VACANCY: Programme Assistant
Application deadline: 9am 23rd July 2025
Turf is Croydon’s homegrown art space; a registered charity set up and run by local artists to support creatives and our local community. Find out more about what we do, our team and our space by visiting turf-projects.com/about-turf
This is a new role in the organisation designed to assist the Programme team with planning and delivering events and workshops as part of our exciting upcoming contemporary art projects. You’ll be responsible for coordinating and delivering public events that tie into our gallery shows, including talks, creative workshops, visits from schools, and our popular Family Art Fun Days. Look at our events archive to get a sense of the kind of workshops we run.
This is an entry level role. Training will be provided and support offered to enable someone starting out in or switching into a creative career to succeed in the role. No specific experience is required, but an interest in and passion for engagement in the arts will be necessary.
About Turf
Turf Projects was founded by a group of creatives with personal connections to the borough of Croydon, and many of its board members share this collective interest and background.
From our space in Croydon’s Whitgift Shopping Centre, we put on exhibitions & workshops showcasing both local & national artists, provide artists with opportunities, space & resources & host collectives. Our programme has a focus on themes of space & place.
A registered charity, we aim to provide opportunities for creatives who may otherwise be under-supported and for the public to be able to access & get involved in art at any stage of life. Turf aims to show that arts organisations can be locally led and focused whilst still being nationally relevant.
Person specification:
- We’re looking for someone with an affinity with Turf’s aims and ethos. We strive to be welcoming, kind, accessible and curious, conscious of our duty to the public and those we work with.
- You’ll be confident and patient, great at communication and collaborating, and able to work with individuals and organisations from a wide range of backgrounds, ages, and levels of experience.
- Organisation is a key part of this role; you’ll need to have excellent organisational and time management skills.
- You’ll have an active interest in arts and culture with an awareness of current arts and socio-political discourses (i.e. you like to interrogate things and ask questions!).
- You’ll be available on Saturdays (approximately twice a month) to assist or deliver workshops.
- Turf is an artist-led space, so we’d love to hear about your artistic practice if you have one. This is important as we all feed into programming at Turf.
- Experience in workshop facilitation and events delivery is a bonus, but not required.
- Personal connections to & active knowledge of Croydon are essential to engage meaningfully with our visitors.
Key responsibilities
- Working closely with the Programme Manager, CoDirector (Programme & People), Learning & Access Coordinator, and other Turf team members to plan and coordinate events to engage the public with our programmes. This includes:
- Liaising with artists/facilitators and other space users to arrange dates and times for events.
- Compiling images, artist bios, and event descriptions for our Marketing Assistant to use to promote the events.
- Ordering and preparing materials,
- Delivering these events and workshops for the public, including;
- Setting up and tidying up the space before and after events.
- Checking in attendees at the start of the events, and collecting feedback and encouraging donations at the end.
- Representing Turf and promoting a safe and welcoming environment for visitors, staff, and other space users.
- Providing or arranging access support for attendees with access needs to engage. Access support training will be provided.
- Being familiar with programme activities in order to answer visitor’s questions and feed into planning of potential future events and ways to engage the public.
- Attending team meetings, quarterly trustee meetings, and annual review dates, and sharing in shared space care and collaborative planning processes.
By the end of the contract term, you will feel confident in planning and delivering arts related events and workshops independently to engage a wide variety of people in our activities.
Essential things to know about working at Turf
- Turf is a registered charity with a board of trustees who oversee our work. You’d need to align with Turf and the Charity Commission’s policies on finance management, code of conduct, conflict of interest, health and safety, equal opportunities & safeguarding.
- At Turf we;
- Have mutual accountability processes and collaborative decision making on major decisions. We check in with each other weekly and have a board meeting quarterly.
- All share in front of house duties, though we also participate in some working from home as possible.
- Share various rota tasks e.g restocking the loo roll!
- As an artist-led space, 10% of our time can be used as ‘Wiggle Time’ – wiggle room to spend on activities which are of benefit to both our practices and Turf. It’s a bit like paid personal development time, but geared towards ensuring our practices are interwoven into Turf.
- Key tools we use are; Google Drive/Sheets, Xero, Asana, Slack – use of these forms the backbone of our accountability processes.
- Contract: Part-time fixed term contract up to 31st March 2026, with potential to extend subject to funding.
- Pay: £34000 pro rata (equal to £1133.33~ a month before tax).
- Hours: 2 days a week, to be worked during our opening hours of Wed – Sat. Frequent Saturday working will be required as part of this role.
- Location of work: At Turf Projects in Croydon, and occasionally offsite at sites across Croydon as the programme demands.
- Application Deadline: 9am 23rd July 2025.
- Interviews: 30th & 31st July 2025. Please let us know your availability for interviews in your application.
- Start date: 1st September 2025
Interview format:
- Interviews will be with our CoDirector (Programme & People) and Programme Manager in person at Turf Projects in Croydon. Please let us know your availability for interview on the 30th and 31st July when you apply.
- Around 40 mins where we’ll ask you some questions about you and your interests and values. There will also be a quick practical run-through of a typical workshop interaction.
- We’ll send interview questions and details of the practical run-through ahead of time, but no special prep is needed!
- We’ll give feedback to all interviewees if you’d like it.
How to apply
Please apply by to info@turf-projects.com
We’re very flexible on how you apply, you could either;
- Email us a CV & cover letter.
- Send us a video intro to you and why you’re interested.
- Another format!
We don’t have a format we prefer, and your format won’t impact our consideration of your application, so send whatever you’re comfortable with. However, we’ve found that concise applications which break down the person spec and key deliverables and how you fit them are often the most digestible for us!
Please do let us know;
- When you’d be available for interview on the 30th or 31st July 2025.
At Turf we’re committed to reflect the diversity of the community we serve. We welcome applicants of all backgrounds and identities of race, gender and disability status. We actively encourage applications from groups currently underrepresented in employment in the arts.
