'50 Years of DFs’ Project Officer

The Project Officer will support the delivery of a National Lottery Heritage Fund project exploring and celebrating 50 years of Woodcraft Folk’s DF movement and their youth-led campaigning and community social action.

The role will co-ordinate young participants and adult volunteers, deliver heritage-related activities, collect and catalogue archive material, and support the creation and sharing of stories through interpretation, events and digital outputs.

Working in partnership with the University College London, Rochdale Pioneers Museum and the Co-operative Heritage Trust.the Project Officer will co-ordinate project activities which include:

• Training young participants from across the UK in archiving, cataloguing and oral history skills.
• Collecting and digitising artefacts, pamphlets, zines, posters and campaign materials through a scanathon event.
• Recording oral histories from current and former DF members, with professional training and support from University College London (UCL).
• Create a film documentary capturing the project journey and interviews.
• Facilitating a Heritage Centre at Venturer Camp (August 2026)
• Develop an Organise two residentials and heritage visits across England to connect the DF story with broader radical education and co-operative traditions.
• Host a celebration event in August 2027, launching the above materials

Project outputs will include:

• A film documentary capturing the project journey and interviews.
• Interpretation Pack in both digital and print formats (zine), making resources widely accessible to schools, youth groups and researchers.
• At least 500 artefacts will be digitised, catalogued, and preserved in an accessible online archive.
• 20 oral histories will be recorded, transcribed and stored to professional standards with UCL guidance.
• The interpretation pack (zine + digital version) will ensure that learning resources are available to schools, youth groups and researchers across the UK.

The ideal candidate will bring with them:

• Experience of working with young people in a supportive, empowering or educational capacity, with a good knowledge of youth engagement and motivation techniques.
• Experience of co-production, working with young people, volunteers and partner organisations.
• Strong organisational and administrative skills with the ability to manage multiple tasks.
• Knowledge of or interest in heritage, community history, oral history or archiving.
• Resilient and able to work independently as required
• Experience in evaluating learning experiences and outcomes
• Prepared to work flexibly to meet the needs of young people and the organisation

The successful candidate will need to be able to travel across England with some evening and weekend work required.

Benefits

Woodcraft Folk is a Real Living Wage employer, dedicated to supporting flexible working whilst engaging children, young people and volunteers in our activities. This is a fixed term, part-time post but will still benefit from access to our staff training budget, Employee Assistance Programme, Unite union recognition agreement and staff representatives.

This role does require some travel and flexibility. All equipment needed will be proved. Travel expenses and subsistence will be paid in keeping with HMRC and Woodcraft Folk Policies.

Other benefits include up to 5% pension contribution, 28 days annual leave + Bank Holiday entitlement (pro rata).

Equality

Woodcraft Folk is committed to increasing and widening participation in all of its activities and proactively seeks to attract a diverse workforce. Woodcraft Folk contributes to the annual Race Report and is a Disability Confident employer. Contact recruitment@woodcraft.org.uk to discuss any additional support you may need to complete your application.

The successful candidate would need to be able to travel across England visiting our residential centres as well as museums and other places of interest to the project.

Safeguarding

Woodcraft Folk is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people, and vulnerable groups. This post is subject to an enhanced DBS check, please see Woodcraft Folk’s Safeguarding Policy and Recruitment of Ex-Offenders Policy.

More information

Project Officer job description and person specification can be found here. The person specification will be used to select candidates for interview. A detailed recruitment pack can be found here.

To express interest in this role, please send your CV (with full employment history with explanation of any gaps) and a cover letter to explain how you fulfil the criteria of the person spec to recruitment@woodcraft.org.uk . 

If you have questions about the role, or would like to arrange an informal discussion before applying, please email lauren@woodcraft.org.uk  

Closing date:12pm Monday 15 June 2026

Interviews will take place on Monday/Tuesday 29/30 June 2026

Preferred start date 13 July 2026

For more information contact lauren.karstadt@woodcraft.org.uk