Overview of Role:

Job title: ‘Water and Wellbeing’ Freelance Heritage Potter/Clay Facilitator.

Contract: Twelve week period to commence September 2024 and complete January 2025.

Fee: Inclusive fee of £2700 (inc. VAT). A materials budget will be agreed during the planning phase.

Location: LEVEL Centre in Derbyshire. 

Responsible to: Engagement and Projects Coordinator.

Job Purpose: To develop and deliver a twelve week workshop programme as part of the “Water and Wellbeing” project, a two-year funded programme supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. The project is being led by LEVEL Centre. The chosen facilitator will work with LEVEL Centre’s Youth Collective, our creative group for young people aged 13 – 18 years who are neurodivergent, have autism or ADHD. The workshops will provide a creative and supportive environment and foster social connections through meaningful experiences. Participants will learn about the heritage of Ashford Black Marble and explore their artistic abilities using clay to make 21st century interpretations.

Project overview and workshop topics:

‘Water and Wellbeing’ is a two-year funded programme supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, providing a weekly engagement programme for members of LEVEL Centre’s Youth Collective. Youth Collective is a creative group for young people aged 13 – 18 years who are autistic or neurodivergent. The project’s aim is to create an inclusive and accessible heritage experience, empowering participants to explore, celebrate and contribute to local heritage, helping them to feel more connected to the place they live. 

As part of this, the clay workshop programme aims to inspire and collaborate with our young people, researching heritage themes and the history of Ashford Black Marble. Ashford Black Marble is a dark limestone, quarried from mines near Ashford-in-the-Water, Derbyshire. This will inspire the creation and interpretation of clay objects as part of a display of work by Youth Collective, held at LEVEL Centre and Bakewell Old House Museum.

The ‘Water and Wellbeing’ project commenced in January 2024 and is scheduled to complete in January 2026.

Key objectives:

The primary objectives of the workshop programme are as follows:

• Develop a workshop series that showcases Derbyshire’s heritage of Ashford Black Marble through a contemporary lens. 
• Introduce participants to the heritage and cultural significance of Ashford Black Marble.
• Introduction to Pottery: Understanding the history and cultural importance of pottery. 
• Provide an inclusive and supportive space for autistic and neurodivergent young people to engage in creative expression through using clay/pottery.
• Develop social skills and encourage communication and collaboration among the participants.
• Each young person will design and create a piece for public display.
• Be part of an evaluation process assessing the impact and effectiveness of the workshops in achieving its objectives.

Timeline:

• Planning meeting with LEVEL Centre (online) – date TBC.
• Workshops with Youth Collective – September 2024 to December 2024 (1 further date tbc).
• Monitoring and evaluation feedback – January 2025.
• Launch event at Bakewell Old House Museum – March 2025.

Terms & Conditions:

Agreement: Twelve week period to commence September 2024 and complete January 2025.

Freelance Fee: An inclusive fee of £2700 (inc. VAT). This includes all expenses related to the freelancer’s time, travel, preparation, design, delivery, and evaluation. A materials budget will be agreed during the planning phase.

Hours: The freelancer will allocate the time required to complete and fulfil this agreement. Sessions will be delivered across twelve weekly sessions to take place at LEVEL Centre. Sessions will take place on Mondays from 4:30 – 6:30pm (this includes half an hour set up time). Dates as follows:
30 September
7, 14, 21 October
4, 11, 18 November
2, 9, 16 December
Additional date TBC (expected January 2025)

Location: LEVEL Centre, Derbyshire.

Equal opportunities
We are committed to achieving equal opportunities in the way we deliver services to the community and in our employment arrangements. We expect all freelance contractors to understand and promote this policy in their work.

Health and safety
All freelancers have a responsibility for their own health and safety and that of others when carrying out their duties and must help us to apply our general statement of health and safety policy.

Safeguarding Commitment and DBS
LEVEL Centre is committed to safeguarding and protecting the welfare of everyone and expects all staff, freelancers and volunteers to share this commitment. The individual should ensure they have a valid Enhanced DBS certificate (within 3 years) or should consent to LEVEL requesting an Enhanced DBS check. The individual should have understanding of safeguarding and work with LEVEL’s safeguarding lead to ensure the highest level of safeguarding is met at all times.

Evaluation
The freelancer agrees to participate in feedback which will help to monitor and evaluate the project.

Confidentiality
All data, documents, and communications should be treated with utmost confidentiality and used solely for the purposes of this project.

How to apply:

• Please submit a project proposal (no more than 2 sides of A4). The proposal should outline your approach to designing and delivering this workshop programme and highlight any relevant experience. This must include a week by week timeline of expected outcomes.
• Upload your CV including two referees relating to a similar role.
• Complete the equal opportunities monitoring  form (optional). We positively encourage people with disabilities or from minority ethnic backgrounds to apply to join our teams as they are under-represented within Level Centre’s workforce.  

We are happy to accept your project proposal submission in the following formats:

• Written statement that is no more than 2 sides of A4
• Video submission that is no longer than 5 minutes – BSL, Makaton or spoken
• Audio submission as an MP3 or WAV file, that is no longer than 5 minutes. Please clearly label your files with your name

Proposal Submission Deadline: 9am Monday 10 June 2024
Interviews: Online or in person on Tuesday 18 June 2024

About Level:

Level is a contemporary Arts Centre in Rowsley in Derbyshire supported by Arts Council England. We’re open year-round with an exciting programme including visual, digital and performing arts. We present exhibitions and digital installations, alongside artists residencies and creative workshops.

Level is a registered charity that ‘Celebrates the Art that Difference Makes’. Everything we do has a value, our support goes beyond creativity, offering experiences that make a difference.

We work with:

• Learning disabled and disabled people
• Artists, performers and interesting people
• Our Derbyshire community
• Cultural and creative organisations
• National and International partners

Our Mission (why we exist): We celebrate the art that ‘difference’ makes

Our Vision (what we want): We unlock the unique talents of disabled creatives. We show the world how powerful ‘difference’ can be.

More information is available here.