Volunteering - bookshop/conservatio n?

The NT second hand bookshops are in many, if not all of their properties.
This link might help

www.nationaltrust.org.uk/support-us/donate/national-trust-second-hand-bookshops

I volunteered at an Oxfam book shop in a market town about ten years ago. It was a really good shop and sold music and music related related stuff too.
I had been suffering from depression and the Jobcentre were “keen” that I do some voluntary work as a way of gaining recent work experience to add to my CV.

I volunteered for Saturdays for the whole day, the least popular day from 9 to 5 and liked it, though some of the long time volunteers were a bit cliquish and it was clear they preferred University students.
I did it for about 3 months ( not easy when having to travel on infrequent buses from a village) but it was a nice town to visit and I could never seem to leave the shop without at least three books, they had such a brilliant collection.
Sadly for me I kept being pressurised (by the Oxfam organisation) - not the shop, to provide references with named contacts -even though I hadn’t worked for ten years, and I couldn’t.
This rather soured the whole experience so I left and volunteered for Mind instead, much more inclusive…but miss the 📚

All the libraries where I live are community libraries and are run mainly by volunteers. So I’d start with your local library.

Many local libraries are now staffed by volunteers but its a very popular job and hard to get. I used to be a librarian and am very sad to see how a once respected profession has deteriorated in this country. There are now very few jobs for librarians in public libraries. I left to go to uni at just the right time.

You could always volunteer to help out in a local book shop on an "expenses only" basis. I am sure they could always use someone to unpack and shelve stock and keep the place generally tidy.

Have you ever thought of starting a business based on selling second hand books? I have an aquaintance (ex librarian) who goes around the charity shops and car boots buying up stock. She grades and prices them, packs them into cartons, and then the UPS van takes them off to the nearest Amazon warehouse. She finds it a good little side hustle. You could begin small with a subject area you are really interested in and have some knowledge of.

Bury St. Edmunds has an Oxfam bookshop. All the Suffolk and Cambridgeshire NT places have book shops

Our local town has Oxfam and Age UK bookshops, maybe you could volunteer if there’s one near you.

In Nantwich there is a Book Shop cafe that would be a nice mix and see lots of adults too with a small wage if that would be a good thing for you.

Do you live in a large town? Sometimes there are cultural centres that need books logging and re cataloguing. What about volunteering to digitalise archived documents or volunteering in an archive?

Thank you for your repsonses. I have just tried to find a list of National Trust Bookshops but can't seem to find one.

Which area is your friend based (a bit of a long shot)? I'm not getting the impression there is one in this area.

Have you thought about volunteering in a public library?

Locally, the Wildlife Trust volunteers tend to spend hours clearing sites of unwelcome plants - I don't know whether that is something that might interest you?

Our local RSPB reserve has a lot of volunteers in a number of roles - some involve taking people on tours around the reserve to look for, say, wildflowers, mammals, and birds, of course.

Any of the above could give lots of adult company.

Do you have National Trust book shop or barn near you. My friend volunteers at a local NT book barn which is literally packed floor to ceiling with books and they are priced very sensibly to sell. She says they can easily sell £2,000 worth on a Saturday alone. she loves it!