Volunteer Opportunities

Volunteering is central to the work of CCT. With volunteer numbers now reaching over 2000 across the country, their support is the very life force of the organisation.

If you are interested in offering a helping hand at any of the churches in our care, please contact [email protected] indicating which church you would be interested in. Volunteering for Churches Conservation Trust is a great way to learn about historic places, at times that are convenient to you.

Archive Volunteer (Northampton)

Location: Northampton office

Address: Churches Conservation Trust, Vulcan Works, 34-38 Guildhall Road, Northampton NN1 1EW

Role summary:

We are looking for an enthusiastic and reliable Archive Volunteer to join the Trust at our National Office in Northampton town centre.

This is a great opportunity to gain experience in a major Heritage charity, as part of an organisation-wide Digital Transformation Project. You will be assisting our National Office Administrator to digitise and organise our extensive archive of heritage conservation reports, photographs, wildlife surveys, historical research, business correspondence and more.

This role would especially appeal to someone with an interest in archive management, buildings conservation, church architecture, or the development of the modern heritage sector.

Key activities you will be undertaking include, but are not limited to:

  • Digitising documents, illustrations, and photographs
  • Recording the contents of files
  • Re-packaging documents and photographs to modern archive standards
  • If required, assisting with archive research queries from staff and/or the public

What are we looking for?

Volunteers interested in this role should be:

  • Focused and comfortable with repetitive tasks
  • Confident in basic IT
  • Enthusiastic and willing to learn
  • Interested in archive management and/or the Heritage sector
  • Proactive and confident, with a professional approach to work
  • Able to maintain high levels of confidentiality
  • Practical and health & safety conscious, able and willing to use ladders
  • Committed to CCT’s vision and values

Your time commitment:

This is flexible: there is no limit to the amount of time you can give. However, we would hope that that you would give at least 3 hours a month. This would have to be during the working week when the office is staffed.

Please discuss your availability upon application.

Key Relationships:

Your main contact from the Churches Conservation Trust will be Holly Warnes, the National Office Administrator.

This role may also involve contact with other staff from the Churches Conservation Trust, such as the Heritage Learning Officer, Business Support Officer, Head of Region, GDPR Officer, Information Governance Manager, Local Community Officer, Estates Officer, and wider Conservation Team, as well as local church contacts and volunteers.

We would ask you to:

  • Follow the procedures and standards for volunteer activities
  • Serve as good will ambassador for the Trust
  • Be an active part of the volunteer team, support your peers and attend training workshops where necessary
  • Familiarise yourself with the office, to ensure safety and security procedures are followed at all times
  • Adhere to relevant policies and processes including safeguarding, Health and
    Safety, and equality and diversity

You can expect:

Of course, you will receive an induction to your role, including initial visits to the office for familiarisation and safety training purposes and to discuss any policies and procedures relevant to your activities. As a volunteer for CCT you are covered by our insurance. Other training opportunities and volunteer events will be advertised through email newsletters. People have found volunteering to be useful to add to their c.v. and we are happy to serve as a reference once you’ve been involved with CCT for 3 to 6 months.

Volunteers are supported by CCT staff and other volunteers involved at the churches. You will be part of a community of supporters and volunteers with regular opportunities through the year to share ideas and findings. Volunteers have commented how they love the opportunity to make friends.

You will receive a Volunteer Handbook which contains extracts and summaries of some of the CCT policies. You may need to refer to fuller versions of these documents which may be obtained upon request. Any questions, just ask your local CCT contact.

Expenses:

Volunteers give their time and expertise freely to The Churches Conservation Trust, and are not paid. Volunteers are encouraged to apply for out-of-pocket travel costs between their home and volunteering place, and other reasonable expenses agreed in advance with your Trust contact and in line with our expenses policy.

How to apply:

If you would like to indicate your interest in this role, please email  [email protected] for a Volunteer application form.

If you have any questions about this volunteering opportunity, please contact Holly Warnes [email protected]

This role is suitable for most abilities. Please indicate reasonable adjustments that would help you perform this role.

Thank you for considering volunteering with the Churches Conservation Trust. Without your support we would not be able to keep churches open at the heart of our communities.

Additional information:

About The Churches Conservation Trust

The Churches Conservation Trust is the national charity saving historic churches at risk.

We have saved over 350 buildings which attract almost 2 million visitors a year. Our unique collection of English churches includes irreplaceable examples of architecture, archaeology, and art from 1,000 years of history. We operate the third largest heritage estate in charitable ownership in the UK. All the churches in our collection are listed, mostly Grade I and II*, and some are Scheduled Ancient Monuments.

Data Protection

If you have contact with computerised data systems, you are required to process and/or use information held on a computer in a fair and lawful way.  You are also required to hold data only for the specific registered purpose and not to use or disclose it in any way incompatible with such purpose. 

Safeguarding

We believe that everyone we come into contact with has the right to be protected from all forms of harm. We want everyone visiting our churches, volunteering with us, or working with us to have a safe and enjoyable experience. We will not tolerate abuse, maltreatment, or exploitation by or to our staff, volunteers, or members of the public. We also expect our volunteers to share this commitment.