Fantastic

Ben Keep recently did work experience at Create Studios. He told us, "Just a quick note to say thanks for using the videos for the Swindon Summer Festival, which Gavin and I made during work experience. They looked really good up on the big screen. The work experience was fantastic, as I had a great time there, and just wish the time had been much longer. Thanks again."

Challenging but fun!

Fourteen-year-old Toby Lloyd also did work experience at Create Studios. He said, "Thank you for being so welcoming and improving my computer skills when I came to my work experience recently. Your help and opinions on video editing are invaluable. I learnt a great deal and I'm very grateful for the help. I was particularly pleased that you allowed me to edit the video on the big-screen launch. Having to learn how to use a new program on the computer was challenging but good fun and experience. You all helped me brilliantly."

"Valuable work experience"

Charity Smith joined Arts Servcies for work experience this summer (2007). As her placement came to an end she was offered jobs at the newly reopened Wyvern Theatre.

Charity reports:

"I’ve been working with the Arts Services team at Swindon Borough Council for a month volunteering one - two days a week. I approached Helen Miah looking for experience in the arts services a couple months back as I was just completing a degree in Arts Management. I have now recently moved to Swindon and was keen to see what arts and culture the Council offered. Helen was very encouraging and happy to take me on and I was warmly welcomed into the team.

"I started by working alongside Helen, hearing about past projects the council provided that she had responsibility in, and then gradually became more acquainted with Stuart Webb and the Create team. As Stuart works closely with Helen in Arts Services, this felt like a natural transition.

"I enjoyed meeting and communicating with like-minded arts managers and colleagues and found good dynamics within the team. I gained a lot more experience than I anticipated. Helen opened opportunities for me by allowing me to attend Arts Services meetings and introducing her colleagues. Stuart gave me a good taster of what the different services provide and gave me tasks and responsibilities to carry out, which I thoroughly enjoyed because I was learning on the job, as well as putting what I had learnt at University to good use.

Good impression

"I got a valuable insight into what Arts Services jobs requires from both Helen and Stuart and I'm looking towards gradually building up enough experience in my career to one day have a similar role. Recently, I was offered two job roles at the Wyvern Theatre as Marketing Assistant and Theatre Administrator. Working with the Arts Services team gave me recognition with the Wyvern and allowed me to make a good impression on them too. I’m enthusiastic to be starting work at the Wyvern and will still be in strong contact with the Arts Services team.

"I would like to take this opportunity to thank Helen, Stuart and all of the Arts Services team for welcoming me and giving me such valuable work experience. I hope to carry on working with them whenever possible in the future.

"This experience has been highly useful to my career in Arts Management and I would recommend approaching the Arts Services team to anyone also hoping to pursue this kind of career."

"I really enjoyed it"

A schoolgirl from Malmesbury completed work experience at the Arts Centre. She emailed us, "I would just like to thank you all very much for allowing me to do my work experience at your theatre. I was made to feel very welcome and really enjoyed it. It's has also made me really consider it as a future career path. If you're ever looking for an extra pair of hand I would definitely be interested! Thanks once again and good luck for future performances."

"Excellent insight"

Hannah Sturman also found work experience with Arts Service invaluable. She explains:

"I did a work placement with Swindon Arts Services as part of my degree in Arts Management (BA Hons), working with the events team to deliver the Swindon Brunel Festival in 2006. I decided to complete the work placement with the events team as it's the area I hope to make a career in. I enjoyed working for the events team; everyone was very friendly and treated me as part of the team, not just a ‘placement student’. I was given numerous responsibilities that my peers in similar placements were not given (they made a lot of tea!).

"The placement was hugely beneficial as it helped me to put lessons learnt in the lecture theatre into practice. The experience proved invaluable when I applied to work on ‘cultural eXchanges’ 2007, a week long festival of talks, debates and events at De Montfort University in Leicester, as part of the administration team. My experience of events management was one of the primary reasons I was accepted to work on ‘cultural exchanges’.

"I think Swindon Arts Services has a lot of passion for the arts and are committed to delivering an exciting festivals programme year after year. I would definitely recommend undertaking a placement with Swindon Arts Services as the experience gives an excellent insight into working in a professional environment.

Essential experience

"The work placement helped me to further my career by giving me the essential experience needed to progress in the arts industry. Following this placement I completed another placement in Swindon with Swindon Cultural Partnership and worked on ‘cultural eXchanges’ 2007, Leicester. I am currently working as a marketing and events assistant for a company called Campus Enterprise Opportunities in Leicester that help people to start up their own business. I am also completing a piece of consultancy work for the Royal Opera House in London. Both of these are temporary positions as I am going travelling "

Hannah e-mailed her progress since that time in 2006, "Just to let you know, I am away travelling - I'm off to South East Asia next week. Whilst in New Zealand my friend and I decided to work for the summer season 07. I worked as Front of House and Events Manager for a live music bar and resturant called Cats Tango on Waiheke Island, which was great fun.

"I will be coming back to Swindon soon and am looking forward to seeing how the arts are developing and growing in the town!"

Arts Centre

Technical

You would learn how to rig, design and operate lighting and sound equipment, as well as Stage Management techniques. You will carry out technical duties during a performance. This is an excellent starting ground to understanding the world of technical theatre. For more information please contact Matt Davis on 01793 466565 or email midavis@swindon.gov.uk

Administration and marketing

We will show you how we market the shows, work with promoters and performers, and deal with the day-to-day running of a busy theatre. You will learn how to use the box office system, as well as helping the Duty Manager, learning the appropriate skills.

For more information contact Nicki Western on 01793 466565 or email nwestern@swindon.gov.uk

Create Studios

We offer a variety of work experience within Create Studios, covering all aspects of film and digital media. For more information contact Keith Phillips on 01793 465399 or email kphillips@swindon.gov.uk

University or college students

We offer work placements for both undergraduate and postgraduate students.

For more information on undergraduate or postgraduate placements please contact Helen Miah on HMiah@swindon.gov.uk