Edinburgh Festival Fringe‘s first ever World Fringe Day launched today at WHALE Arts along with the Fringe Days Out project.

World Fringe Day is an international day of celebration joining more than 200 fringes from across the world to reflect on the collective power and worldwide reach of the fringe movement. 2017 is the 70th anniversary of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the world’s first fringe.

The Fringe Days Out project, which has been developed in partnership with Lothian Buses, will see 26 charities allocated a mix of single days out, which include an all-day travel pass and a £12 box office voucher, or a family trip, for two adults and up to three children, which will include £60 worth of vouchers.

Fringe Chief Executive Shona McCarthy said:

Here in Edinburgh we are focusing on saying thank you to the city and people of Edinburgh for supporting the Fringe over the last 70 years. We work to improve access to the Fringe wherever possible with the aim of making it the most inclusive festival in the world.

WHALE Arts Director Allan Farmer said:

As the cultural anchor organisation in Wester Hailes WHALE works hard to be recognised by local people as the vibrant, creative heart of our community and by our cultural partners as the organisation to connect them with Wester Hailes.

This innovative partnership with the Edinburgh Festival Fringe perfectly encapsulates our creative and collaborative approach.

It will provide amazing opportunities for local people in Wester Hailes to engage with the Fringe. For many this will be their first time at the Fringe, and we look forward to continuing our partnership with the Edinburgh Festival Fringe to ensure it is not their last.

WHALE Arts – Creative Placemaker
35 hours per week

Supported by the Big Lottery Fund, ‘Creative, Connected, Community’ is an exciting three year programme that will use Creative Placemaking to deliver a lasting, transformational, community-led change for Wester Hailes.

Pivotal to the success of this approach is an innovative new Creative Placemaker role. The postholder will work with local residents in the different neighbourhoods of Wester Hailes to develop and deliver a programme of regular creative activities, one-off events, and participatory public art installations that respond to local assets and aspirations.

Main Activities and Key Responsibilities

• To ensure the views, assets and aspirations of local people underpin all aspects of the project.
• To manage and, at times, directly deliver a programme of creative placemaking activities in Wester Hailes – including regular creative sessions, one-off events and public artworks.
• Recruit and line manage artists, sessional workers and volunteers to deliver and support projects.
• Setting and controlling project budgets in line with WHALE Arts’ finance systems.
• Develop and manage a range of volunteer opportunities within the creative placemaking programme.
• Develop and support a voluntary steering group to assist with planning and delivery of creative community activities and Wester Hailes’ 50th Anniversary Celebrations.
• Create partnership opportunities with local community organisations, public bodies, creative and cultural partners.
• Plan, coordinate and deliver community events.
• Utilise and develop volunteering policies, procedures and databases.
• Monitor and evaluate participation using central WHALE Arts’ systems and participative methods, in line with funding requirements.
• Ensure a legacy of best practice and sustained community participation.
• Monitor and evaluate performance of the ‘Creative, Connected, Community’ placemaking programme towards target outputs and outcomes.
• Ensure all project funding requirements are met, reports completed and effective communication maintained with funders.

Other Duties

• To be a key holder, opening and securing the building out of office hours where required.
• To carry out regular reception duties to cover receptionist.
• To support the development of the WHALE Arts Agency programme, systems, policies and procedures.
• To comply with relevant WHALE Arts Agency policies.
• To undertake any relevant training in relation to the post.

Job descriptions cannot be exhaustive and the post-holder may, from time-to-time, be required to undertake other duties, which are broadly in line with the above key responsibilities.

Recruitment Details

Essential skills:
• Educated to degree level in a creative arts discipline.

Minimum three years experience in:
• Conceiving and delivering community arts projects as a creative practitioner.
• Managing the development and delivery of creative projects and programmes.
• Successful partnership working with a range of stakeholders.
• Project management including managing budgets, monitoring and evaluation, recruitment and management of staff and volunteers.
• Community engagement and community event management.
• Supporting volunteers in creative or community settings.
• A commitment to and understanding of the importance of community-led development.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, able to work without supervision and as part of a team.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

Desirable Skills:
• Experience of Placemaking processes within an urban environment.
• Knowledge of Wester Hailes community, local organisations and services.

Application Process

Apply in writing or by email, enclosing/attaching:
• An up to date CV detailing relevant education and employment experience.
• A covering letter demonstrating how your skills meet the Essential and Desirable Skills criteria of the job description.
• Details of two referees, including at least one previous employer.

Applications should arrive at WHALE Arts Agency no later than 13:00 on Monday 24th July 2017. Late applications will not be considered.

The successful candidate will be appointment to the role subject to confirmation of PVG Scheme Membership.

Equal Opportunities Monitoring

WHALE Arts Agency is committed to recruiting high quality candidates whose skills and experience are most suited to the job regardless of sex, race, colour, ethnic or national origin, religion (or beliefs), marital status, sexual orientation (or perceived sexual orientation), disability, age or political affiliation.

Please complete the Equal Opportunities form below. This information is for monitoring purposes only, will be treated as confidential and will not be used in the selection process.

Contact Details:
Allan Farmer

WHALE Arts Agency
30 Westburn Grove
Edinburgh
EH14 2SA

0131 458 3267

allan@whalearts.co.uk

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We’re delighted to share details of our upcoming WHALE Community Cinema programme. We’ll be working with Scalarama, a nationwide celebration of cinema taking place in September, Luminate, Scotland’s creative ageing festival, and screening short films from the Scottish Documentary Institute.

Monthly screenings are free or low cost, and we always offer free refreshments to attendees. The cinema is run by volunteers and is a proud member of Film Hub Scotland. For full buy clonazepam online usa updates please follow us on Facebook.

The cinema was established by Meghan Bidwell April 2016 as part of the Grow Your Own Cinema project. If you would like to join our team of volunteers (ages 18+) please get in touch on info@whalearts.co.uk

WHALE Arts has joined over 800 other organisations across Scotland to become an accredited Living Wage employer.

The Living Wage commitment will see everyone working at WHALE Arts, regardless of whether they are permanent employees or third-party contractors, receive a real Living Wage of at least £8.45 per hour, which is significantly higher than government minimum wage of £6.70 and the new minimum wage premium for over 25s of £7.20 per hour introduced last April. Full time employees earning the real Living Wage earn £45 a week more than those on the government minimum.

The real Living Wage is an hourly rate, calculated annually by the Resolution Foundation and overseen by the Living Wage Commission, based on the best available evidence on living standards in the UK.

Employers choose to pay the real Living Wage on a voluntary basis. The Living Wage Foundation, The Poverty Alliance and the Scottish Living Wage Campaign believe that work should be the surest way out of poverty.

WHALE Arts Board Member Susan Gibson said:

Innovative efforts to tackle poverty and inequality are at the heart of WHALE’s creative work in Wester Hailes. Becoming a Living Wage employer helps to highlight this issue on a national level and has a positive financial impact at a local level in Wester Hailes.

Peter Kelly, Director of the Poverty Alliance commented:

Over two thirds of the children that are living in poverty in Scotland are living in a household where at least one adult works. This shows that work is not working as an effective route out of poverty and paying the real Living Wage is one of the key tools at our disposal to help make an impact on this. We are delighted to congratulate WHALE Arts Agency on becoming a Living Wage employer. Paying the real Living Wage makes a huge difference to people’s lives, and employers can enjoy a range of business benefits too, including increased productivity, increased staff retention and lower rates of absenteeism.

WHALE Arts – Genealogist

We are currently looking to recruit a genealogist to support our Heritage Lottery funded project ‘Wester Hailes: Your Story, Our Story’.

The genealogist will work with adult participants to discover their family history and learn how they came to live in Wester Hailes. The genealogist will plan, prepare and deliver the ancestry sessions, as well as source appropriate materials, in agreement with the project manager. The genealogist will teach participants how to access Edinburgh’s libraries and archives through a series of research trips and will document the progress of the project.

Content:
24 x 2 hour teaching sessions
16 x 2 hour group trips

Timescale:
The project is to be completed by January 2018.

Payment: £2450

Requirements:
Genealogist must have appropriate skills and experience as per the Person Specification. This role is conditional upon receipt of a satisfactory Enhanced Disclosure Scotland certificate or PVG certificate.

Application Process:
Applications should be submitted no later than 17:00 on Friday 9 June 2017.
Please email your CV (no longer than two pages) and cover letter to: info@whalearts.co.uk using ‘Genealogist’ as your subject heading.

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