Volunteer with Kresen Kernow

We currently have opportunities in the preservation studio on Wednesday mornings and Thursday afternoons and are always looking for that extra bit of help in keeping our garden borders looking fabulous. We also host an annual intake of student work experience placements. Further information can be found on our website: Volunteering and work experience – Kresen Kernow.

If Redruth is a little too far for you to get to, we have online volunteer opportunities via our website too: Online volunteering – Kresen Kernow.

We can also point you in the direction of lots of community archives and heritage organisations all over Cornwall looking for volunteers, take a look at the Cornish Archives Network interactive map on our website to see where some of them are: Cornish Archives Network (CAN) – Kresen Kernow.

About Us

Kresen Kernow is home to the Archives and Cornish Studies Service collections. Our stores hold over 1.5 million documents, books, maps and photographs related to Cornwall’s history, ranging in date from 1150 right up to the present day. All these collections are unique to Cornwall’s heritage and they’re available for anyone to come and use in our library or archive.

To help us improve access and interpretation of our collections, we have a team of 65 volunteers contributing their time across Kresen Kernow. Volunteers support us with document preservation, cataloguing and transcription, our family history buddy service, delivering family craft activities and garden care. We can’t praise them enough! Not only do they provide huge added value to our service, their energy and enthusiasm brings an exciting buzz to Kresen Kernow.

They are the most dedicated team, our extended archive family, improving what we do and who we are as a service, and we hope they gain as much pleasure from coming into our building as we do hosting them.

Here's what some of the team have to say:

‘I very much enjoy volunteering at KK because it is very rewarding to be part of projects which preserve the historic heritage of Cornwall and bring the story of the people in Cornwall to life. It is often exciting and inspiring, and I love talking about my volunteer days to friends and family. I appreciate being able to learn whilst volunteering and to acquire new skills. It is also great to meet other volunteers of all ages and to feel part of a team of people who are so enthusiastic about the local history.’

‘Having not worked for about a year I really valued being in a work environment and meeting new people.’

‘I look forward each week to my regular day of volunteering at Kresen Kernow. I feel I am giving something back to the community in Cornwall and have learned new skills and met interesting people.’

‘Connecting with people and having conversations about things that interest me and learning about things that I don’t know much about is important for my mental health.’

Get in Touch

If you are interested in joining the team do get in touch via kresenkernow@cornwall.gov.uk.