Get Involved
Our volunteers make Turner’s House special with their skills, time and love for art, architecture and heritage. Become part of an incredible team delivering an exciting programme of activities and events.
Be part of the incredible team that brings JMW Turner’s house to life. Engage with art and local history, experience working at a heritage property, be part of a friendly team and gain new skills.
Volunteer roles
At Turner’s House in Twickenham, volunteers engage in a wide variety of tasks. The four main volunteer roles are:
Be the face of Turner’s House: Steward
Our stewards provide a high quality, friendly and informative engagement for visitors. They deliver our front of house services and make Sandycombe Lodge accessible for as many people as possible. Download our role description: Steward Role Description
Share your enthusiasm: Guide
Our guides provide a high quality, friendly and informative engagement for visitors by giving tours of Turner’s House. Download our role description: Guide Role Description
Inspire the next generation: Learning
Our learning team provide exciting and engaging workshops for both primary and secondary school pupils as well as weekend holiday workshops for families. Download our role description: Learning Role Description
Lend us your green thumb: Gardening
Our garden team maintains the appearance of the garden of Sandycombe Lodge and helps us to make the garden of Sandycombe Lodge accessible for as many people as possible. Download our role description: Gardening Role Description
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Download our volunteer application form:
Click for Volunteer Application Form
To apply please send a completed application form to info@turnershouse.org or post to:
Volunteer Team, Turner’s House
Sandycombe Lodge, 40 Sandycoombe Rd
Twickenham TW1 2LR
Volunteer Taster Days
Dates for our 2019 volunteer taster dates will be confirmed in February 2019.
Volunteer Policy
Download our volunteer policy: Volunteer Policy
Placements
Turner’s House offers 4-day work placements (Tues-Fri) for students at the end of Year 11-13 who have an interest in history, art and heritage and who aspire to pursue careers in this area. Work placement students will learn about the day-to-day running of an historic house, as well as the behind-the-scenes work that takes place in planning our public programme and caring for the house and the collection. If you are interested in a work placement at Turner’s House, please fill in an application form and send it to info@turnershouse.org
Please be aware that we need a minimum of a months’ notice in order to organise a placement and we may not be able to accommodate your desired date-range.
Duke of Edinburgh Award
If you would like to volunteer with Turner’s House in Twickenham for your Duke of Edinburgh Award, please email learning@turnershouse.org with the following information:
- Name
- Age
- Name of DofE Centre, and if applicable supervisor
- Number of hours of volunteering you would like to do
- Special interests
Arts Award
If you would like to volunteer with Turner’s House in Twickenham for your Arts Award, please look at the Arts Award page under Learning.
Join the Friends of Turner’s House
The Friends of Turner’s House was set up in 2004 to support Professor Livermore (the last resident) in his aim to preserve the house for the nation, and now supports the aims of the Turner’s House Trust to restore and conserve Sandycombe Lodge.
We arrange talks and visits to inform the Friends both about Turner the artist and about subjects connected with Turner – for example, printmaking; the work involved in designing a Turner exhibition; and the work of artists who were his contemporaries.
We always welcome new Friends to support our work and participate in our activities, so if you would like to join (or renew) please complete this application form (or pick one up when you visit the House) and follow the instructions within:
Membership Application and Renewal Form 2018
If you have any questions about Friends membership, please email friends.turnershouse@gmail.com
What We Do
The Friends of Turner’s House organise a programme of events which take place throughout the year, both locally and further afield. We hold talks and arrange visits to galleries to deepen our understanding of Turner, his times and his art, and there are summer and winter parties as and social gatherings where Friends can meet.
The Friends have run several art competitions for local schools and college. Recently, fashion design, architecture and product designer students from Richmond College worked on a contemporary design task inspired by and for the house – a response to the work of Turner and his era, interpreted in a contemporary context. We will be continuing with this programme for 2018.
Previous Mayor of Richmond, David Linnette, presents Richmond College student Rianna Reid with her winning prize.
Recent Activities
Recent activities for the Friends have included visits to the Lightbox gallery in Woking to view the ‘Turner in Surrey’ exhibition and the Prints and Drawings Room at Tate Britain, as well as talks given by Franny Moyle on Turner’s life and Nicola Moorby on ‘The Secrets of Turner’s Watercolours’. A successful summer party was held on 13th June 2018 and a new Friends’ Committee was elected prior to the party at the Annual General Meeting.
We regularly publish newsletters about our activities which are emailed to all Friends.
Upcoming Friends Events 2018
Wednesday 17th October at 8pm (drinks from 7.30pm) in the Hyde Room, York House, Richmond Road, TW1 3AA
Pieter van der Merwe will be giving our autumn lecture, Turner’s Ship Models Revisited.
Dr Pieter van der Merwe is Greenwich Curator Emeritus at the National Maritime Museum and Vice-Chairman of the Turner Society. His work has included research into theatrical, marine and landscape painting, notably the career of Turner’s younger contemporary Clarkson Stanfield.
No booking required. Members £1; guests £6
Wednesday December 12th 6.30pm Winter Social in the Terrace Room, York House, Richmond Road, Twickenham TW1 3AA.
A chance to socialise and celebrate. This event, open to all members, is a ticketed event, at £12 per ticket (or £10 if booked in advance) to include a complimentary glass of wine or soft drink, and refreshments. Booking forms will be sent to members.