Volunteer working at David Livingstone Birthplace

Visitor Experience Volunteer

Background

Following a four-year refurbishment, David Livingstone Birthplace has opened our brand-new museum exhibition, shop, and café in July 2021. This is an exciting time to join us as we welcome visitors into the new museum for the 2022 season.

We are looking for enthusiastic Visitor Experience Volunteers to join our Visitor Experience team. This is a vital role in supporting the museum and interacting with the public as the face of the David Livingstone Birthplace. The Visitor Experience Volunteers will greet visitors and engage with them in a friendly and informative manner to ensure that they have an enjoyable experience.

We are particularly looking for Visitor Experience Volunteers that are excited about greeting visitors and selling tickets at the Welcome Desk. This is an important task as you will be the first point of contact for all visitors at the beginning of their journey around the museum. Full training will be given for Welcome Desk duties and volunteers will work closely with staff.

Full training will be provided, and volunteers will be able to claim reimbursement for travel.

Location

David Livingstone Birthplace, 165 Station Road, Blantyre, G72 9BY.

Supervisor

Visitor Experience Team.

Key Tasks

  • Operate the Welcome Desk and sell museum tickets to visitors.
  • Invigilate and provide information about the exhibition and activities.
  • Support the visitor experience: responding to queries, helping with lift/chair lift, talking to visitors, and answering any queries (in person and over the phone).
  • Collect feedback from visitors.
  • Cleaning high-touch points around the museum.
  • Guided tours of museum exhibition (if suitable to volunteer needs and interests).

Skills

  • Excellent customer service skills.
  • Good oral communication skills and the ability to engage with a wide range of people.
  • Confident with a positive attitude.
  • An interest in David Livingstone’s story and the recontextualised museum collection and interpretation.
  • An empathic and respectful approach when working with others.
  • A diplomatic approach to dealing with difficult issues and ability to take on feedback.
  • Collaborative approach with the ability to work with team members, including staff, volunteers, partners, and community members.
  • Willingness to participate in core training, for example: Customer Service and Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) training.
  • Experience handling money and dealing with telephone enquiries is desirable.

Time and Level of Commitment

A minimum 4 hours a week (am or pm) ongoing. We are particularly looking for individuals that can volunteer on Saturdays and Sundays at the moment.

While we have a greater number of volunteering opportunities available on Saturdays and Sundays, we do also have weekday volunteering opportunities and we will be as flexible as possible to accommodate preferences, recognising the range of different commitments that potential applicants may have.

The Benefits of Volunteering

  • The chance to meet new people and join our community of dedicated volunteers.
  • Gaining experience to use on your CV.
  • The opportunity to put existing skills into practice and building new skills.
  • Contributing to the day-to-day operations of the David Livingstone Birthplace.
  • Volunteering references.

We encourage applicants from all backgrounds, and welcome applications from those facing barriers to employment, people living with a disability and with additional support needs, people from a BAME background, refugees. and those who identify as LGBTQI+. Previous convictions are not necessarily a barrier to volunteering.

The volunteer recruitment process will involve having an informal chat with the Volunteer and completing a formal induction into the voluntary role.

To register interest and for further information please contact: volunteer@dltrust.uk.

Please state in your email why you would like to volunteer at DLB and any relevant experience or interests.

Also see Volunteers section.


We are very grateful to our key funders the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Historic Environment Scotland and the Scottish Government for their support in helping us deliver the Birthplace Project.

National Lottery Heritage Fund
Scottish Government
Historic Environment Scotland
Note: Please note that David Livingstone Birthplace (and the David Livingstone Trust) is no longer part of National Trust Scotland (NTS). NTS members will therefore no longer receive discounted/free entry to the Birthplace Museum.

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As a registered charity, we rely on your donations to help maintain the museum's unique collections and educational programmes. Your generosity will make a difference. Thank you.

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