Whale Arts Agency

Wester Hailes Arts for Leisure and Education

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Vacancy: Marketing and Communications Lead

04/06/2025 By Whale Arts

WHALE Arts marketing and communications Lead Job advert featured image graphic for website and social media with details on 14th July 9am deadline

We are seeking a creative, well organised self-starter to develop and deliver engaging content communicating the impact of our work and connecting us to our community, partners, artists and funders.

Permanent
Part-Time – 14 hours a week
£26,326 pro-rata
Based at WHALE Arts Centre, Wester Hailes, Edinburgh, EH14 2SA

WHALE Arts is a community-led arts charity and social enterprise based in Wester Hailes, Edinburgh. Our vision is for a creative, thriving, resilient community. We provide access to inspiring creative opportunities, working in partnership with local people and artists to support community-led development through the arts.

We are seeking a creative and organised Marketing and Communications Lead to tell the story of WHALE Arts. Working closely with our team, you’ll lead on marketing and communications across the organisation, ensuring consistent, confident messaging and brand identity across digital and print platforms. You’ll support audience development, promote our programmes and events, manage media relations, and ensure our communications are accessible and inclusive.

Key Responsibilities

  • Develop and implement WHALE’s Communications and Engagement Strategy.
  • Create and manage engaging content for our website, social media channels, newsletters, and printed materials.
  • Support audience development and fundraising goals by expanding reach and participation.
  • Maintain brand consistency in messaging, tone, and visual identity.
  • Manage press and media relations, including writing and distributing press releases.
  • Work collaboratively with programme staff to ensure timely and effective promotion of events.
  • Use analytics and feedback to evaluate communications performance and inform strategy.
  • Lead on ensuring digital accessibility and safeguarding standards across communications.
  • Manage film/photography permissions, ensuring GDPR and safeguarding compliance.
  • Oversee marketing budget and maintain relevant databases and digital tools.
  • Collate audience data and support reporting and evaluation alongside the Front of House team.

We’re looking for someone who is enthusiastic about community arts and social impact, with a flair for storytelling, visual communication, and audience engagement. You’ll have experience in managing social media and websites, be confident in coordinating campaigns, and understand the importance of accessible, inclusive communication.

How to Apply

Click the links below to download the full job description and Equality and Diversity Monitoring Form:

  • Job Description
  • Equality and Diversity Monitoring Form

To apply, please send your CV and a covering letter (or max 5 minute video/audio statement) explaining your suitability for the role to recruitment@whalearts.co.uk by 9.00am on 14 July 2025. Interviews will take place on Wednesday 23 July.

For further information, please contact info@whalearts.co.uk (Kate Griffin), or call 0131 458 3267.

Filed Under: News, Vacancies Tagged With: vacancies, Wester Hailes, WHALE Arts

Volunteering Opportunities for our Creative Arts and Wellbeing Programme  

31/01/2025 By Whale Arts

We are looking for some volunteers to support our Men’s Makers sessions and Open Studio sessions.


Open Studio Support

Open Studio is a space for people to come to try a new creative process or work on their own creative projects.

We are looking for a volunteer who will be there to help set up, chat to and support participants and help clear away afterwards.

Tuesdays, 9.30am-12.45pm and/or Thursdays 1pm-4.15pm 

More information: Creative Arts Programme Volunteer_Open Studio Support Role Description


Men’s Makers Support

Men’s Makers is a social session for men to come and develop their making skills. 

We are looking for a volunteer who identifies as male, to help set up, support the lead artist to run the sessions and serve up a meal.

Wednesdays, 10am – 2.00pm

More information: Creative Arts Programme Volunteer_Men’s Makers Support Role Description


To apply for either role or for further information please contact WHALE Arts: 

Email: volunteercoordinator@whalearts.co.uk 

Phone: 0131 458 3267 

Filed Under: News, Vacancies Tagged With: Edinburgh, vacanc9ies, Volunteering, Wester Hailes, WHALE Arts

WHALE Arts Appoints New CEO

22/07/2024 By Whale Arts

WHALE Arts Appoints CEO, WHALE new CEO Kate Griffin with board members Eunice Main and Allan McNaughton
Kate Griffin, CEO , centre, with Board Members Eunice Main and Allan McNaughton

WHALE Arts are delighted to announce the appointment of Kate Griffin as our new Chief Executive, replacing Leah Black, who leaves us in July 2024 after 6 years at WHALE.

Kate brings a wealth of experience and insight to the role, having held the posts of Interim Chief Executive since August 2022 and Head of Programmes prior to that. She has worked for more than twenty years across the creative sector, with a focus on national arts programmes and creative education.

Dr Andrew McNiven, Chair of Trustees, WHALE Arts

Kate’s expertise in the challenging and exciting field of community arts, her excellent interpersonal, management and strategic skills, and her deep understanding of Wester Hailes, allied to her ability to advocate for this community at regional and national level ,will, we feel sure, enable her to provide excellent opportunities for our participants and our community. On behalf of the WHALE Board, our members, participants and staff team, we wish her all the best in her new role.

We would like to thank Leah Black, our outgoing Chief Executive, for her excellent work as WHALE Chief Executive since 2018, and especially during the pandemic. WHALE Arts ability to adapt and work in supporting our communities during this difficult period was outstanding and widely recognised. We wish Leah good luck in her new exciting role leading Foundation Scotland’s Regenerative Futures Fund.

Kate Griffin, CEO, WHALE Arts said:

I’m absolutely thrilled to be appointed as WHALE Arts’ CEO. I’m looking forward to working with the team, participants, members, volunteers and Board at WHALE Arts to continue our award-winning work as the creative heart of our community 

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Edinburgh, Wester Hailes, WHALE Arts

Be part of WHALE Arts’ Community Asset Transfer

24/03/2021 By Whale Arts

Above: The WHALE Arts building sits on land that the community could potentially own and extend out to ‘The Kickabout’ site

Although WHALE owns its building, it currently leases the land that the building sits on from the council. The lease ends in a few years’ time, and it’s time to make a decision: renew it, or take ownership of the site on behalf of the community. As well as the WHALE site on Westburn Grove, which includes the existing community garden, another possibility is to apply for a Community Asset Transfer extending to the kickabout next door and/or part of the surrounding area of woodland. If this goes ahead, WHALE would own, look after manage and develop these assets on behalf of the community of Wester Hailes, in line with its objectives as a charity. 

WHALE is working with Community Enterprise to find out what people want to happen at the WHALE Arts site. Keep an eye on our website for more information, project updates and other ways to take part. 

Voice your opinion by filling our survey now by clicking here: http://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/whalearts

Background – What is Community Asset Transfer? 

A Community Asset Transfer is a process that recognises the benefits of community use and ownership by allowing community organisations to take over publicly owned land or buildings. Asset Transfer was implemented as part of the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015. Over the past several years, legislation and national policy in Scotland has developed to encourage and support the ownership of assets (buildings and /or land) by communities. The Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015; The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003; a joint COSLA/Scottish Government Statement 2008 and a Community Empowerment Action Plan in 2009. Further reading: – https://dtascommunityownership.org.uk/community/community-asset-transfer/asset-transfer-policy-benefits/what-asset-transfer 

Why is WHALE Arts talking about Community Asset Transfer just now? 

WHALE Arts has been working in Wester Hailes for 28 years, since 1992. Originally based in the Blue Hut on the Murrayburn Greenway, WHALE Arts moved to the site we work from today. The WHALE Arts Centre was designed and built in the late 90’s and opened in 2000. The reason we are talking about Asset Transfer now is because although the community own the building, the land is owned by City of Edinburgh Council and leased to WHALE Arts. The original 25-year lease has only 4 years left, running until 2024. We could ask City of Edinburgh Council to extend the lease instead of bringing the land into community ownership, however the benefits of full community ownership are clear (see below), so we felt that now is a good time to explore Asset Transfer. 

What are the benefits of Community Ownership? 

Usually communities want to bring buildings and land into community ownership to create a new physical base for the community to work and/or socialise from. However, because WHALE Arts already own the building – and from this base deliver a broad range of creative and community activities – the reasons for doing this are to develop the building and the garden with a view to creating new enterprise activity which will create jobs, training and business opportunities for local residents. Other benefits include skills and capacity development for local residents in learning about community ownership, as well as security for the future of WHALE Arts. Further reading here on the benefits of Community Ownership – https://dtascommunityownership.org.uk/community/community-asset-transfer/asset-transfer-policy-benefits/benefits-community-ownership 

What is the process, how long will this take? 

An important part of the process is providing evidence of the need for WHALE Arts to exist into the future. We also need to show that the organisation can survive financially. To do this we are currently working with Community Enterprise on a community consultation, a business plan, and land valuation. We should have a business plan completed by late May 2021. During the summer 2021 we will work with the Members to take this to the next stage, this may involve applying to Scottish Land Fund for funding to buy the land from City of Edinburgh Council, or it may involve a negotiation with City of Edinburgh Council direct. So our hope is that this process will be complete by late 2021. 

How can I get involved and find out more? 

There are lots of ways that you can get involved!


Survey

We have created a short survey to collect initial ideas from local residents and those who work or volunteer locally. We would really appreciate it if you would take the time to complete the survey online by following this link: www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/WhaleArts

You can choose to complete either a shorter (3-5 mins) version which focuses solely on the Community Asset Transfer process, or a longer (8-12 mins) version of the survey which asks a few further questions relating to WHALE. 

This survey is being carried out on behalf of WHALE Arts by Community Enterprise. All survey responses are recorded on Survey Monkey whose privacy policy can be viewed here. Community Enterprise’s privacy policy can be viewed here.
If you have any difficulties with the online survey, would prefer a printable PDF version or have further questions, please contact Judith on 07927118995 or judith@communityenterprise.co.uk

Open Meeting

Please do come along to a virtual meeting and discussion on Thursday 22nd April 6-7pm.

Everyone is welcome, whether you live locally or work in Wester Hailes. The meeting will take place on Zoom and you can register to take part here: www.bit.ly/3tO5csZ

Become a member.
We are really interested in hearing from local residents who would like to be involved in the Asset Transfer and would like to become Members of WHALE Arts. Members have voting rights (voting in the board of trustees) and can come along to our Members Breakfasts to help shape WHALE Arts projects and activities. 

Find out more and complete the member’s registration form on our website: Become a member of WHALE Arts – Information on WHALE Arts Membership – WHALE Arts

Stay in touch and keep up to date

  • Subscribe to E-newsletter by clicking here
  • Follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook
  • Visit our website: www.whalearts.co.uk

Filed Under: News Tagged With: City of Edinburgh Council, Community Asset Transfer, south west edinburgh, Wester Hailes, WHALE Arts

Get involved: Community Asset Transfer of WHALE Arts’ land

12/10/2020 By Whale Arts


What is Community Asset Transfer?

Over the past several years legislation and national policy in Scotland has developed to encourage and support the ownership of assets (buildings and /or land) by communities. The Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015; The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003; a joint COSLA/Scottish Government Statement 2008 and a Community Empowerment Action Plan in 2009.

Further reading here on the legislation – https://dtascommunityownership.org.uk/community/community-asset-transfer/asset-transfer-policy-benefits/what-asset-transfer

Why is WHALE Arts talking about Community Asset Transfer just now?

WHALE Arts has been working in Wester Hailes for 28 years, since 1992. Originally based in the Blue Hut on the Murrayburn Greenway, WHALE Arts moved to the site we work from today. The WHALE Arts Centre was designed and built in the late 90’s and opened in 2000. The reason we are talking about Asset Transfer now is because although the community own the building, the land is owned by City of Edinburgh Council and leased to WHALE Arts. The original 25 year lease has only 4 years left, running until 2024. We could ask City of Edinburgh Council to extend the lease instead of bringing the land into community ownership, however the benefits of full community ownership are clear (see below), so we felt that now is a good time to explore Asset Transfer.

What are the benefits of Community Ownership?

Usually communities use Community Asset Transfer to bring buildings and land into community ownership to create a new physical base for the community to work and/or socialise from. However, because WHALE Arts already own the building at 30 Westburn Grove, and from this base deliver a broad range of creative and community activities the reasons for doing this are less about creating a new space for the community and more about sustaining and securing this for the future. The focus will be on developing the building and the garden with a view to creating new enterprise activity which will create jobs, training and business opportunities for local residents and skills and capacity development for local residents in learning about community ownership.

Further reading here on the benefits of Community Ownership – https://dtascommunityownership.org.uk/community/community-asset-transfer/asset-transfer-policy-benefits/benefits-community-ownership

What is the process, how long will this take?

We need to demonstrate why it’s generic ambien doesn work important that the WHALE Arts Centre exists into the future and we need to show that the organisation can survive financially. In November 2020 WHALE Arts will submit a funding application to work with an expert on community consultation, business planning, and land valuation. If we are successful with this application we should have a new business plan by April 2021. During the summer 2021 we will work with the Members and the local community to take this to the next stage. The next stage will involve applying for funding to buy the land from City of Edinburgh Council, or have this transferred to us. So our hope is that this process will be complete by late 2021.

How can I get involved, find out more or feed my ideas in?

The Board are holding a Members session (on Zoom) on Thursday 15th October at 6pm. Any local residents who are not WHALE Arts Members are very welcome to come to the session as well. Please contact Leah Black for the zoom link and password (leah@whalearts.co.uk)

One of the stipulations of Asset Transfer is that we change our governing document to limit our membership to local residents of Wester Hailes. Currently the majority of our 50+ Members are local but we can also accept non-local members. We are really interested in hearing from local residents who would like to be involved in the Asset Transfer and would like to become Members of WHALE Arts. Members have voting rights (voting in the board of trustees) and can come along to our Members Breakfasts to help shape WHALE Arts projects and activities.

We have also created a very short survey to connect with local residents who have an interest in being involved in the Asset Transfer and the development of WHALE Arts in 2021 and beyond – please access this here.

Who are the Board of WHALE Arts?

We have 11 Trustees currently, and in line with our governing document, the majority are local residents. They are:

Andrew McNiven
Charlotte Binstead (local resident)
Denise Young
Euan MacLean
Eunice Main (local resident)
Emily Stevenson (local resident)
Grant Williams (Co-Chair)
Jade Jackson (local resident)
Kenneth Fowler (Co-Chair)
Ross Campbell (local resident)
Susan Gibson (local resident)

Filed Under: News Tagged With: arts, Community, Community Asset Transfer, Edinburgh, south west edinburgh, WHALE Arts

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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

Latest News

Vacancy: Marketing and Communications Lead

We are seeking a creative, well organised self-starter to develop and deliver engaging content communicating the impact of our work and connecting us to our community, partners, artists and funders. PermanentPart-Time – 14 hours a week£26,326 pro-rataBased at WHALE Arts Centre, Wester Hailes, Edinburgh, EH14 2SA WHALE Arts is a community-led arts charity and social […]

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WHALE Arts Agency is a company limited by guarantee (SC180118) with charitable status (SC020305). Copyright © 2025