Freelance - Creative Producer

Job Title - Freelance Creative Producer

Duration - 6 months 

Salary - £200 per day - Self employed

About the Churches Conservation Trust
Churches Conservation Trust is the national charity protecting historic churches at risk. Established in 1969, we care for more than 350 historic churches that are no longer used for regular worship and attract almost 2 million visitors a year.
These churches represent over 1,000 years of English history, art, architecture, and archaeology. CCT ensures that they remain open to everyone as spaces for community use, education, and inspiration.

Context
The Old Black Lion (OBL) project aims to breathe new life into St Peter’s Church and the Old Black Lion in Northampton by making them centres of activity and events with funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
The Old Black Lion will be an attractive licensed venue which retains the ‘spirit of pub’ and signposts people to historic sites in the locality, including St Peter’s.
The Creative Producer will bring together local people to design and co-create the interpretation for both buildings and develop a plan for ongoing public events and activities.
Overall aims of the brief:
• Recruit local people to a St Peter’s and OBL Community Engagement Group (CEG).
• Meet with the group on a regular basis to research the history of the buildings; select stories to highlight through interpretation; and co-create interpretation features with the group.
• Facilitate the design and installation of interpretation.
• Develop and deliver an events programme to engage the wider community.
• Create an ongoing activity plan for the spaces.

Role description
The role will focus on community engagement over a 6-month period with the main aims being to create a community engagement group, install effective interpretation and deliver a series of public events to engage the wider community.
You will lead the delivery of the six-month Interpretation and Community Engagement programme, reporting to the Head of Initiatives & Partnerships and working closely with the Learning & Interpretation Officer.

We want the interpretation to:
• Use and amplify the atmosphere, language and vernacular of the buildings and invoke the life events that would have happened here.
• Present the buildings as the historic gateway to Northampton and signpost people to other historic sites in the locality.
• Have an experiential, people centred storytelling approach which brings the buildings to life.

You will work with CCT staff to scope, commission and oversee production of interpretation features within conservation and listed building constraints.
The activity plan should include interesting, informal and exciting events that appeal to locals and engage them with the heritage that surrounds them.
You will contribute to monitoring and evaluation, including documenting engagement activity, participant feedback, and producing a short-written summary to inform the project’s final NLHF reporting.
Person specification
Essential qualities and experience:
• Demonstrable experience working with volunteers or community groups
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• The ability to recruit participants and facilitate co-creation sessions with a diverse group of people
• Experience or knowledge of the museum/ heritage sector
• Experience or knowledge of good interpretation practice
• Proven ability to plan and lead activities
• Awareness of the local area and its history

We are guided by a set of T.R.U.S.T values: Transparency, Respect, United, Supportive and Tenacity which underpin everything we do. Your application should show evidence of how you have upheld these values in previous roles.

Schedule
Deadline for Interest: 12noon 31 March 2026 

Selection and appointment: w/c 13 April 2026

Project inception meeting: Friday 24 April 2026

All successful applicants must be over 18 years of age will be subject to a basic DBS, two employment references and right to work checks, at the expense of CCT.

Please note: You will be responsible for managing your own tax and National Insurance contributions. Payment will be made on an agreed rate per booking, and no employee benefits (such as holiday pay, sick pay, or pension contributions) are provided. You will be required to invoice for your services and ensure compliance with HMRC requirements

We are a Disability Confident Committed Employer. Candidates who declare that they have a disability and who meet the essential criteria for the job will be offered an interview. 

If you have any queries about this role, or if you have a disability and wish to request a reasonable adjustment at any stage of the recruitment process, please contact us. 

We are an inclusive employer and offer equal opportunities to all regardless of an individual’s age, disability, gender identity, marriage or civil partnership status, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.

We are not a licensed sponsor at this time. Any offer of employment will be made subject to valid right to work in the UK being provided.