Volunteer’s Week 2026

Dundee Heritage Trust are marking Volunteers’ Week 2026. Volunteers’ Week returns this year for its 42^nd year. From Monday 1 to Sunday 7 June 2026, we’re joining thousands of charities and voluntary organisations recognising the contribution volunteers make across the UK.

Running every year since 1984, the week provides a crucial opportunity to thank volunteers and recognise the value of their time, passion and skills. The campaign highlights the diversity and unity of volunteer work across the UK.

Celebrations during Volunteers’ Week aim to foster connections between national organisations and grassroots groups, celebrating the spirit of volunteering that enriches communities each year.

This Volunteers’ Week Dundee Heritage Trust are celebrating their volunteers at Discovery Point and Verdant Works Museum with this blog post by our Learning Curator, Kim Turford-Mowat, who reflects on the immeasurable impact of volunteers at our two attractions.

“When I started my role at Dundee Heritage Trust, we were welcoming our volunteers back to our visitor attractions post-covid. The Machine Hall at Verdant Works Museum was closed due to a health and safety audit, the RRS Discovery was utilising a one-way system, and the Heritage Team were all new in post (except for the Curator, who was juggling the whole team’s workload!). 

“I met all of the Dundee Heritage Trust volunteers in person, one by one, in full-on listening mode. A lot of them had been in the museum, or had worked in the mills or on ships longer than I had been alive. Some of them had come to us recently following the Scottish Diaspora Tapestry exhibition in the High Mill.”

“Over the four years that I have been with the Trust, I have gotten to know a range of people; from chatting to people whose family went out to India through the jute industry; to those who started working in the mills as teenagers; to those who grew up admiring Scott, Shackleton and the rest of the people who battled the extraordinary polar conditions to expand our understanding of earth and those who reside on it. I also get to hear about the amazing visitors that our volunteers have encountered, who are curious, interested and open to sharing their stories of their own and their family’s connection to Discovery Point & RRS Discovery and Verdant Works Museum.  

“We have welcomed new volunteers since then, too: young people looking to gain experience, students on placement, people just starting their retirement, people well into their retirement, people who have been inspired by their visit to join us and, even some who have come with their community groups and work colleagues to work on bigger tasks. We welcome everyone to a series of roles – whether that’s our public-facing guides, those supporting behind the scenes work on the ship and the mill, or our amazing Collections team, whose research has supported brand new exhibitions both permanent and temporary.”  

“There’s such a joy to coming down from our office at Verdant Works and seeing Ian sat on the benches having a discussion with visitors, or nipping through the Wardroom on RRS Discovery and encountering Dorothy pointing out the unique features of the ship. Our inaugural ‘Volunteer of the Year’ Stewart is a dab hand at helping us with learning groups of all ages, and the ‘Wednesday boys’ are like a smooth operation in the roaring Machine Hall at Verdant Works Museum. Seeing friendships form and connections spark has been a joy, especially though our twice-yearly celebrations and quarterly meetings.”