Make Your Mark supports everyone in Scotland to volunteer with history, culture and nature organisations.
For volunteers, Make Your Mark connects you with organisations that care for Scotland's places, history and culture. By volunteering, you can discover Scotland's stories, care for local places, meet new people, develop skills, network with staff and get behind-the-scenes access. Search volunteer opportunities!
For volunteer-involving heritage organisations, Make Your Mark promotes volunteering opportunities, connects heritage volunteer organisers to a peer-to-peer network, organises inclusive volunteering case study events, shares best practice and evidences volunteering impact to lobby for more funding for heritage volunteering programmes. To access all of these resources and to advertise opportunities on our website, join Make Your Mark for free by signing our Expression of Commitment!
At the heart of Make Your Mark are 3 core values.
Heritage
Heritage is anything from the past or present that you value and want to pass on to future generations. Make Your Mark members involve volunteers to care for and celebrate built heritage, cultural heritage and natural heritage. This includes natural habitats, environments and landscapes; oral history, recipes, dances, dialects and other cultural traditions; archaeological finds; museum, gallery, library and archive collections; and commemorations, celebrations and folklore.
Community
Communities are instrumental in caring for Scotland’s heritage. Much of our heritage is protected, cherished and celebrated at the local level. Engaging local people with their heritage through volunteering programmes increases the resources, tools and assistance available to preserve, restore and animate our shared history, environment and culture. Communities also benefit from engaging with their heritage – people feel more empowered and connected when encouraged to come together around shared interests.
Place
Place matters. Each place has a unique mix of history, traditions, folklore and living communities. Stories about place shape who we are and who we are empowered to become. Exploring our physical surroundings (buildings, landscapes, objects, streets, spaces, habitats, wildlife) where we live can also provide us with a sense of rootedness and connection to those we live with and among. Volunteering is a great way for people who live in a place to meet each other and connect to their shared environment and stories.
Join Make Your Mark
Join 100+ volunteer-involving heritage organisations in Scotland who are working together to make heritage volunteering for all.