Friends of Hartley Historic Site

Work

Visitors, events, education, tour guides

When

• Heritage collection: Fortnightly or monthly working bees.
• Visitor Centre duties and tour guiding: Shifts available 7 days a week, year-round.
• Landscape conservation and gardening: A few days each season and/or larger, one-off, 1-day working bees.

Where

Hartley Historic Site in Sydney and surrounds

Accessibility

No wheelchair access

Hartley Historic Site is a fascinating location for volunteering. It’s a preserved 19th-century village in the lower Blue Mountains, near Lithgow. We welcome volunteers with a wide range of interests and experience to help us across 3 work areas:

• Hartley moveable heritage collection: Working with historical objects, you’ll help us clean, capture data, research and catalogue the collection. Experience in collections management, cataloguing processes and using the e-Hive online platform for cataloguing are highly desirable.
• Hartley landscape and garden conservation: You’ll be pruning, mulching, hand weeding, planting, doing weed control and bush care.
• Hartley Visitor Centre and guiding: You’ll be working with the public, sharing local and historic information to visitors on tours. You’ll also be supporting Visitor Centre staff and helping with customer service, ensuring that visitors have a safe and enjoyable visit. You’ll need great customer service skills and a genuine interest in the local area and its history.

However, don't be deterred if you don't have prior experience in our 3 work areas. We'll provide training and equipment for all volunteer areas, so you’ll feel confident and capable in your roles. As well, all fitness levels are welcome. If you have a reduced fitness level, you may be more suited to working on the collection. Or if you have a higher fitness level, you could opt for guiding visitor tours around the site or gardening activities. 

When you volunteer with us, you’ll be directly contributing to the conservation and promotion of an incredible place. You’ll develop new skills as you work with other like-minded volunteers and NPWS staff. And you’ll share stories and help create a memorable experience for our visitors.

For directions, safety and practical information, see visitor info