Events & programmes lead

Latest update (21 May): the CHWA conference is now likely to be held in our home town of Barnsley instead of Birmingham as previously advertised.

Application deadline: 10am on Wednesday 28th May

Interviews: Friday 20 June, online

Salary: £38,357 per annum pro-rated for 3 days per week (£23,014 per annum)

Contract: This is a fixed-term contract ending 1 August 2026.

Location: This is primarily a remote working role but will require the postholder to work in Barnsley in the run-up to and throughout our conference in June 2026, and may involve occasional in-person gatherings elsewhere in the country.

You can download this information as a pdf here.

Are you passionate about the intersection of creativity, health, and social change? Do you have the skills to bring people together through thoughtful, inclusive event design? We're looking for an Events and Programmes Lead to help shape and deliver a landmark international conference and support a thriving national network of creative health champions.

CHWA is the national membership organisation for creative health. We use the term “creative health” to mean any arts or cultural activity that supports health or wellbeing. Our main roles as an organisation are: advocating for creative health, supporting networks for creative and cultural workers and partners in health and social care, and building resources to help make this work more possible. We don't provide creative activities that support health and wellbeing ourselves – instead we support the people who do.

Key duties

The Events and Programmes Lead plays a major role in the CHWA team, connecting our strategic direction to grassroots practice via the regional champions and ensuring our events are representative of the diversity of the creative health sector, and responsive to the sector’s concerns. The postholder’s main tasks will be:

Coordinating CHWA's International Conference

CHWA’s conference will be held in Barnsley in June 2026, guided by a working group. It’s likely to involve between 250 and 350 people all together and to be in-person but with substantial online elements. The postholder will work with the Exec Director and wider CHWA team to ensure the event aligns with the Creative Health Quality Framework (see below) and CHWA’s Equality Action Plan (a new plan will published this May), and prioritises equity, diversity and access in its design and delivery.

Amongst other things, this will mean delivering a welcoming, accessible and caring event; maintaining excellent communication with the delegates, speakers and performers; and ensuring prompt and fair payments.

The event management will also include:

• Coordinating the working group
• Risk assessment
• Managing event volunteers and coordinating the contributions of other CHWA team members
• Liaising with partners and speakers both in the UK and overseas
• Supporting fundraising for and marketing the event
• Managing the ticketing process, including applications for bursaries
• Managing all logistics, from contracts to travel and accommodation
• Controlling budgets and payments in liaison with CHWA’s finance officer
• Evaluating the conference

Managing the Regional Champions programme

Supporting a network of regional champions (15-30 members). The champions’ role is to Explore, Connect, Advocate for, and Develop creative health practice in their locality. The champions undertake this role in a voluntary capacity either in relation to or in addition to existing workloads, so work according to their capacities, prioritising opportunities to align with their existing work.

The postholder is responsible for

• Developing and evolving the regional champions model with the Exec Director and champions themselves. This process must prioritise diversifying the group, in line with our Equality Action Plan
• Managing volunteers’ contracts
• Hosting monthly peer-to-peer meetings
• Gathering information on champions’ activities to share with each other and the wider sector
• Offering individual support to champions, including connecting them with relevant contacts in their region and beyond
• Evaluating the programme’s impact on champions and the sector
  

The role may also involve:

• Event support for smaller online or in-person events, including the quarterly SAMs (Strategic Alliance Members’ group) meetings
• Representing CHWA at national, regional or local meetings

This role must be rooted in the principles outlined in the Creative Health Quality Framework – any positive change we make will be down to trust and solidarity across a wide range of stakeholders, and this depends on working in a way that priorities these principles.

Person specification

We always aim to be collaborative; caring; inclusive; and committed to positive social change. These are our values as an organisation and it’s essential you feel comfortable with this, and that you feel you can work in this way.

We also consider the following to be essential for this role, but we are always interested in hearing about transferable skills as well as direct experience.

• Experience of event management including managing budgets
• Knowledge and/or experience of working with creative health
• Experience of working with a wide range of people and groups with a variety of professional and lived experiences including people from underrepresented communities.
• Experience of working to support equality, inclusion and diversity.
• Experience of coproduction: involving people with lived experience in equal partnership
• Flexibility and willingness to listen and learn
• Diplomacy and good, proactive communication skills
• Attention to detail, persistence and patience

Salary & contract

The salary is £38,357 per annum pro-rated for 3 days per week to £23,014 p.a. This is a fixed-term contract until 1 August 2026. The postholder will be paid monthly by BACS. CHWA will be responsible for paying Tax and NI when due. The postholder will be eligible for the Nest pension scheme.

Access, place of work, and working hours

This is primarily a remote-working role, with irregular in-person meetings and events. CHWA doesn’t have an office. The postholder will need to work in Barnsley itself preparing for and hosting the conference in June 2026.

We’re happy to explore flexible working arrangements, including compressed time or annualised hours. We are ready to adapt our working processes in discussion with applicants; please let us know about any access needs we can support.

Expenses

CHWA will reimburse reasonable travel and subsistence expenses on the basis of agreement prior to travel.

How to apply

We would like to receive a CV and covering information explaining why you think you would be suitable for the role, referring to the Key Duties and Person Specification outlined above. Your covering information can be submitted as an email, an audio recording or a video recording as you prefer. We would prefer a written CV, but if this is not possible for any reason, please let us know and we can adapt accordingly.

We are committed to ensuring our organisation is as diverse and representative as possible and are using the IncArts Unlock tool to support this recruitment process. We believe diversity strengthens our organisation and drives innovation. We specifically encourage individuals from under-represented communities including global majority; Gypsy, Roma, Traveller, Showmen and Boater (GRTSB); d/Deaf, disabled and neurodivergent (DDN); LGBTQIA+; or who are from less affluent socio-economic backgrounds to apply.

Please tell us about any access needs we can meet to support your application process. We’d also appreciate it if you could click on this link and fill out this Equality, Diversity & Representation form when you apply. This form is anonymous and we won’t be able to connect it with your application, but it helps us assess whether we are reaching a wide pool of candidates. If the link doesn’t work for you let us know and we will find an alternative.

Please include in your application that you found this role through Creative Access.

When you apply, please let us know whether you would be able to attend an interview on Friday 20 June, online. If you can’t make that date and are shortlisted for the role, we will aim to find another mutually convenient time.

If you are selected for interview, and you are freelance or on a lower wage, we can offer a fee to cover your time preparing for and attending interview.

We will send questions in advance, and let you know who will be on the interview panel.

Please email your application to the email address found via the Apply button. If you’d like an informal conversation about the role before you apply, please email victoria@culturehealthandwellbeing.org.uk

Please send us your application by 10am on Weds 28 May. We will let you know of our decision by Thursday 5 June and we will aim to hold interviews on Friday 20 June, online.