Whale Arts Agency

Wester Hailes Arts for Leisure and Education

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ARTS & WELLBEING PROGRAM DELIVERY ASSISTANT

June 16, 2022 By Whale Arts

JOB DESCRIPTION

Job TitleArts & Wellbeing program delivery assistant
Accountable toArts & Wellbeing Manager
Personnel responsible for 
LocationWHALE Arts Centre, 30 Westburn Grove, EH142SA
Hours of Work3 days per week
Contract LengthUntil End March 2023
Salary£18,000 pro-rata      

About the project

The Arts & Wellbeing Programme at WHALE Arts consists of a range of therapeutic, social, creative, self-directed & entrepreneurial groups.  The overarching aim of the program is to promote, nurture and enhance people’s well-being by providing opportunities to make positive social connections and engage in a wide range of creative activities.

We currently have 7 groups in our Arts &Wellbeing program, each delivered by a freelance artist/facilitator. We also have our Community Meal and Community Garden which support a number of volunteers and Pod Press – our Riso printer and publishing project which is a fantastic resource that all of our groups can access as well as members in the Wester Hailes and wider community.

On top of our own regular groups, WHALE Arts works in partnership with other organizations delivering their own short-term projects and ongoing groups at WHALE Arts. During the summer many of our adult groups take a break from their regular sessions and instead go on a range of trips, special workshops, and events.

We are looking for someone to help support the overall delivery of the Arts and Wellbeing program and the participants who take part.

About the role

This is a new role set up to support the delivery of the Arts and Wellbeing program at WHALE Arts. The day-to-day tasks will include a mix of hands-on practical support including supporting groups on trips, organizing lunches, ensuring project registers are filled in and collected, and supporting group facilitators when needed. Logistical support including booking/coordinating transport for trips. Creative support, including designing flyers for groups, events, or projects, and emotional support, including supporting participants many of whom have complex and challenging lives. This is not an exhaustive list and there may be other tasks involved in the role.

The person we are looking for…

  • is a real people person
  • is resilient, flexible, and practical
  • can respond calmly and effectively in challenging situations
  • has excellent communication and interpersonal skills
  • can connect and engage with people who have diverse interests, needs, and abilities
  • is hard working and a great team player,
  • treats people fairly and values the contributions others make,
  • appreciates diversity,
  • is open-minded and inclusive.  

The person we are looking for will have experience of…

  • Working with people who have diverse and complex needs
  • Supporting the creative arts within a community setting
  • Supporting groups and individuals
  • Safeguarding – specifically in relation to vulnerable adults
  • Working on their own initiative within a larger creative team

They will also need to have…

  • The ability to build trust and to welcome all people including those with diverse needs, those from diverse cultural and economic backgrounds, and facing additional barriers
  • An understanding of complex needs in adults, mental health and wellbeing, and the specific challenges facing these groups
  • Excellent time management and organizational skills

Ideally but not essential, they will have…

  • A knowledge of Wester Hailes
  • An understanding of the issues facing people living in areas of deprivation
  • Experience in using the arts to address community issues

Confidence can sometimes hold us back from applying for a job – we don’t want this to be the case for you. However you identify and whatever background you bring, if this role feels like something that would make you excited about getting up and coming to work then please apply!

APPLICATION PROCESS

To apply for this role we would like you to send us a short statement describing why you feel you would be a great fit for the role with reference to the qualities, skills, and experiences highlighted above.

We would also like you to include an example of …

  • A time when you have had to deal with a challenging situation at work. Please tell us about the situation, what you did, and how the situation was resolved
  • A time when you have worked with/engaged with a group of people with diverse interests, needs, and abilities. Please tell us how you built trust with this group and describe any difficulties or challenges and how you addressed them
  • A safeguarding issue or incident that you have been involved with – please describe the issue/incident, what was your role, and how was the situation resolved?

You can submit your answers as a written document or an audio recording or a video

  • Written documents should be no more than 3 pages (A4)
  • Audio and video recordings should be no more than 5 minutes long
  • We also need you to provide details of two referees, including at least one previous employer

Please send your application, in whatever format you choose, by email to recruitment@whalearts.co.uk using Arts & Wellbeing program delivery assistant

in the subject line. Please include details of your referees in your email.

If you have any questions about the role please email Kirsty, the Arts and Wellbeing Manager  kirsty@whalearts.co.uk

The deadline for applications is Wednesday 29thth June at 12.00 noon. Interviews will take place in the week of the 4th of July.

Filed Under: Vacancies

Young People Programmes Lead

May 20, 2022 By Whale Arts

Job Title                     Young People Programmes Lead

Reports to                  Head of Programmes and Projects

Location                     WHALE Arts, Wester Hailes 

Contracted Hours     28 hours a week. Flexible hours to meet the demands of the post, including evenings and weekends where required and particularly during school holidays

Contract                     Fixed term 

Salary and Benefits  £24,500 full-time / £ pro rata

Role Purpose

The Young People Programmes Lead develops and deliver a programme of arts activities for young people aged between 0 and 18 at WHALE Arts Centre, across Wester Hailes, and with partner venues.

Main Duties

  1. To oversee an exciting, engaging and responsive programme of creative activities for young people, children, schools and families of all ages and abilities with a range of needs and aspirations.
  2. To co-ordinate the delivery team of freelance artists, tutors, volunteers, students, trainee artist tutors and youth workers
  1. To develop and co-design high quality, fun, creative projects with children and young people, in response to identified need. Working with partners to deliver programmes that deliver WHALE Arts strategy and vision.
  2. To remove barriers to access, ensure safety and to support young people to take part in activities with WHALE Arts.

Scope of the Job

Strategy & Policy

  • Work with the Head of Programmes to develop the Young Peoples Programme
  • Meet the aims and objectives of our business plan, and reporting outcomes on a quarterly and annual basis. 

Finance

  • Manage project budgets, receiving invoices for processing, making purchases in line with agreed budgets.
  • Use WHALE Arts finance systems to plan, monitor and record project budgets.

Fundraising & Income Generation

  • Ensuring all project funding requirements are met, reports completed, and effective communication maintained with funders.
  • Working on funding applications and reporting young people’s programmes to funders

People Management – Staff, Freelancers, Volunteers

  •  Work with Freelance Project Co-ordinators to support and develop a team of delivery staff to co-ordinate and deliver sessions including freelance Artists, Youth and Support Workers.
  • Review and implement appropriate training and policies. 
  • Support and manage volunteers working with Young People’s projects, ensuring best safeguarding practice and clarity on roles and development opportunities.

Data, Evaluation, Reporting

  • Ensure that all project monitoring data is captured, and reports produced for internal purposes and for funders. This includes participant application forms, registers and recorded and accredited outcome forms.
  • Monitoring and evaluating projects using participative methods, in line with funding requirements and in support of the development of future projects.
  • Collecting project data, maintaining project databases and filing in line with WHALE systems.
  • Registering and monitoring participation using registration systems.
  • Undertake evaluation and reporting via Outnav.

Facilities, Operations

  • Work closely with the WHALE Arts team to ensure the safety of the building for young participants from a Health and Safety and a Child Protection perspective. 
  • Working with the Head of Programmes and Projects, take an active role in ensuring WHALE Arts’ Equal Opportunities and Child Protection Policies are understood and observed by all staff and users of the building. 

Projects & Programming

  • Plan, develop and manage WHALE Arts programme for children, young people, schoolsandfamilies
  • Create, coordinate and project manage participatory arts projects at WHALE Arts, monitored by outcomes, evaluation and accreditation, while ensuring young people’s pastoral care and wellbeing.
  • Maintain existing levels of accreditation and relevant outcomes across the youth arts programme. 
  • Ensure projects are delivered to specification, budget and on time, with all appropriate monitoring for funders carried out and reported appropriately. 
  • Facilitation of sessions, to include booking of rooms; preparation of resources; briefing of artists, sessional staff and volunteers; ensuring health and safety of participants and staff during sessions; evaluating sessions.
  • Taking an active role in the WHALE Arts programming team, including contributing to strategy and organisational targets, planning and evaluation in addition to hands on support for colleagues when required.

Safeguarding

  • Act as one of the organisation’s Child Protection Designated Persons, ensuring that all staff and volunteers are inducted through WHALE Arts’ Child Protection Policy and undergo a sufficient PVG check prior to working on our programmes with children and young people.

Marketing and Communications

  • Marketing and recruiting participants for projects.
  • Attending meetings to represent WHALE Arts at local, citywide and national networks and
    forums.
  • Contribute to website, social media, newsletters and other marketing

Community and Network Development, Regeneration and Placemaking.

  • Understand the demographics, assets and needs of the community we work with and maintain excellent relationships with the young people, families, key community figures and arts providers.
  • Nurture relationships with key community members and providers to foster local commitment and support.
  • Work with partners and others to co-design projects and programmes.
  • Represent WHALE at forums and partnership groups

Other Duties

  • To be a key holder, opening and securing the building out of office hours when required.
  • To help with reception cover occasionally ad-hoc to support the team when required.
  • 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.

Apply by email recruitment@whalearts.co.uk, subject line YP Programmes Lead attaching:

•            An up to date CV detailing relevant education and employment experience.

•            A covering letter demonstrating how your skills meet the  Person Specification ( max 2 pages)

•            Details of two referees, including at least one previous employer.

Closing 9AM on 30TH May, interviews 9TH June

Filed Under: Vacancies

CREATE COMMUNITY WEALTH (Culture Collective)

April 22, 2022 By Whale Arts

SUPPORTING CREATIVE JOB DESCRIPTION

Job Title: CREATE COMMUNITY WEALTH – SUPPORTING CREATIVE
Accountable to: WHALE Art’s Create Community Wealth Project Lead
Personnel responsible for: N/A
Location: To work between WHALE Arts Centre & North Edinburgh Arts in the Wester Hailes and North Edinburgh areas
Hours of Work: 16 hours per week (2 x days per week, can be arranged on a flexible basis in line with the needs of the project)
Contract Length: 17 months (June 2022-October 2023)
Salary: £238 per day (£35,938 over 17 months)


PROJECT SUMMARY:
Create Community Wealth is an exciting long-term collaborative project that aims to develop micro-enterprises across the communities in Wester Hailes and Muirhouse in Edinburgh.


Inspired by the grassroots movement of the Granby Four Streets in Liverpool and other Community Wealth Building initiatives around the world, this project aims to tackle social exclusion and improve wellbeing and local economic prospects through creativity.

Create Community Wealth is part of a wider national Culture Collective programme and is a partnership between WHALE Arts, North Edinburgh Arts, SCOREscotland and Passion4Fusion.

The project will embed a team of freelance creative people within the communities of North Edinburgh and Wester Hailes to engage with locals and help them to create and develop unique products and services. These products and services could include arts and handmade crafts, food and drink products, wellbeing and creative services that reflect the needs and wants of the community. The long-term goal of the project is to work with the community to develop sustainable selling platforms. This could include regular street markets but may evolve into other opportunities as the project progresses.


SUPPORTING CREATIVE – ROLE SPECIFICATION
We are recruiting three (3) Supporting Creatives to join the Create Community Wealth team and assist our Lead Creatives with the overall delivery and development of the project.
For this role, we are looking for creative people with 3+ years’ experience in their field who are confident in their capacity to be able to share skills and knowledge, be key members of a wider team, think outside the box and be a source of inspiration to others. We are looking for individuals who have an interest in using their creative skills to support the delivery of activities and the wider project in response to the needs and wants of participants. Due to the dynamic and experimental nature of this project, the roles will require good problem-solving skills, flexibility and a hands-on approach.
Working as part of a small team of freelancers (2 Lead Creatives, 3 Supporting Creatives and 1 Project Documenter), you will be supported by the Create Community Wealth Project Lead and key staff from the project’s four partner organisations – WHALE Arts, North Edinburgh Arts, SCOREscotland and Passion4Fusion.

We are particularly interested in people who understand the importance of the role creativity can play in helping communities flourish, and who may have previous entrepreneurial experience in managing their creative practice as sole traders or micro-businesses.

We encourage applications from all creative backgrounds, including (but not limited to) potters, artisans, designers, makers, sculptors, crafters, musicians, performance artists, painters. One area of community interest is ceramics/pottery, so we would welcome applications from individuals who could share their knowledge and skills in this area. However, we would be delighted to see applications from candidates with a range of skills across different art forms to match the diversity of interests within the community.

Deadline for applications is Friday 6th May
Interviews will be held on Wednesday 18th May

For further information, please contact: shirin@whalearts.co.uk


SUPPORTING CREATIVE – PERSON SPECIFICATION
The main components to this role are:
– Being able to inspire, nurture confidence and work with Lead Creatives to support community members to develop their own ideas, products and/or services
– Assisting the Lead Creatives in the overall delivery and development of the project. This will include; helping in the preparation, set up and delivery of group sessions and workshops, contributing and sharing specialist skills where appropriate, attending team meetings, and contributing to project development and evaluation.
– Being a key member of the project team to ensure the smooth running of the project and attending specific training sessions and wider network events as required
We’re looking for someone who is…
– Well-organised, hard-working and a good team player • Creative and experienced in their chosen skill/craft/specialism(s) • A great communicator who is experienced in communicating with a diverse range of people, including those who speak different languages • Has an understanding of the issues facing people living in areas of deprivation • Open-minded and committed to promoting equality, diversity and inclusion • Self-motivated and able to use their own initiative • Able to think expansively, to recognise opportunities and challenge assumptions
You will have experience of…
– Supporting groups of adults and sharing your specialist skills with others
– Working with culturally diverse communities and people facing additional barriers
Ideally but not essential, you may have…

  • A knowledge of Wester Hailes and/or North Edinburgh communities
  • Experience in using the arts to address community issues
  • The ability to speak more than one language would be an advantage
  • Small business development and entrepreneurial skills would also be welcomed

    SUPPORTING CREATIVE – APPLICATION PROCESS To apply, please tell us about your experience and outline why you feel you would be a great fit for the role and wider project. We’d like to know:
  • what specific skills/talents/ideas you could bring to this role
  • examples of how you have worked within culturally diverse communities and/or with those living in areas of deprivation, and;
  • an example of your role in supporting someone/a group to achieve a goal or overcome a problem, with reference to the opportunity/challenges that you faced.

    You can submit your answers as a written document or an audio recording or a video. Written documents should be no more than 3 pages (A4). Audio and video recordings should be no more than 5 minutes long. We also need you to provide details of two referees, including at least one previous employer. Please send your application, in whatever format you choose, by email to recruitment@whalearts.co.uk using Create Community Wealth Supporting Creative in the subject line. Please include details of your referees in your email. Please do not send questions about the role to this email address as it will not be monitored on a daily basis. We are happy to answer any questions about this role, please send your questions to: Shirin Karbor, Project Lead, Create Community Wealth – shirin@whalearts.co.uk 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. We would be grateful if you would complete the Equal Opportunities form – see below. This information is for monitoring purposes only, it will be treated as confidential and will not be used in the selection process. We acknowledge that if you submit a video recording, certain characteristics such as gender or colour may be evident to the shortlisting team. We will do our best to mitigate any unconscious bias by ensuring both the shortlisting team and interview panel are as culturally diverse as possible. Confidence can sometimes hold us back from applying for a job – we do not want this to be the case for you. However you identify and whatever background you bring, if this role feels like something that would make you excited about getting up and coming to work then please apply.

Filed Under: Vacancies

VOLUNTEERING OPPORTUNITY: Bakery Assistant

August 27, 2021 By Whale Arts

Bakery-Assistant_leafletposter

Volunteer Role:                    Baker’s Assistant

Volunteer Link Worker:          Baker

Location:                    WHALE Arts Centre

Hours of Volunteering:  Thursdays 12pm-4pm

The Volunteer Bakery Assistant will be available every Thursday afternoon to help WHALE Arts Baker produce delicious and nutritious baked goods for the community. They will assist in the running of our kitchen/bakery set up, with tasks such as weighing, preparing ingredients, following recipes, cake decoration, cleaning utensils, etc

They will require:

  • A sensitive and calm approach
  • Good communication skills
  • Flexibility
  • To comply with health & safety standards, strict hygiene procedures, and food safety laws
  • No experience needed

Duties

  • Assist with cakes, biscuits and other baked goods preparation
  • Assist with cleaning/dishwashing
  • Following COVID-19 guidelines for working inside

Training

  • Full training for this role and an induction into the organisation will be given.
  • Level 2 Food Hygiene Certificate training will be paid for by the organisation to fulfil the role.
  • Any other relevant training and opportunities may be arranged with the link worker and volunteer coordinator.

Expenses

All volunteers are entitled to claim reasonably incurred travel expenses, whilst carrying out their role.

Boundaries of Role:   To work within Whale Arts policies and procedures outlined in the volunteer agreement, including code of conduct, GDPR and confidentiality.

To apply for the role or for further Information please contact WHALE Arts:

Email: info@whalearts.co.uk

Phone: 0131 458 3267

Filed Under: Vacancies

WHALE’S MALES MAKING GROUP FACILITATOR

July 2, 2021 By Whale Arts

Job TitleWHALE’S Males Making Group Facilitator 
Accountable toWHALE Arts 
Personnel responsible forVolunteer Support Worker 
LocationWHALE Arts Centre, 30 Westburn Grove, EH142SA
Hours of Work3 Hours per week 
Contract LengthUntil End March 2022
Salary £25/hour

About the project

Based at WHALE Arts, WHALE’s Males is made up of two groups – a walking group and a making group. The groups exist to support men from the local area with the overall aim of promoting positive wellbeing through engaging them in either making or walking activites – or both. 

The making group, which was originally known as Men’s Makers,  was started in 2019. It was initially modeled on the Men’s Shed movement and, in the beginning, it focused mainly on woodwork. 

The group has faced many challenges – not least the COVID-19 pandemic which forced us to pause the group completely. We decided to add a walking group and, at the end of last year, we re-branded the group as WHALE’s Males. The walking group – WHALE’s Males Walking was able to start up in June 2021 and we are now looking for someone to re-start and facilitate the WHALE’s Males making group. 

About the role

We are looking for a freelance Making Group Facilitator – someone who can support a group of men to engage in practical and creative making projects. 

The person we are looking for…

  • is calm, well-organised and kind
  • is hard-working and a good team player.
  • treats people fairly and values the contributions others make
  • appreciates diversity, and is open-minded and inclusive.  

The person we are looking for will have experience of…

  • Working with tools – hand tools and powertools 
  • Woodwork or joinery, carpentry, sculpture or other similar skill set
  • Health and Safety within a workshop setting
  • Working with people 
  • Facilitating groups for adults 
  • Working in a community setting 
  • Delivering projects within a given budget 
  • Monitoring and evaluating projects 

They will also need to have… 

  • The ability to build trust and to welcome all people including those from diverse cultural and economic backgrounds facing additional barriers
  • Excellent communication skills
  • An understanding of mental health and wellbeing and the specific challenges facing men 
  • the ability to work as part of a team
  • self-motivation and the ability to use their own initiative 
  • Empathy and kindness

Ideally but not essential, they will have…

  • A knowledge of Wester Hailes 
  • An understanding of the issues facing people living in areas of deprivation 
  • Experience in using the arts to address community issues

Confidence can sometimes hold us back from applying for a job – we don’t want this to be the case for you. However you identify and whatever background you bring, if this role feels like something that would make you excited about getting up and coming to work then please apply! 

APPLICATION PROCESS

  • To apply for this role we would like you to anwer 3 questions – see below 
  • You can submit your answers as a written doument or an audio recording or a video
  • Written documents should be no more than 2 pages (A4)
  • Audio and Video recordings should be no more than 4 minutes long
  • We also need you to provide details of two referees, including at least one previous employer
  • Please send your application, in whatever format you choose, by email to recruitment@whalearts.co.uk using WHALE’S Males Making Group Facilitator in the subject line. Please include details of your referees in your email.

Please don’t send questions about the role to this email address as it will not be monitored on a daily basis. We are happy to answer any questions about this role and questions should be sent to Kirsty Frankland:

Kirsty Frankland         kirsty@whalearts.co.uk

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. We would be grateful if you would complete the Equal Opportunities form – see below. This information is for monitoring purposes only, will be treated as confidential and will not be used in the selection process. We acknowledge that if you submit a video recording, certain characteristics such as gender or colour may be evident to the shorlisting team. We will do our best to mitigate any unconscious bias by ensuring both the shortlisting team and interview panel are as culturaly diverse as possible.

Applications open on Friday 2nd July and close on Monday 23rd August, 5pm. Late applications will not be considered. 

Interviews will be held in the week commencing 30th August

THE 4 QUESTIONS …

1 MAKING

We are looking for someone who is an experienced maker – whether that be woodwork, metal work, sculpture or another form of making. We want to find someone who can start with an idea and turn it in to a finished product and someone who is comfortable and confident using a range of hand and power tools. 

We would like you to tell us about your experience of making. For example…

  • Tell us what sort of materials you work/have worked with and what sort of things you like to make?
  • Tell us about the types of tools you are used to working with? 
  • Give us an example of a project you have worked on from start to finish?
  • Tell us about some of the challenges you have faced in the making process and how you have overcome these?

2 WORKING WITH PEOPLE 

We need someone who can work well with people from diverse backgrounds. Someone who can help and support other people to realise their own ideas. We need someone who is patient and calm, has a good working knowledge of health and safety in a workshop setting and can support, educate and assist people to use tools safely. 

Please give us some examples from your life or work when you have had to…

  • Support others to complete a creative/making project
  • Help others to use tools safely 
  • Deal with a challenging situation in a workshop or group setting 

3 SUPPORTING WELLBEING 

The overall aim of this project is to support positive wellbeing for a group a men through engaging them in making activities. How this project develops will be shaped by the needs and wants of the men involved but ultimately you will be driving this project forward. 

We would like you to tell us why you think you’d be great in this role. You can give examples of… 

  • When you have worked creatively with people and have made an improvement in their lives
  • Helped others to achieve their goals
  • Any experience you have of supporting people with their wellbeing 
  • Any examples of transferable skills that you think would be relevant

Thank you for taking the the time to apply and we wish you the best of luck.

Filed Under: Vacancies

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WHALE Arts is …

... the cultural anchor organisation for Wester Hailes. We are a community-led arts charity and social enterprise, set up by local people in 1992. Our mission is to be the creative heart of a vibrant, thriving community.

WHALE Arts

30 Westburn Grove,
Edinburgh,
EH14 2SA
0131 458 3267
info@whalearts.co.uk

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