Volunteer with us
Search for live volunteering opportunities, or register your interest with Nunnington Hall.
Make new friends, work in a remarkable place and know you're helping a great cause: just three good reasons to join the volunteer team at Nunnington Hall. It's the skills and passion of our volunteers that makes this place so special. Find out all you need to know about the roles we offer, and some thoughts from some of the volunteers themselves.
There are lots of reasons to join us; making the move to volunteer could be the best decision you ever make.
Here at Nunnington Hall we're always ready to welcome new people to the team and show you the ropes. From sharing our favourite family stories and running exciting events, to getting stuck in with a shovel in the garden, there are plenty of ways to get involved.
If only these walls could talk! That’s why our volunteer room guides make such a difference in helping bring the Hall to life. They’re passionate about family stories, art and interiors, and love making people feel at home.
Don’t worry, you don’t need to know everything – you’ll pick things up soon enough from chatting with other volunteers.
Events Assistants help to deliver a variety of different activities, from planning and preparation to running the event on the day.
It’s a great opportunity to get creative while helping to offer something fun and memorable for visitors.
If you love gardens as much as we do then you’ll know they need a lot of care and attention.
Working as part of a team, our volunteer gardeners help with the upkeep, organic development and protection of the garden so that it can be enjoyed by all who visit.
We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as this content may introduce additional cookies. You may want to read the Google YouTube terms of service and privacy policy before accepting.
In this video, Bill & David explain what’s involved in their role as a volunteer gardener at Nunnington Hall, including why they do it and why they would recommend it to others.
I’ve been a Room Guide for over 10 years and enjoy my role greatly.
Nunnington Hall has a rich family history and unique atmosphere, which is a pleasure to share with the many visitors, who are always interesting and often have fascinating stories themselves to share and questions to ask.
So I find my regular volunteer stint here to be stimulating, rewarding and enjoyable.
When our daughter Kate was four we had a brilliant holiday in Cornwall and visited the garden at Trelissick. The garden volunteers there seemed to be doing some really interesting things and I remember thinking at the time that I'd like to be part of a team like that one day.
Kate is now 36 and I'm in my seventh year as a garden volunteer at Nunnington. When I retired from teaching it was top of my list of how I would now like to spend my newfound freedom.
It has proved to be everything I had hoped it would be: an endless variety of fascinating gardening jobs in a garden to which we, in the team, are all deeply attached; coffee and lunch breaks with lovely people; and some memorable random chats with appreciative visitors.
I'm not planning to stop any time soon.
When my husband passed away I was unsure what I could fill my time with now I was not a carer.
I brought some friends from Kent to visit Nunnington Hall which at the time was open when similar houses were closed. When I evinced interest in volunteering I was warmly welcomed and it has been a pleasure to join the team and volunteer on alternative Sundays ever since.
I particularly enjoy meeting the visitors who are often on their holidays, and listening to their stories. Other volunteers are always friendly and supportive.
After two years I feel it is something I enjoy and will continue to do as long as they will have me!
My husband Gary and I have been volunteers at Nunnington Hall and Rievaulx Terrace for 12 years.
I volunteer at Nunnington on Tuesdays, Saturdays and sometimes at special events on other days. I also established a second-hand bookshop a few years ago and still help manage it today. Gary works at Nunnington on Mondays as a handyman gardener and in the same role on Thursdays at Rievaulx, and he also helps with special events.
Before we retired we both were hard-working professionals, myself in teaching and Gary a surveyor. However, we found doing nothing all the time a bit boring after the initial euphoria of not having to go to work, so we looked around for volunteer work locally and discovered these two lovely National Trust properties fairly close by.
We applied and were accepted and have never regretted it. We’re now a couple of old stagers and probably two of the longest serving volunteers, but we hope to carry on as long as we are able because we feel so part of the big National Trust family.
If you are interested in joining the team at Nunnington Hall, visit the National Trust Volunteering website to search for our current opportunities and get in touch.
We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as this content may introduce additional cookies. You may want to read the Google YouTube terms of service and privacy policy before accepting.
In this video, Nunnington Hall volunteer tour guide, Ray, explains what’s involved in his role and why he does it.
Thank you to all our volunteers who give their time to support the National Trust in many different roles.
Search for live volunteering opportunities, or register your interest with Nunnington Hall.
Our volunteers make our work to look after nature and history for future generations possible. Learn more about the volunteering opportunities available and hear a selection of their stories to find out what it's like to volunteer with us.
Our supporter groups are a great way of getting involved with your local place. Find out more about how you can join in.
These frequently asked questions should give you all you need to know about who can volunteer, what it involves and how to apply.
Discover how the conservation team at Nunnington care for the numerous items in our collections, and find out how we deal with certain unwelcome insect visitors to the Hall
The River Rye’s valleys and waters have been prized for millennia but its health and diversity has always been at risk. Find out how the 'Ryevitalise' scheme is tackling that
Find out about National Trust supporter groups based in Yorkshire. You can support the places you love by volunteering or enjoying a programme of trips and talks.