Volunteer with us
Volunteer with us to play your part in The Green Estate story. Our incredibly talented volunteers contribute a huge amount of time and skills to support what we do. They help us continue to look after this special place and bring it to life along the way.
There is a wide range of opportunities to volunteer at The Green Estate, so whether you are looking to work in our historic spaces, educational environments, the great outdoors or behind the scenes, we have opportunities to suit all interests and time commitments. We love working with people from all walks of life, with no experience needed. Have a look through the roles below and get in touch with us to apply.
Exploring Tudor history and beyond
While Sheffield Manor Lodge is most famous for its Tudor owners and captive Queen, it is a place that has been used throughout the centuries, adapting to the needs of the people that lived and worked there. Volunteer to help us tell this story and offer our visitors a unique opportunity to step back in time and experience the history and heritage of the area.
Watch the video below to find how the Friends of Sheffield Manor Lodge have and still continue to support The Green Estate CIC for over 20 years.
Costumed Interpreter
Costume Interpreters help bring the stories of Sheffield Manor Lodge to life. You will share with our visitors what life was like at Sheffield Manor Lodge in the past. If you enjoy being creative and want to engage children and their families in our stories, then this role is for you. We can provide you with a costume (or you can provide your own!) and help you craft a character suitable for Sheffield Manor Lodge.
What you’ll be doing:
- Confidently interacting with visitors to create a friendly and welcoming experience
- Making memorable moments for children and their families
- Being involved in our public open days and events
We are looking for support on Sundays, throughout the school holidays and for school sessions.
Visitor Interactor
Our visitor interactors help share the stories of Sheffield Manor Lodge and its landscape with our visitors. You will assist visitors around our historic ruins and find engaging ways to talk about our wide-ranging history. No prior knowledge of Sheffield Manor Lodge is needed before you volunteer – only a passion for storytelling and an interest in sharing stories with a wide range of people.
What you’ll be doing:
- Leading tours around our historic ruins and in our Turret House
- Providing great customer service by answering questions from our visitors
- Being an active part of a small team
We are looking for support on Sundays and time commitment is flexible.
Visitor Experience Assistant
Visitor Experience Assistants help provide a warm and engaging customer service. They welcome customers, serve refreshments and help keep the Discovery Centre looking its best. This role is for you if you are cheerful and like to meet new people.
What you’ll be doing:
- Putting your great hospitality skills into practice
- Using the till and serving refreshments
- Being an active and involved member of a small team
We are looking for support on Sundays and throughout the school holidays. Time commitment is flexible.
Education
Our Discovery Centre explores and presents the story of Sheffield Manor Lodge as one of a changing landscape. It’s from here that we create educational experiences for visitors to explore our historic buildings, wander through our beautiful grounds and take part in fun activities.
Education and Activity Assistant
Education and Activity Assistants help bring Sheffield Manor Lodge’s Tudor stories to life. You’ll know how to engage with children and their families, but you won’t need to have any teaching experience to volunteer for this role.
What you’ll be doing:
- Working alongside our staff to deliver school groups
- Supporting the schools that visit and take part in our activities by being a kind and helpful member of the team
- Being an active and involved member of a small team
We’re looking for support throughout the year and time commitment is flexible.
Children’s Activity Assistant
If you love being around children then this could be the role for you. More casual than our education sessions are our school holiday activities, where you will help children (and sometimes parents/carers!) with crafts and trails along different themes.
What you’ll be doing:
- Working alongside our staff to help children with activities
- Supporting the families that visit and taking part in our activities by being a kind and helpful member of the team
- Helping to come up with ideas for new crafts and trails
We’re looking for support throughout the school holidays and time commitment is flexible.
Gardening and Growing
We are situated in a unique and beautiful site in Sheffield, which includes the historic Sheffield Manor Lodge grounds and Manor Oaks House sites. There’s a great variety of landscapes to experience here from pictorial meadows, allotments, historic apothecary gardens, wooded areas, parkland, beautiful gardens and even bee hives.
Gardening
This role is perfect if you want to add practical experience to your horticultural or land-based studies, or if you simply just enjoy gardening, want to try it for the first time, or want to experience the mental and physical health benefits of being outside and getting your hands dirty. You will be shown what to do and how to use tools safely, with no experience necessary.
What you’ll be doing:
- Working at the historic Sheffield Manor Lodge and Manor Oaks House sites
- Contribute to making our grounds look gorgeous
- Undertaking general garden maintenance tasks such as weeding, edging and pruning
- Being part of a friendly and welcoming group who enjoy getting things done, in addition to a well-earned cup of tea
The team meets every Tuesday from 10am – 2:30pm, with one hour for lunch.
Get in touch
As you can see, there are many ways to get involved with The Green Estate, no matter what interests you.
To learn more about volunteering, feel free to contact us by phone or email. If you’re ready to apply, simply download the application form and send it to [email protected], telling us a bit about yourself and why you’d like to volunteer with us.
Gallery
Image copyright: All copyright & courtesy of The Green Estate, unless stated. Image bottom left; © Andy Brown / Sheffield Wheat Experiment.