Placement Year at EEBC
Arts, Culture & Heritage Assistant - Community Development Officer
During my 3rd year at university, I secured a year-long placement at Epsom & Ewell Borough Council as an Arts, Culture & Heritage Assistant. The role exposed me to a wide range of creative and community-focused projects including murals, art workshops, museum events and digital heritage tours, all of which helped me develop transferable skills in teamwork, communication and public engagement.
After completing the placement, I was offered the opportunity to continue working at the council for a further 4 months as a casual Community Development Officer, allowing me to further build my confidence and continue developing my professional skills before returning to university.
Kids in Museums
I had the opportunity to organise the National Takeover Day event by Kids in Museums UK for 2 years in a row at Bourne Hall Museum. The process started with pitching my ideas to the wider community development team and museum staff before planning the activities and reaching out to local schools to encourage participation.
Both events really pushed my coordination and communication skills while also giving me a lot of creative freedom. I designed worksheets for a museum treasure hunt and celebrity tour, wrote risk assessments and helped put together an exhibition showcasing the children’s final work. I also supervised and facilitated the events on the day, which ended up being one of the most wholesome projects I worked on during my placement.
Bloomberg Connects
I designed 2 historical walking tours for the Bloomberg Connects app, Horton Light Railway and Epsom and Ewell Hike & Bike, both of which are currently live on the platform. These projects were very time-consuming but incredibly rewarding and helped me develop skills in research, storytelling and accessibility.
I carried out site visits, spoke with museum curators and the Countryside Manager and researched the history of Epsom & Ewell in order to create engaging and informative routes. I wrote captions, alt descriptions and scripts for over 30 tour stops across both projects while also considering the accessibility and practicality of each route.
I was also responsible for taking photographs, sourcing historical images, organising physical signage installation and writing promotional copy for the tours across official social media platforms.
Describe your image
Describe your image
Describe your image
Community Murals
The 6 community murals I worked on throughout my placement at the Council were some of my favourite projects to be part of. I had the opportunity to contribute creatively by coming up with ideas for mural themes, such as the horse racing heritage mural, and creating mood boards for the artists to work from.
I liaised with Positive Arts, the artists behind the murals, while also writing risk assessments to ensure the safety of the community groups involved during the installation process. I captured photo and video content throughout the projects and even had the chance to leave my own small mark on some of the murals, which was a very proud moment for me.
For the Epsom Playhouse murals, I also carried out a public consultation which involved engaging local residents in aspects of the design process. This project helped me understand the importance of involving the community in creative projects that directly impact local spaces.
Epsom & Ewell Young Legends
During my time as a Community Development Officer, I worked on Epsom & Ewell Young Legends, a 4–6 week arts and sports programme for children which replaced the former Surrey Youth Games initiative. I supported the project from both a creative and organisational side by helping to design a new logo, creating promotional posters for schools and giving presentations in primary schools to encourage participation.
I was also responsible for coordinating with activity providers and collecting the appropriate safeguarding and teaching certifications to ensure the programme ran safely and smoothly. In addition, I designed and built the Epsom & Ewell Young Legends webpage which is now live on the Council website.
This project was a really nice way to finish my time at the Council and allowed me to build confidence in both communication and event coordination while working with a genuinely passionate and supportive team.
