Role Description

This role is about instigating and developing a programme of creative and community activities centred around the ART B&B venue on Blackpool’s seafront.

We have a 19-bedroom artist designed hotel with a high-quality contemporary multi-use space and café/bar for communities to meet, socialise, and participate in and experience arts and creative activities.

The opportunity is to:

1. Facilitate and develop a broad programme of regular activities that might range from film nights to repair cafes; gardening clubs to live performances; and public forums or talks and learning opportunities. It is envisaged that you will instigate and run some activities and facilitate others through supporting existing community groups to run their own activities.
2. Oversee the delivery of three new projects within ART B&B – the artist led refurbishment of 2 of the guest rooms and the next stage of developing the community garden at the rear of the hotel. (Note: these projects will be delivered through commissioning other people/groups with the support of LeftCoast)
3. Support ART B&B in becoming a sustainable social enterprise which reinvests profits in community activities by working with the staff team to ensure maximum participation and a positive experience for all attendees at all events.
4. Work with the staff team to coordinate, generate and disseminate marketing and communication messages to promote the programme to communities and participants (including website updates, social media and some print).

You will work in collaboration with both the staff team and board of ART B&B as well as the team of LeftCoast www.leftcoast.org.uk (Blackpool and Wyre’s Creative People and Places project) who are based in the ART B&B building.

The role involves actively engaging and encouraging Blackpool and Fylde Coast residents to participate, but especially from our own neighbourhood – Claremont ward.

There is a programme activity budget of £13,000 that you will be responsible for. In addition, there is a total maximum budget of £11,000 for the 3 refurbishment projects described above.

Specific Requirements of this role:

You will need to:

1. Ensure that there is a minimum of 50 events programmed into the building over the course of 12 months – the idea is that many of these will become regular self-sustaining events beyond the life of this 12 month project. Note: Not all of the 50 events have to individual new events, some can be an ongoing repeating series. The target for participants/attendees is 1000.

2. Undertake diligent monitoring of the quantity and range of participants and evaluate their feedback from the outset.

3. Generate promotional materials and digital content for events – liaising with the ART B&B board members who oversee marketing and communications and the LeftCoast M&C team member to ensure that the highest quality and most timely communications about events and activities are produced and distributed. Note: we also work with an external PR agency with whom you should share images and information for a wider reach.

4. Manage an overall budget and keep track of detailed individual income and expenditure for each event.

‘The intention of this project is to increase our capacity, through the p/t Creative Activist, to create, stage and promote locally rooted projects.

It will enable us to raise our profile and promote the community purpose and activities of our CIC regionally and nationally, which both raises our game in terms of impact and accelerates achieving our long-term self-sufficiency aim.’