Volunteering with Cadw
Cadw offers unique volunteering opportunities supporting our historic sites
- do you want to learn new skills?
- make the most of skills you already have?
- would you like to add to your CV?
- meet new people and work alongside knowledgeable and skilled staff?
If you answered yes to any of these, then come and volunteer with Cadw.
A recent volunteer said of her experience:
I have really enjoyed giving the talks and I am not leaving gladly, but I need to concentrate on finally passing my exams. Thanks so much for the opportunity, I have certainly learned a lot from the experience. I will miss coming to Caerphilly as I have grown very fond of the castle, having spent some time on researching its history more than what I knew just growing up. I find it fascinating and magnificent, every time I see it. To be able to walk within its walls and feel part of the work that goes on to preserve those walls and inspire others to feel as passionate about it as I and Cadw do, has been wonderful.
By volunteering you will be supporting the work of Cadw, becoming part of a team and learning new skills as well as sharing the skills you already have, to make a real difference. The commitment to volunteering is flexible and you can choose how much time you would like to give.
If you would like to volunteer:
- select a Cadw site from the list below to find out what opportunities are available
- complete and return the Cadw Volunteer Registration Form to:
Exciting volunteering opportunities are available at Caerphilly Castle, the largest castle in Wales. We currently have vacancies for room stewards.
Surrounded by a series of moats and watery islands, Caerphilly Castle was the brainchild of Gilbert ‘the Red’ de Clare, who also built the original Castell Coch. Early attempts by Gilbert to build a castle were thwarted by the Welsh prince Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, But he eventually won through and built a mammoth stronghold using the concentric ‘walls within walls’ system of defence. Over time the site would fall into disrepair until much later In the late 19th century the third marquess of Bute began preservation work. So, there are many stories to tell.
Volunteering opportunities are available at Castell Coch, Tongwnlais. The beautiful fabled home of a very wealthy man.
On ancient foundations, Castell Coch is the by-product of a vivid Victorian imagination, assisted by untold wealth. William Burges was given free rein by the 3rd marquess of Bute, to create a rural retreat to complement the opulence of his main residence, Cardiff Castle.
Exciting volunteering opportunities are available at Harlech Castle, part of the Edward I World Heritage site. We currently have vacancies for volunteer Medieval Games Players/Tutors.
Harlech’s battlements spring out of a near-vertical cliff-face. It’s ‘walls within walls’ being put together in super-fast time between 1283 and 1295, by an army of nearly a thousand skilled craftsmen and labourers, for a mere £8,190. 'Men of Harlech.' The nation’s unofficial anthem, is said to describe the siege which took place during the War of the Roses, when a handful of men held out against a besieging army of thousands. But times change and todays handful of individuals, now welcome the thousands of visitors, the new ‘floating’ bridge making access to the castle truly available for all.
If you fancy yourself as a medieval games master, playing them, showing others how to, and helping to bring the game offer to life, here’s your chance to help our custodians enhance our visitor experience.
Looking out over the estuary, this impressive relic of ancient times demands you stand and stare. However, as a volunteer ‘Castle and Gardens Guide’, at Laugharne’s medieval castle turned Tudor mansion, you could help turn a visitor’s stare into an appreciation of this magnificent site.
Built in the 13th century by the de Brian family, probably atop an earlier Norman ringwork castle, the solid mansion we see today is the lasting legacy of Sir John Perrot. It didn’t fare too well during the Civil War, being. partially dismantled after a siege. Even so, it inspired both Dylan Thomas and author Richard Hughes to put pen to paper in the castle’s garden summerhouse, finding the castle the perfect antidote to writer’s block.
If you have green fingers and an interest in Laugharne’s history and Victorian gardens, and see yourself as a tour guide, relaying information and stories on site, here’s your chance to help our custodians enhance our visitor experience.
Unique volunteering opportunities are available at Plas Mawr, Conwy, the finest Elizabethan town house in Britain!
Plas Mawr stands as a symbol of a prosperous, buoyant age. Think Renaissance and Shakespeare, think Plas Mawr. Its owner Robert Wynn, an influential merchant of great repute, was particularly fond of grandeur and colour. If wealth was measured in style, then this well-travelled Welsh gentleman was absolutely fabulously wealthy.
If you would like to support the visitor experience at Plas Mawr — we currently have vacancies for Room Stewards, Tour Guides and Learning Programme volunteers.
Exciting volunteering opportunities are available at the religiously glorious in glorious technicolour, Rug Chapel. We currently have vacancies for volunteer tour guides.
Step inside 17th-century Rug Chapel and be wowed by its decorative flourishes. The chapel’s plain exterior gives little hint of the riches within. Its founder, the arch-Royalist Colonel William Salesbury, created a private chapel complete with high church pretensions and a zany style to counter puritanical notions of the time. A real show off in wood, you’ll find wood carvings or rose motifs on the altar rails, family pews, painted gallery and bench ends. It certainly grabbed the attention of Sir Edwin Lutyens, but can you grab and hold the attention of our visitors, so they go home informed about and inspired by Rug Chapel, as he was, as can be seen by his Viceroy’s House in New Delhi, India?
If you have an interest in flamboyant religious architecture and fancy yourself as a tour guide, here’s your chance to help our custodians enhance our visitor experience.
This is a site of huge religious significance in Wales, it’s also a natural home for Welsh culture. Praised by many poets and known for its iconic west arch and 14th century floor tiles. Wales’s medieval poet, Dafydd ap Gwilym, is buried here, as are Welsh Princes of the Deheubarth kingdom.
The Cistercian monks of the Middle Ages built roads and bridges which brought pilgrims and traders to the abbey… and they continue to today, as there is much to captivate them at this evocative, historically important site.
Can you help our custodians enhance these visitors experience, by providing a warm and friendly welcome and conveying the story of Strata Florida Abbey and the wider landscape to all and/or help us with our new herb garden.
