Paid work for 16 to 25 year olds in Rotherham.
About the heritage producer project
This year Rotherham is the world’s first Children’s Capital of Culture, designed and delivered by local children and young people aged 0-to-25.
As part of this landmark festival year, we’re running an ambitious new creative project that will work with communities right across Rotherham – and we’re now looking for local young people to help deliver it, as our brand-new Heritage Producers!
From May 2025 until March 2026, our 25 Heritage Producers will each work in one of Rotherham’s wards. If you’re not familiar with Rotherham’s 25 wards, you can check out this ward map, or use this website to find out which ward you live, work or study in.
During this time, our Heritage Producers will put on events and activities that celebrate culture in their community and collect and preserve the memories and experiences of people living in their ward.
This will involve attending local groups that are already running (like youth groups, sports clubs, toddler groups, or schools and nurseries) to deliver creative activities that help people share their memories and experiences of what life is like in their community. Our Heritage Producers will help people to do this in lots of different ways: from creating films and making audio recordings, to writing stories and producing artworks!
This will also involve putting on brand-new events and activities that celebrate culture in their ward. For example, our Heritage Producer might work with a community carnival to plan and put on a performance that showcase the talents and culture of local young people. Or they might team up with a community venue, and devise and deliver a creative workshop, talk or event that celebrates and commemorates what’s important to local residents.
And that’s not all! All the work our Heritage Producers do will have a longer legacy, too:
- The memories and experiences our Heritage Producers gather will help inform a brand-new – and spectacular! – creative commission, which will tour across the Rotherham borough in 2026. A renowned Guest Director will be collaborating with local young people throughout 2025 to help plan and create this exciting new artwork.
- If participants give their consent to do so, the memories that are shared during the project will be preserved in the Rotherham Archives. This means they can be shared even more widely, now and in the future.
- Our Heritage Producers will consult with communities in their ward to leave ‘something behind’ after the end of the project: a creative output that reflects and celebrates local culture, which people can enjoy for years to come. This might be a mural, an art exhibition, a publication of local people’s writing, or something else!
Accessibility notes
Please don’t worry about overcoming dyslexia and other challenges when completing your application. We aren’t interested in your grammar or spelling; instead we want to find out about your ideas, skills and interests, and support your creativity and imagination.
If you would prefer to submit your application as a video or audio recording, which talks us through your answers to the form verbally, this is fine too. Video or audio recordings can be sent to ccoc@rotherham.gov.uk, with the subject line ‘Heritage Producer application.’
If English isn’t your first language and you need any of the guidance or support with completing your application – including forms translating, or help from an interpreter – then just let us know by contacting our Creative Skills Manager, Dawn Richmond-Gordon, at dawn.richmond-gordon@rotherham.gov.uk.
All applications will be anonymised before they are shortlisted by a recruitment panel.
Timeframes
We will contact everyone who applies to become a Heritage Producer by Wednesday 30th April to let them know the outcome of their application.
All applicants who are offered a Heritage Producer role will be invited to attend a full day induction session to kick off the project. This will take place during the week of 19th May-23rd May.