The Spode Works Visitor Centre is a small visitor centre at the former Spode Works in Stoke on Trent. It tells the fascinating story of Spode, the ceramics it produced and the people who have worked on the site since it began producing pottery 200 years ago.
Production ceased on the site in 2008 and the Spode Museum Trust has since worked to promote the history of the site and their large collection, some of which is showcased in the Visitor Centre. The Visitor Centre is run entirely by volunteers with the help of one paid member of staff. After a few uncertain years positive changes are taking place with the local authority allowing the Trust to keep a permanent home on the site. The Trust has plans to expand both display and retail space in order to showcase more of the collection and generate revenue. We want to increase visitor numbers, promote the work of the Trust and increase community engagement.
1. Family Activities & Events Assistants
Spode Works Visitor Centre, Elenora Street, Stoke on Trent, ST4 1QQ
We are looking for students to help us plan and/or deliver a programme of family learning activities and events to take place across our 2015 season. This could be for the current season or to help plan ahead for the 2016 season. The Visitor Centre is currently open on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and bank holiday Mondays. We will have a close down at the end of October 2015 but we will still need to plan for 2016. This role would not always need to be undertaken on site. The generating of ideas could take place remotely after a few initial visits. For students particularly interested in helping us deliver these sessions we are generally planning to hold them on bank holiday weekends and weekends throughout the school summer holidays.
We recently held a weekend of Easter family activities and a May Day bank event, both of which were very successful. Many local families visited us for the first time and expressed an interest in attending similar events at the Visitor Centre on a more regular basis.
This role would suit individuals with an interest in children, families, informal education and learning in museums/heritage. Creative people with an interest in history and/or crafts would be ideal.
2. Marketing Assistants
Spode Works Visitor Centre, Elenora Street, Stoke on Trent, ST4 1QQ
We are looking for students to help us market the Spode Works Visitor Centre and the events and activities that we are holding throughout the 2015 and 2016 seasons. The work will involve undertaking research into how and where we can best advertise on a shoe string budget, both locally and nationally. Helping us to find out who our current visitors are and therefore who we need to target with our marketing. We would like help to design and set up an e newsletter detailing upcoming events and activities. If anybody has a particular interest in website design we would be happy for them to look into ways that we could refresh and modernise our website. We would like to increase our usage of social media to reach wider audiences and forge good links with local media sources such as local press and radio stations.
Since the start of April 2015 we have managed to attract interest from BBC radio 2 and BBC radio Stoke leading to live interviews publicising our family activities and events. We want more of this kind of exposure as the seasons progress.
This role would suit resourceful individuals with an interest in marketing, use of social media or website design in or outwith a museum/heritage context. The Visitor Centre is currently open on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and bank holiday Mondays. We will have a close down at the end of October 2015 but we will still need to plan ahead for the 2016 season. This role would not always need to be undertaken here on site. Quite a lot of this work could be undertaken remotely with some visits to site.
3. Visitor Services Assistants
Spode Works Visitor Centre, Elenora Street, Stoke on Trent, ST4 1QQ
We are looking for students to work within our current team of volunteers to help man the Spode Works Visitor Centre. This role involves welcoming visitors, answering any questions that our visitors might have, serving customers in our expanding retail area and getting involved in any activities, events or group visits that we might be hosting.
You don't have to have any prior knowledge of Spode, pottery or the heritage of the Potteries. You would be surprised how quickly you pick it up! We can provide training to enable you to guide visitors around the site if that is of particular interest. We are looking for friendly, enthusiastic people to undertake these roles. These roles would suit individuals with an interest in Visitor Services ideally within a heritage setting.
The Visitor Centre is currently open on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and bank holiday Mondays. We will have a close down at the end of October 2015 but may open for a couple of weeks in the run up to Christmas. The 2016 season will probably run from the end of March 2016. Most of our volunteers currently help us out for half a day each week. We would be interested to hear from you even if you weren't able to commit to a regular weekly slot.