• Fee available: £3,200 (inc. VAT and all associated costs)
• Start date: End March 2022
• Complete by: End August 2022
• Location: Anywhere in Scotland (home-based)
• Terms: This is a freelance contract, the successful candidate will be responsible for their own tax, NI etc. 

About Creative Lives

Creative Lives works with communities, organisations, policymakers, funders and creative individuals as a voice for positive change, to improve and expand the landscape in which creative participation can take place. We work to address inequalities in access to creative participation, promote inclusivity, connect people and communities, and seek to increase awareness of the links between creativity and wellbeing.

Context to this task

With funding from Scottish Community Alliance and Creative Scotland, Creative Lives is in the process of awarding 28 microgrants (£300 each) to volunteer-led creative groups across Scotland. These 'Together Again' microgrants are intended to support creative groups who are addressing the challenges associated with meeting up in person again following the pandemic. Successful awardees can use the grants for anything that will help their creative group meet up in person again (or help get a new group off the ground). Examples might include:

• Increased venue hire costs (e.g. for enhanced cleaning, or if groups temporarily need to move to a bigger space)
• To cover transport costs that enable participation (if using public transport is now difficult)
• To cover artists costs to reinvigorate or kick-start activity
• To pay for new materials (e.g. if art materials have been lost through lack of use; or if certain items can no longer be shared between participants)

These grants are especially focussed on supporting groups or projects based in areas of Scotland, or in working with participants, who are experiencing deprivation.

Task description

We would like to build on the financial support we are offering to these groups by building a practical set of resources, guides and support to volunteer-led creative groups who are returning face to face activity. This support should be guided and informed by the needs of these groups. 

We estimate that about ONE THIRD of the time spent on this task will be dedicated to investigating and understanding the challenges facing creative groups who are returning to face to face activity, and working out what support would be most helpful to them. This may involve desk-based analysis of microgrant applications, discussions with a selected subset of supported groups, a hosted online discussion session for the cohort (see our #CreativeNetwork series for similar examples), or other methods. Any methods should focus on adding value to - not making additional demands to - the creative groups. We’d like this element of the task to conclude with a short written report. 

We expect that the remaining TWO THIRDS of the time spent on this task will focus on realising and providing practical support to groups (both those in receipt of our microgrants, and others facing similar challenges). This may involve updating, enhancing and / or promoting Creative Lives briefings, organising training or information sessions, establishing peer support networks, or other approaches. 

We’re looking for someone who’s able to build warm working relationships, plan and execute online training / networking sessions smoothly, and who has really strong skills in researching and writing advice for a public audience. We’d expect the successful candidate to be able to work independently, to manage their own time, to prioritise effectively, and to produce work of a high standard that reflects Creative Lives. 

To learn more about this task, please download this document.

Application

To express an interest in this contract, please prepare a short application (no more than 2 x A4 pages) to [email protected], outlining:

• Your interest in, and experience pertinent to, this task
• A proposal outlining how you would approach the task

The deadline for these expressions of interest is Friday 18 March 2022.