The Director of the Volunteer Service is Mikhail Yuryevich Kozhukhovsky, junior researcher at the State Hermitage.

The Volunteer Service was created in May 2003 to help the departments of the State Hermitage during the celebration marking the 300th anniversary of St Petersburg.

Since its creation, the Volunteer Service has become an essential part of the inner life of the museum. An organizational structure has been given to the Service and schemes have been developed for the cooperation of volunteers with the museum departments. Certain priorities have been established for the work both in the Hermitage and outside it.

The Service is constantly being renewed by drawing in new volunteers. At the same time, a team of people dedicated to this cause has formed. Among the volunteers and the established team are people of different nationalities, ages and professions that diversify the Service.

At the present time there are several dozen volunteers from Russia, Switzerland, the USA, Germany, France, Spain, Italy and various other countries working in the Hermitage. Among them are linguists, art historians, journalists, teachers, managers and other specialists. By working with professionals, the Service is able to accomplish many different and interesting projects. Also, even after our volunteers leave and go back home, they try to keep in touch with the Service and its other members. Because of this, the Service has a widely established international network of contacts.

At the same time, the Service is mainly made up of young people who are interested in the program. Most of our volunteers are students that are still in school or enrolled in a university for whom the State Hermitage is an important and central part of their lives.