'".