Discover the different ways you can volunteer at Castle Howard
The volunteers at Castle Howard play a vital role in preserving this extraordinary family home by engaging with the public and generating interest in local heritage. By joining the volunteer team, you will have the opportunity to meet new people, learn new skills, spend time in beautiful surroundings, experience behind-the-scenes tours and be part of a wonderful team of people.
Register your interest
Find out more about our volunteer roles
Welcome our visitors and bring Castle Howard's history to life.
What is a Room Guide?
Room guides have a vital role to play in the daily operations of Castle Howard. From inspiring visitors with the historical collections within the house and grounds to giving a warm welcome to visitors as they make their way around the house. Room guides will be positioned around the house experiencing each room and learning about the collections. Room guides also play an essential part in safeguarding the collections and artefacts.
What’s in it for you?
What’s involved?
This role will suit people who have an enthusiastic and friendly manner, enjoy meeting new people, enjoy operating as part of a team and who are keen to learn. Historical knowledge or in-depth knowledge of Castle Howard is NOT required for this role.
As a retail volunteer you will contribute to ensuring that our Gift Shop is a welcoming, inspiring, and commercially successful operation.
What is a Retail Volunteer (Gift Shop)? Our retail department is a vital part of our visitor attraction, allowing us to provide inspiring merchandise that will continue to be cherished long after a visit to Castle Howard. Our retail environment also provides a key opportunity for us to engage in meaningful dialogue, with our colleagues often the last touch point before a visitor leaves the Estate at the end of their day. This is a diverse role based within our House Gift Shop, with varying levels of tasks. You may be involved in preparing new stock for the upcoming season or be assisting and welcoming visitors during a busy day in the Gift Shop. As a retail volunteer you will contribute to ensuring that our Gift Shop is a welcoming, inspiring, and commercially successful operation which ultimately helps preserve Castle Howard for the future. What’s involved? There are a variety of different activities you will have the opportunity to engage in, including:
Who would suit this role? This role would suit anyone who:
How will you benefit?
How will we support you?
Extra information Time commitment: weekly/fortnightly, 10am - 3pm, but hours are flexible to suit you. We are looking for volunteers for weekdays and weekends. This voluntary role runs from March - December every year. What’s next?
An active outdoor role involving helping our visitors in a range of different ways.
What is a Christmas Ranger?
Christmas Rangers will have a vital role to play in the outdoor operations of Castle Howard. From meeting and greeting our guests at the courtyard, to handing out chocolates and mulled wine to the house queue, no two days will be the same. The role involves carrying a radio and will involve roving around the grounds helping out with lots of different outdoor activities.
This role will suit people who have an enthusiastic and friendly manner, enjoy meeting new people, enjoy operating as part of a team and who are keen to learn. It will involve being outside during the winter months, so people who enjoy the outdoors would be well suited to this role. Historical knowledge or in-depth knowledge of Castle Howard is NOT required for this role.
Time commitment:Hours are flexible to suit you. We are looking for volunteers 7 days per week, including weekends. This voluntary role runs from November - January every year, with opportunities to continue volunteering in other areas of the business in March - October.
What’s next?
Welcome our visitors to the house.
What is a House Desk Volunteer?
House Desk Volunteers will be the face of Castle Howard at our House Entrance. A typical day would involve welcoming people into the house and checking their tickets, as well as helping them get set up on our digital guide. It may involve giving out maps, language guides, and occasionally using the till to sell a guidebook or a house ticket.
Time commitment: Hours are flexible to suit you. We are looking for volunteers 7 days per week, including weekends.
Support our visitors with access needs to make sure they have a smooth visit.
What is an Accessibility Champion?
Our Accessibility Champion is an important role that allows all of our visitors to feel welcome, regardless of their access needs. This role will be an active one, covering a lot of areas in a day. You might be helping someone on their arrival at the ticket office get down the drive and through our accessible entrance to the house, helping them up and down the stair lift or showing them how to access our sensory touch boxes in each room of the house.
This role will suit people who have an enthusiastic and friendly manner, enjoy meeting new people, enjoy operating as part of a team and who are keen to learn. This role will involve being outdoors for some of the day during the winter months so would be suited to someone who likes working outside. Historical knowledge or in-depth knowledge of Castle Howard is NOT required for this role.
Help the environment by planting and caring for trees in our Tree Nursery.
What is a Tree Nursery Assistant?
The Castle Howard Tree Nursery is a small and relatively unknown area of our Estate, but it has a proud and successful history dating back almost 50 years, and has seen exciting large scale expansion within the last two years. The role of tree nursery volunteer will be very important in supporting our staff with the growing demands of the tree nursery, from the collection of seeds from on the Estate, nursery maintenance tasks, and helping to prepare orders for customers.
A background in horticulture is not required, as the role will receive plenty of support from our friendly tree nursery staff, although a positive attitude to working outdoors, learning about trees and a willingness to learn new things, would be beneficial.
This role will suit people who have an enthusiastic and friendly manner, are keen on learning new skills, and enjoy working as part of a collaborative team. Good general health and fitness will be ideal for this role, as tasks may often involve working outside in cold, wet conditions, being on your feet for long periods of time, and walking on uneven ground. An ability to follow instructions competently and work independently at times would also be a great asset, although training and support will be provided before and during tasks.
Time commitment:Hours are flexible to suit you. We are looking for volunteers on weekdays for this role.
Care for Castle Howard's spectacular Gardens and Grounds and help them to thrive.
We are currently at capacity for Garden Assistants, but you're welcome to register your interest if a space opens up.
What is a garden assistant? Volunteering in the grounds as a Garden Assistant, every day is different. As a garden assistant you will join the team of gardeners in the walled garden and Grounds ensuring it continues to look beautiful all year round. What’s in it for you?
Is this role for me?
This role will suit people who have an enthusiastic and friendly manner, enjoy being outdoors in all weathers, have an interest in gardening and planting, and wish to contribute your time to maintaining the beautiful walled garden.
Provide the all-important first impression to our visitors arriving by coach.
What is the Coach Welcome Role? Castle Howard Coach Welcomers provide the all-important first impression to our visitors arriving by coach. This role involves warmly and enthusiastically welcoming our Coach Groups by boarding the oach and addressing the passengers, welcoming them to Castle Howard, providing ‘teaser’ information to get them excited for their visit, signposting amenities and handing out tickets and maps. Once the coaches are welcomed, the Coach Welcomer will then head into the Courtyard to welcome arriving visitors, signpost them to where they need to go, answer questions and upsell membership to Castle Howard. The Coach Welcomer does not need to be a ‘history buff’ as this role focusses on engaging enthusiastically with visitors from all walks of life, offering them a world class welcome and contributing to our exceptional visitor experience.What’s involved?
Who would suit this role?
This role would suit anyone who has an enthusiastic and friendly manner, is confident in and enjoys speaking to and meeting new people, is happy to operate as part of a collaborative team and is keen to learn. This is a role especially suited for anyone with experience in or an enjoyment of providing exceptional customer service. Historical knowledge or in-depth knowledge of Castle Howard is not required for this role. You will be provided with all the resources and training you need to fulfil this role.
This role is part of the Ticket Office/Admissions team and is looked after by our Admissions Manager. Two Ticket Office Supervisors are also there to support you. Whilst welcoming coach groups, there are the Visitor Attraction and Security team members who you will work alongside in this room and can offer you support. Extra information Time commitment:
Twice a week, 9.30am -15.00pm, but the hours are flexible to suit you. We are looking for volunteers 7 days per week, including weekends. This voluntary role runs from March/April-October every year, with opportunities to continue volunteering in November and December.
Training/Induction:
As part of your induction, you will spend time with the Admissions team whilst you learn the ropes. You will also receive an information pack, and an opportunity to explore the House and Grounds as a Visitor to be able to make personal recommendations. You will also be trained on our Membership scheme to be able to upsell this to our visitors.
Expenses:
Travel costs to and from Castle Howard for your volunteering shift will be covered (up to a total of 40 miles), including public transport.
Enhance our visitors experience by taking their photo in key spots around the house.
What is a Volunteer Photographer?
The volunteer photographer role involves being situated in key photo spots around the house, and giving our visitors a wonderful memory to take away from their day. You will offer to take photos for visitors on their own cameras and phones to make sure that their whole group can be in their pictures of the day.
This role will suit people who have an enthusiastic and friendly manner, enjoy meeting new people, enjoy operating as part of a team and who are keen to learn. It would suit someone who is creative and has a good knowledge of taking photos on various devices. Historical knowledge or in-depth knowledge of Castle Howard is NOT required for this role.
Create a magical experience for children visiting our Boathouse Grotto
What is a Grotto Assistant?
Spread Christmas magic to children and families as you welcome them into our Boathouse Grotto experience. This role will involve being the point of contact at the Grotto, checking families off the list and helping them with any queries or access needs they may have.
Time commitment:Hours are flexible to suit you. We are looking for volunteers 7 days per week, including weekends. This voluntary role runs from late November - December every year, with opportunities to continue volunteering in other areas of the business in March - October.
Help our visitors before they arrive by answering queries.
What is a Customer Service Volunteer?
Our Customer Service volunteers are the people that our visitors speak to before they have even arrived on site. This role will involve working with the Ticket Office team to help answer queries over the phone and via email for our visitors. You will be the first point of contact for many of our visitors and will be helping them deal with a varied range of questions, from opening times to membership questions and more.
This role will suit people who have an enthusiastic and friendly manner, enjoy meeting new people, enjoy operating as part of a team and who are keen to learn. It would suit someone who is good at using phones or computers and is able to deal with lots of different queries in a day. Historical knowledge or in-depth knowledge of Castle Howard is NOT required for this role.
Support our outdoor team to restore our natural environment.
What is a Conservation Volunteer?
Castle Howard Estate extends across a land bank of 9,000 acres which includes a patchwork of farmland, woodland, parkland and grassland. This protected landscape is managed by the wider estate team, including staff from the Natural Environment team and the Gardens and Landscape team, as well as our farming partners, tenant farmers, foresters and conservationists. Castle Howard has a long history of responsible land stewardship, and the estate is now working to develop strategies and projects that protect and restore nature across this landscape in response to the combined climate and biodiversity emergencies. As part of these efforts, we are establishing a nature conversation volunteer programme and invite applicants to become part of a hard-working, effective and proactive team who will be undertaking roles that accelerate these aims.
There is an extensive list of nature conservation jobs that this volunteer team will be working on, from helping establish our nature restoration project at Bog Hall, removing plastics from the natural environment, protecting delicate habitats from invasive species, maintaining iconic features such as the stray and creating new habitats such as hedgerows, wetlands and woodlands. This opportunity will allow you to immerse yourself in our beautiful landscape and leave a lasting positive impact on nature across the Howardian Hills.
A background in conservation is not required, as the role will receive plenty of support from our expert teams, although a positive attitude to working outdoors is necessary, as we can’t guarantee the weather.
This role will suit people who have an enthusiastic and friendly manner, are keen on learning new skills or have experience to offer and enjoy working outdoors as part of a collaborative team. Good general health and fitness will be required for this role and tasks will often involve working outside year round, including cold and wet conditions, being on your feet for long periods of time, and walking on uneven ground. Suitable candidates will be able to demonstrate that they can follow instructions competently, learn skills over time and to work safely in a team. Training and support will be provided before and during tasks.
Time commitment: 1 day a week (Wednesday), from 10am till 4pm.
We want your experience of volunteering to be as welcoming and enjoyable as possible, so we will:
You can contact us by email: volunteer@castlehoward.co.uk or by phone on 01653 648625. We will get back to you as soon as possible. Due to the high volume of enquiries this may take up to 10 working days.
Ready to take the next steps?
Click here