Volunteer Roles and Opportunities

Support us at the Centre

Please be aware that due to the current number of applications, the IBCC is not taking on any new volunteers for Reception or Tour Guiding at the moment.

Our visitor Centre is the heart of what we do and where we can share history and the stories around our heritage with the next generation. There are plenty of different roles at the centre where you can help:

Tour Guides

Join our fabulous team of Tour Guides who make our guests’ visits memorable.  Our team of Guides is made up of people from all walks of life and all ages.  No prior knowledge of the subject is needed – we provide all of the training you need to give you the confidence to tell our story and make a difference to the visitor experience.

I think all of us at the IBCC work as a great team, and it is being part of this team that gives me the most pleasure. I’ve met so many veterans and families of veterans that it’s impossible to single any one person out, they were all memorable. I’ve found leading the Tour Guide team, and training new guides, really enjoyable, I’m always amazed at the depth of knowledge that the new guides bring, it makes every day school day!  Tour Guide Leader 2022

Reception & Shop

Do you enjoy meeting people and helping them make the most of their visit?  If so a role in our reception and shop could be perfect for you.

Café

Our award-winning café has a variety of roles that need your support; from serving the customers to supporting our kitchen team.

Gardening

Our IBCC Gardening Club is looking for green fingered support to help us make the most of our 10 acres of gardens and our herb and vegetable garden.  You’ll also be contributing to our environmental and nature brief by keeping the grounds habitable for our wide selection of wildlife.

Education and Learning

Join our learning team of staff and volunteers who ensure that our school visits have a real and lasting impact on the children.  You could be helping with the workshops, helping the students to identify names on the Memorial Walls or overseeing the handling collection sessions. Help us deliver our informal learning sessions – crafts, trails and a wide range of activities running in free sessions across the year.

I have gained a lot from my volunteering work at the IBCC. As a former teacher, I love having the opportunity to work with the children in school visits and family events and I have also benefitted from interacting with their teachers, parents and helpers. It gives me enormous satisfaction to be a part of the team and I enjoy working with the learning officers and other volunteers. The IBCC is a special place for me and I greatly value the opportunity to pass on the stories of the many people remembered here. For children in particular, there are many important lessons to be learned about peace and reconciliation which for me is a vital part of the ethos of the IBCC. Learning Volunteer 2022

Events

Help set up the Centre and gardens for one of our huge range of events – from Forties Fun to formal banqueting, there’s a lot you can do to support our team:

• Are you a dab hand behind a bar, or a tip top tea topper or can you join our team of waiters and waitresses?
•  Why not put your public speaking skills to the test and become one of our readers at our commemorative services
• Are you a parking maestro and have the knack of perfectly placing cars for our big events
• Do you have health and safety expertise?  If so, you could support our events by helping create our safety plans and implementing them.

One of my highlights was serving at the Bomber Command dinner last summer. It gave me an eye opener into how hard our catering staff work and I was very pleased to be a part of that successful occasion. I have also enjoyed, so much, being able to talk and listen to visitors who served in the war or had family relatives that did so. Some of those discussions have been quite emotional as well!  Centre volunteer 2022

Heritage Preservation and Research

Please be aware that due to the current number of applications, the Archive are not taking on any new volunteers at the moment.

The majority of our research roles can be done remotely at home which is ideal for those that either can’t come to the centre itself or prefer to be at home but still want to help:

Learn to be an oral historian

Record interviews with veterans of Bomber Command, people who were supporting their actions and those who were impacted.

Collections Team

Learn to digitise precious items, manipulate images, create inventories and prepare collections for publishing in the IBCC Digital Archive.

Metadata Team

Help us to create the metadata that is essential to make the item searchable in the IBCC Digital Archive.

Knowledge & Research Team

Test your knowledge with identifying locations, aircraft, insignia and more. Research the backgrounds of those involved in Bomber Command and many other kindred Commands to help compile the names for the next sets of Memorial Walls and build onto our leading Losses Database.

Learning Team Support

Support the Learning team by creating biographies of those on the Walls to help engage our students, of all ages.

Memorials Team

Join the Memorials team in identifying, photographing and mapping memorials to Bomber Command across the world.

Transcribers Team

All our digital items need transcribing from letters and diaries to oral histories.

Proof Readers Team

Use your IT and proofreading skills to check entries and biographies.

Volunteering in the IBCC archive has been a pleasure and a privilege and the opportunity to gather insights into the brave men and women of Bomber Command has been so enlightening. I have met families of aircrew and handled a range of precious documents from logbooks to personal letters. What is certain is that although they were ordinary people they behaved in extraordinary ways under unimaginable duress. Archive volunteer 2022

Music Maestro

We have  our own Choir and Orchestra, all expertly supported by our Music Committee – do you play an instrument or love to sing as part of a choir?  If so, this could be just for you.

I volunteered around May 2020 with the choir. My husband had died and I missed singing. I was persuaded to join by a wonderful friend who was already an active member. It was odd at first singing away to myself on Zoom (we had to do it that way because of all the different network speeds) but soon found myself smiling and waving at these increasingly familiar faces. And although I sometimes cried (singing Jerusalem, which was our wedding song) I also doubled up laughing whenever we had a “themed” rehearsal, like at Easter time. We’ve since got back to rehearsing at the IBCC and performing there too. I have made some gorgeous new friends and rediscovered old ones too. It’s a brilliant group to be part of, and in such an amazing setting.  It’s been a source of strength for me. Choir Volunteer 2022

Register as a volunteer