Volunteering with the Bradgate Park Trust provides a chance to make a real contribution to Bradgate Park and Swithland Wood’s wildlife, landscape conservation and rich heritage, as well as championing our visitor experience and sharing a passion for the Estate. 

For current volunteering opportunities, please see the bottom of this page.

Here's a summary of what our volunteers get up to:

Conservation Volunteers: Conservation Volunteers go out into the Estate and get a hands-on experience of the work involved in managing the Park. You will be involved in a wide range of habitat conservation and maintenance tasks across the whole Estate. Tasks are seasonal, ongoing and include activities such as maintaining the historic dry-stone walling, invasive plant species control, tree frame construction, planting trees, charcoal making and much more. If being outside is what you’re looking for, then this group is for you! 

Patrolling Volunteers: As a volunteer patroller, you are the eyes and ears of the Park, helping to protect the landscape and assist our visitors on a daily basis. Armed with a map, radio and litter picking equipment you’ll cover your designated area of the Estate at your own pace. As a first point of contact for visitors you’ll be able to communicate effectively and inform the Ranger team of any incidents or issues. Best of all, you’ll be walking through tranquil woodlands, over rugged parkland and taking in the sights and sounds of nature whilst contributing to the daily running of the Park. 

Gardening Volunteers: Gardening Volunteers support us by taking care of the various green spaces across the Estate. Our volunteer gardeners can usually be found working in the allotment or walled garden. Gardening Volunteers muck in with tasks such as weeding, planting and pruning. This is a great activity for those who have green fingers or don’t mind getting their hands dirty!

Visitor Centre Volunteer: Our Visitor Centre Volunteers help guide visitors around our exciting and interactive Visitor Centre space, sharing their knowledge of the Park and Estate with members of the public. Within the wide-ranging history, geology and wildlife of the Park there is huge scope to develop your own understanding and to then pass this on. If engaging our visitors and delivering the ‘Bradgate Park Experience’ is what you’re looking for, then this role is definitely for you!

Tour Guide Volunteers: As a Tour Guide, you will be trained to effectively communicate the facts and history of the Ruins of Bradgate House and/or Old John Tower to visiting members of the public. The Tour Guide role is based at the Ruins or Old John Tower and requires an interest in visitor engagement that will give people a true insight into our historic buildings and landscape. If being around these historic buildings and sharing their story is for you, get involved with the Tour Guides!

Education Session Volunteers: Here at Bradgate Park Trust we have an award-winning programme of education sessions that are delivered by our volunteers to educational groups. These sessions are offered in a variety of subjects including history, geology and ecology. We offer education sessions to younger visitors of all ages; our Education Volunteers are all about sharing their knowledge and encouraging our visitors to learn about the Park in an enjoyable way!

Community Champions: Community Champions talk to community groups about Bradgate Park and the Trust’s work, engaging people in a ‘lecture’ type scenario. As with Tour Guiding, you will be provided with scripts to give you a sense of the direction we’d like the talk to take but it’s up to you to add your character to it. If you would like to broaden your knowledge of the Parks history, management, wildlife, natural and manmade landscape and would enjoy supporting these talks then get in touch!

For more information on these opportunities, please contact our Volunteer Coordinator at [email protected].

Development of our volunteering programme has received significant support from the Heritage Lottery Fund. This support also allowed us to produce informative displays and banners. 

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Current Volunteering opportunities

Visitor Centre Volunteer

Are you a people person? Can you help us to deliver an unforgettable experience for visitors to Bradgate Park? We're looking for people with a passion for the park who can help our visitors to engage with Bradgate's fascinating ecological, historical and geological significance.

This role involves lending a hand in the Visitor Centre shop and exhibition space, encouraging visitors to explore the displays and making sure they have everything they need for a wonderful day out - whether it's a map or an ice cream!

What will I do?

• Supervise the Exhibition space, helping visitors to engage with the interactive displays.
• Assisting our Visitor Centre assistants behind the counter, helping to serve customers with cold drinks and ice creams.
• Assisting our Visitor Centre assistants with retail, helping to stock up.
• Providing a warm welcome to all visitors, and giving them information about the park and upcoming events, and providing them with directions.
• Helping to maintain a clean, tidy and presentable Visitor Centre.

What's in it for me?

• You will be volunteering at a highly regarded and nationally significant heritage site, giving you an insight into the workings of a busy heritage and tourist attraction.
• We will provide full training for the role, and will give you the opportunity to pursue the ideas that interest you.
• The role will give you the opportunity to gain experience in customer service and retail, as well as in museums, heritage, and visitor operations. 
• You will be helping to support the Bradgate Park Trust, improving understanding of the natural and historical significance of the site.

Role requirements:

• The ability to work alone, and with others.
• A passion for, or a willingness to learn about, the history, ecology, and geology of Bradgate Park.
• A friendly approachable demeanor. This is a public facing role so you will need to be comfortable with speaking to people of varying ages and backgrounds. 
• Excellent customer service skills.
• Excellent interpersonal skills.

Interested? Please get in touch with our Volunteer Coordinator on [email protected] 

Our volunteering Policy can be found on our Policy page

Click here to download - The Volunteering Registration form