The Minster, located in the centre of Newport, is soon to reopen on May 3 after years of renovation in order to make the space more modern and welcoming to all, aiming to become a community hub.
The Minster is looking for volunteers to make the running as smooth as possible.
There are no age restrictions to volunteering at The Minster. The only requirement for those wanting to offer as much or as little time as they can or want to is DBS checks where necessary and references needed during the application stage.
You do not need to be a Christian in order to volunteer either. The Minster is looking to be an inclusive space for all upon re-opening, wanting to broaden its horizon, and hopes for that to be expressed in its team of volunteers.
There are multiple different volunteering roles to suit all, including:
Visitor Experience volunteers – meeting and greeting
Events volunteers – helping out at special events and concerts
Education/Learning volunteer – supporting educational tours
Café volunteers – serving and preparing refreshments
Volunteer Tour Guides – showing groups around the Minster
Volunteer Photographers – capturing events, buildings, and activities
Or, alternatively, you could just offer any time you have to give to keep the building’s exterior and interior clean and tidy, support the community activities that take place in the minster (e.g. play cafe, homework club, and place of welcome), or you could take on a host of smaller tasks such as flower arranging or dusting that are equally as important to the upkeep on The Minster.
This training and volunteering will allow those offering their time to learn new transferable skills and earn new qualifications such as safeguarding training, food safety level 2, and dementia-friendly training.
For young people in particular, this is a great opportunity. The skills and experience gained over the course of this volunteering will be particularly useful to put on a CV or a UCAS application for university, particularly for those looking to go into the fields of history, architecture, etc.
For all, this is a perfect opportunity to branch out and meet new people- becoming a member of a lovely community working together to sustain the running of this centuries-old building.
With help from volunteers, The Minster aims to be open to the public from May 3 every weekday from 10am to 1pm.
When asked about the value of volunteers, community engagement coordinator Hannah Griffiths said: “We wouldn’t be able to open the doors of The Minster without our volunteers. They are involved in every aspect of our work from making coffees in our new café to welcoming visitors, helping with worship, checking tickets at our events, supporting our community groups, and keeping the building safe and clean. We are so grateful for all their hard work to get us this far and look forward to the next chapter.”
If you are interested in offering any time as a volunteer for Newport Minster, you can contact cec@cofeheartofwight.org.
