Chance to be museum guide | Rotorua News | Local News in Rotorua

The Rotorua Museum is looking for more volunteers to help enhance its visitor experience.

Since its inception 11 years ago, more than 200 volunteer guides, known as docents, have been trained and gone on to provide free tours for the museum's visitors.

The band of 85 dedicated volunteers offer eight tours a day to the museum's national and international visitors.

Each docent has undergone a 15-week training programme before hosting visitors and will continue to take part in ongoing education programmes.

Recruitment is under way for the next training course, which starts on Tuesday, February 14.

Docent co-ordinator Ann Somerville said people did not need to be experts on art history to become a volunteer.

"We're looking for an ability to communicate and enthusiasm, and people will need to be able to commit to doing one weekly guided tour for a year after their training finishes."

Museum director Greg McManus said the service was important to the "face" the museum presented to visitors and performed a key service.

"I don't know of too many other museums in New Zealand that offer eight free guided tours a day, so our docent programme really is an industry leader in this country."

He said more than 100,000 people visited the Rotorua Museum every year, with many experiencing true "manaakitanga" from an enthusiastic and committed group of volunteers.