Working together
Volunteers help us to raise awareness of our work and improve access to our collections. We offer a range of roles across the Centre that need different levels of skills and experience.
Volunteering at Dorset History Centre might be for you if you have a passion for history, want to improve your knowledge and skills, or want to get involved in something worthwhile.
How do I volunteer?
Volunteers are recruited to specific projects. Volunteer positions will be advertised below as they become available. We do not accept speculative applications.
If you would like to get involved with any of these roles please contact us for further information.
Volunteer opportunities are also advertised in our newsletter and via our social media.
Typical volunteering opportunities include:
- packaging documents for storage
- indexing and transcribing records
- research
- collecting oral histories
- supporting people with additional needs to access our volunteering opportunities
- promoting our services and events
We are committed to treating all volunteers and volunteer applicants equally and fairly. We accept volunteers based on their suitability for the role. For more information please see our Volunteer Policy.
Current volunteer opportunities
Life and Crimes Indexing Volunteers
We are recruiting for a team of six volunteers to help read and index a small number of Dorset’s Quarter Sessions Rolls from the 18th and 19th centuries, extracting key information such as names, places and dates.
The Quarter Sessions were a form of local justice, dealing with minor offences such as petty theft, poaching and assault.
Indexing will be carried out by transferring key information from the Quarter Sessions Rolls into Microsoft Excel spreadsheets, using laptops provided by Dorset History Centre. Accuracy is more important than speed for this task and a careful, thorough approach is required, especially as you will be working with old documents. The indexing work will enable further research to take place later in the project, uncovering stories about crime, punishment and Dorset life in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Volunteers will work under the direction of the Project Archivist, Kat Broomfield. Full training will be provided.
About you
You will be:
- interested in family or local history
- interested to learn about the history of the Quarter Sessions courts
- able or willing to learn how to read old handwriting
- able or willing to learn how to use Microsoft Excel
- careful approach to handling fragile, unique records
- keen on accuracy and able to pay close attention to detail
When?
Volunteering will take place on Tuesdays 9:30am to 4pm
Where?
Dorset History Centre, Bridport Road, Dorchester DT1 1RP
How long?
We envisage that the indexing project will take place from November 2026 to September 2027.
Next steps
For more information about this role, including a Context Statement and Role Profile, please get in touch with us by email: [email protected]
Houseworks Photographic Project: My Space. My Place Volunteers
As part of our Past Lives, Future Proofed development phase project (taking place 2026-7), we have a strand entitled “Digital Leader” which focuses on heritage in the form of digital records. These are possibly more at risk of being lost than any other kind of heritage, due to the speed with which both software and hardware change. Dorset History Centre has been recognised by the National Archives as a regional leader in digital preservation. In this strand we will use our expertise to help a variety of voluntary and community sector organisations preserve their digital archives, in preparation for a larger project in our Delivery phase of this project (likely to take place in 2028-2031).
Houseworks is a grass-roots community interest company based in Littlemoor, near Weymouth, led by Jodie Waller/House. We will work with Jodie to understand her needs and challenges relating to digital record-keeping and archiving and will accession over 500 photographs captured by young people and families covering almost twenty years of life on the Littlemoor estate, prior (potentially) to an oral history project in delivery phase.
Volunteers will help to catalogue the archive and help to create a display in development phase. Volunteers will contribute to this project under the guidance of the Community Engagement Officer, Deborah Clarke.
About you
- Do you have a connection to the Littlemoor area?
- Would you enjoy documenting details of photographs?
- Would you like to get involved in creating a display or exhibition?
When?
One to two days a week, during library opening hours.
Where?
Littlemoor Library, Weymouth.
How long?
October 2026 to March 2027.
Next Steps
For more information about this role, including a Context Statement and Role Profile, please get in touch with us by email: [email protected]
Young learners and work experience
We enjoy introducing young people to the work of the archive and we benefit from having tasks undertaken by short-term placements. We will introduce you to all aspects of our service and provide a varied experience. We hope that after spending time with us you will act as an informed advocate for archives.
Student placements
Our work experience programme for summer 2026 has now closed to applications.
Student placements:
- are suitable for undergraduate level or above
- are for up to 2 placements for up to four weeks each summer
- offer individual projects and tasks, as well as demonstrating all aspects of the service
- are popular, to apply please contact us for more information
We regret that we cannot currently offer work experience opportunities to GSCE or A Level students.
We will advertise information about the 2027 programme in early 2027.
Supported placements
- suitable for young people referred by partner agencies who need extra support to access volunteering opportunities
- up to 3 placements per year
- we will work with each person individually to tailor a short project suited to their abilities and interests
- for more information or to make a referral contact our Community Engagement Officer
Dorset Archives Trust
Dorset Archives Trust is an independent charitable body who support the work of Dorset History Centre. Dorset Archives Trust welcomes new volunteers to help organise events, distribute information and raise awareness of the work of the Trust.
For more information contact the Trustees at [email protected].
Volunteer testimonials
"I have truly enjoyed every part of my work volunteering for the archives. It has been a therapeutic and exciting experience to be finding out the wonderful stories and communicating the knowledge and information to wider audience's, always looking for that special nugget." - Maria
"Volunteers have interviewed a wide range of people with connection to the Bankes estates and I transcribe them to make it easier for researchers to find information. The interviews offer a wonderful insight into social history during the last century. I do this role at home." - Sheila
"I love opening an old document and realising the last person to have read it might have lived hundreds of years ago. I also love the challenge of deciphering handwriting of many years ago and imagining the lives of the people who wrote these documents. You get a real flavour of the times in which they lived." - Angela
"When I volunteer at DHC I most enjoy the opportunities to further my interest in social history and to find out more about the County in which I live. I also enjoy writing blogs for the website, working alongside others and giving something back to the community." - Jane A
"The role expanded, allowing greater involvement and self-determination - valuable work on a project I thought was important. Helped build my cv and may have led to employment offers. Being able to work remotely, first in Dorset and then away at uni." - Molly
"Gathering information for articles, delighted to see my posts on the DHC social media platforms, learning in more depth about activities and history in Dorset e.g. what shipping gin used to look like, learning how history has been preserved, not just in books but documents such as building plans and slides." - Toby
"One of the things about volunteering and cataloguing audio tapes is that it's a two-way street. As a volunteer you get something out of it, and you're also giving back something to the people using the catalogues as well." - Jane N
"I initially felt nervous about accidentally changing or ruining a document, but the staff helped me overcome these worries and become comfortable touching and moving the documents. This was followed by working with specific collections held at the archives and helping to catalogue them for the public to find. I found this hard but fascinating as I had to give enough detail so that the catalogue online would be accessible without overexplaining." - Caeron