The Cathedral’s Marketing & Digital team aim to bring Durham Cathedral's brand to life through stories and content, which celebrates the cathedral as a major place of worship, a centre of excellence for heritage stewardship and a leading visitor attraction. It is the responsibility of the Marketing & Digital team to look for opportunities to engage a wide range of audiences to:
• Increase the number of visitors to the Cathedral, both new and returning.
• Grow the size and diversity of the Cathedral’s audiences and community, for services, events and day visits.
• Develop the Cathedral’s brand and reputation to create more visits, revenue, fundraising, and tourism; all of which support our mission.
• Support income growth across the organisation, including fundraising and commercial income.
Inspired by our saints, Cuthbert and Bede, the mission of Durham Cathedral is to offer everyone the opportunity to encounter God and know God’s love in Jesus Christ. We welcome volunteers from any background, of all faiths and none, and those who in turn show respect and sensitivity towards all nationalities, religions, beliefs, cultures, backgrounds, and the ethos of the Cathedral as a working church.
In this role you can enhance our Marketing & Digital activities by helping with one or more of these tasks, depending on your interest and /or experience:
• Conducting face to face surveys with visitors to inform our audience insight – this will involve approaching visitors to ask if they would like to participate, then asking them prompt questions and entering their responses to a digital form on one of our iPads.
• Supporting the collation of audience data from an online platform.
• Looking out for trends in audience data and informing the Marketing & Digital Team of significant changes.
• Monitoring the number of surveys collected.
For this role, we are seeking volunteers aged 16 or over offering the following:
• Friendly and welcoming approach to visitors
• Being able to confidently engage people in conversation
• Being comfortable on duty alone and as part of a team
• Positive attitude
• Excellent verbal communication skills
• Interest in the arts/ cultural heritage sector
• Interest in audience data
In this role, you will usually be based in the Cathedral and associated spaces; and with the Marketing & Digital Team, Cathedral Office, DH1 3EH.
We encourage volunteers in this role to offer one 3 - 4 hour daytime session per week if possible; but we are grateful for any gift of time and offer flexibility around your availability.
The following will be provided:
• Full training as and when required.
• Induction and shadowing existing team members
We will also ask you to complete the Church of England Safeguarding Training to Foundations level. This is mandatory for all Cathedral volunteers and further details of how to access the training will be provided once your application form has been accepted.
Unfortunately we are not able to offer expenses.
• Fantastic opportunity to volunteer alongside a busy marketing and digital team at the heart of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
• Experience of conducting market research and opportunity to analyse and understand audience data.
• Experience of volunteering in a busy, multifaceted venue.
• Opportunity to improve communication and develop face to face visitor engagement skills.
• Supporting the promotion of a diverse offer including promoting the cathedral as a place of worship, a visitor attraction and as a venue for contemporary arts, regional festivals and cultural events.
• Opportunity to potentially make a real difference in audience development at Durham Cathedral.
• Great CV material and opportunity for professional references.
• Being involved in the important life and history of one of Durham’s most iconic buildings.
• Opportunity to join the Cathedral’s Community Roll.
• Cloister Card offering 10% discount in the Cathedral Shop and Undercroft Restaurant (conditions apply).
• Various optional volunteer training as available.
Please use the information on our website to plan your travel to the Cathedral by public transport or by parking in and around the city. We are not usually able to offer parking in the Cathedral grounds unless agreed in advance.
Unfortunately, some areas of the Cathedral are not fully accessible without the use of steps, and as a historic building, some floors are uneven. Please do let us know if mobility may be challenging for you in this environment.
