Capturing Brighton’s last wartime veterans project
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Background:
Take Shelter manages the only original school air raid shelter open to the public in the south and its associated schools and community programme of activities and events. The group has operated since 2015 and achieved charitable status in 2022 (No.1202472).
The shelter, associated museum and activities are open Tuesday – Thursday mornings during the academic year for school visits, on the second Sunday of each month for community visits, 2 weekends as part of Brighton Fringe Festival (May), 1 day for Armed Forces Day (June) and one weekend for Heritage Open Days (September).
In recent years, demand for the project has grown: School visits have grown from 8 in 2015 to 43 in 2023/4 with community visits over the last financial year exceeding 2,000. To cope with this growth the group’s Management Team have increased their volunteer team, developed new activities and improved access to the shelter by raising £62,000 to install a more accessible set of steps to improve access to the shelter. This has enabled the group to open monthly. In addition to the shelter, the group runs a small museum which consists of c200 original and reproduction items which relate to Second World War Home Front as well as items relating to the British Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force.
There are two unique aspects to a visit to Take shelter, the first being a guided tour of the shelter itself but the other is the presence of our 4 wartime veterans, who were all children during the war. Our veterans are in their late 80s and early 90s and in failing health. This presents a challenge for the project to both fulfil our duty of care to our veterans but also to preserve their irreplaceable contribution.
Take Shelter have secured funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to deliver the Capturing Brighton’s last wartime veterans project which will:
- capture, preserve and share the first hand experiences of a minimum of 8 Brighton wartime veterans through film and audio recordings. These will inspire the selection and curation of heritage material from 4 partner organisations to tell a cohesive never before told story of wartime Brighton.
- improve physical and intellectual access to Brighton’s wartime heritage through consultation with two access advisory groups to remove barriers alongside implementing existing access audit recommendations.
- create a more relevant, engaging and participatory offer for our schools and community programmes by training volunteers from these target audiences to record, edit, curate, and dramatise memories and archives for new activities and displays.
- build Take Shelter’s capacity as a new charity to deliver an expanding programme through a business plan, trustee skills review and volunteer strategy.
Purpose of role:
The Project Officer is responsible for the delivery of the outcomes as laid out in the National Lottery Heritage Fund application and project plan to achieve the objectives as laid out above. They will co-ordinate the recruitment of volunteers, the commissioning and delivery of training, interviewing and filming of the veteran volunteers and the management of the relationships with the partner organisations. This role will be supported day-to-day by the Take Shelter Lead Contact but will work with individuals across the groups Management Team and Trustee Board.
Reports to:
Take Shelter Trustees via the Take Shelter Lead Contact
Contract period:
12 months, 2.5 days per week to include some weekend and evening working.
Location:
Take Shelter at Downs Junior School, Rugby Road, Brighton. BN1 6ED but home working where appropriate will also be considered.
Timetable:
The work shall be undertaken between April 2025 – March 2026. The work will commence once the formal letter of offer and the contract have been signed.
Remuneration for the contract:
The day rate for this post is £200 inclusive of VAT and travel expenses with the exception of those required for the delivery of the project. The consultant will be responsible for their National Insurance and Tax. Payment will be made on a monthly basis on receipt of an invoice.
Responsibilities and duties:
As part of the day-to day management of the Capturing Brighton’s last wartime veterans project the Project Officer will:
- Work with and report to the Take Shelter Lead Contact
- Work with the Premises Manager / Chair of Take Shelter on all aspects of the project which impact on the school site
- Work with the Premises Manager / Chair of Take Shelter to ensure that all Fire and Health and Safety procedures are followed during the delivery of the project and provide advice and training for volunteers.
- Work with other Management Team and Trustees where appropriate to deliver aspects of the project
- Attend regular project meetings and, when requested, Management Team meetings and Trustee meetings.
- Manage the volunteer recruitment, management and training including the management and facilitation of the advisory groups
- Manage the Veteran interviewee recruitment and management.
- Manage of the relationships, for the purposes of the project, between Take Shelter and our partner organisations: Brighton Museum, The Keep, Mass Observation Archive and Screen Archive South East, Professor Lucy Noakes
- Work with the Project Evaluator to create an evaluation framework and the collection of qualitative and quantitative data thereof.
- Commission and work with trainers for the film making, oral history interviewing, curation and coding aspects of the project
- Work with the volunteers and Take Shelter team to develop the celebration weekend on 9/10th May 2025
- Input where appropriate to the new Take Shelter Business Plan, Volunteer Strategy and Trustee Succession Plan.
- Work with the Take Shelter Lead Contact to update the museum’s website and contribute to press releases and social media to positively promote Take Shelter and the project.
- Ensure that all legacy resources are lodged with appropriate archives and all digital resources are correctly credited and licensed.
- Keep financial records to support the project budget.
- Work with Take Shelter Lead Contact to ensure all NLHF paperwork and reports are completed on time.
Qualifications:
- Experience and understanding of project management within the heritage sector and partnership working.
- Experience of working with communities to achieve a positive social impact.
- Experience managing staff, volunteers, and resources.
- Experience working with diverse audiences.
- An understanding of financial reporting.
- Experience in report writing.
- Experience networking within the museum community.
- IT experience with systems such as MS Office, website software and social media platforms.
Application process:
All applications should be made by 5pm on Monday 10th March providing a CV and covering letter addressed to:
Michael Button, Chair, Take Shelter, Rugby Road, Brighton. BN1 6ED
or via email to:
TakeShelter@downsjun.brighton-hove.sch.uk using the subject heading Project Officer application.
