BEFS Awarded Heritage Lottery Funding
BEFS awarded Heritage Lottery funding for “Fit for the Future” project.
BEFS NEWS
BEFS is delighted to announce BEFS – Fit for the Future, funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund to Spring 2025. This award of £96,880 will enable BEFS to best meet sector need now and for the future, allowing the organisation to enhance their climate support, and EDI (equality, diversity and inclusion) offer to the sector; as well as provide internal training and capacity to examine and develop their own robust business model.
This award comes at a critical time for the sector: with economic and climate crises providing challenges to all, and within an environment of complex policy making – and increasingly difficult decision taking. BEFS holds space for those conversations, facilitates solution finding, and provides additional sector capacity with support for collaborative policy making and advocacy.
BEFS Trustees stated:
In our 20th year, we’re grateful to the Lottery for understanding the value of this project to the sector. BEFS are excited to be able to build on our 20 years of expertise supporting the sector’s strategic aims, pleased to bring new capacity to the organisation, and look forward to enhancing our resilience for the future.
Caroline Clark, Director for Scotland, The National Lottery Heritage Fund said:
One of four key investment principles in our Heritage 2033, 10-year strategy is to support organisations to develop the skills and capacity to ensure a long-term future and encourage new heritage investment that benefits communities and economies. With Fit for the Future BEFS aims to do that.
Thanks to money raised by National Lottery players we are pleased to support BEFS to develop, adapt and transform their services to best meet the needs of the built environment sector today and prepare for the challenges of the future.
BEFS core funding is currently from the Organisational Support Fund, from Historic Environment Scotland.
Susan O’Connor Head of Grants at Historic Environment Scotland said:
We are delighted to see BEFS embrace the opportunity to redefine itself in the post-Covid landscape. For 20 years, the organisation has played a strong leadership role in representing heritage sector organisations, making sure their voices and concerns are heard by key decision makers. We are keen to hear what comes out of this review process and we look forward to supporting wherever we can.
About our Funders
About the Heritage Fund: Using money raised by the National Lottery, we inspire, lead and resource the UK’s heritage to create positive and lasting change for people and communities, now and in the?future. www.HeritageFund.org.uk.
Follow @HeritageFundUK on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and use #NationalLotteryHeritageFund
Follow our Scottish accounts @HeritageFundSCO on Twitter and Facebook
Each week, National Lottery players raise £30 million for good causes across the UK.
About Historic Environment Scotland: HES is the lead public body established to investigate, care for and promote Scotland’s historic environment. HES are Scotland’s largest visitor attraction operator, and are also responsible for an internationally significant archive of drawings, photographs, manuscripts and aerial photographs, including hundreds of thousands of digitised objects.
HES have a statutory role in the planning system, and also provide advice on a range of plans, policies and strategies affecting the historic environment and their environmental assessments. HES work nationally and internationally to advance education, skills, and research in heritage. Through the HES grants programme, they invest c.£14million a year. HES also have a lead role in enabling delivery of Our Past, Our Future – the new Strategy for Scotland’s Historic Environment.
HES: https://www.historicenvironment.scot/
Our Past Our Future: http://www.ourpastourfuture.scot
Vacancies
Please see the link for both roles – and feel free to share the link with your networks.
BEFS Senior Communications Lead
Salary: £32,000 – £35,000 depending on skills and experience.
Status: FT role until March 2025. Permanent (subject to funding – Organisation funding in place to April 2025)
Location: The job is home-working based – the team all work remotely, and are based in/around Edinburgh with regular face-to-face meetings expected. Very occasional event support may be required across Scotland, or in the evening.
BEFS Senior Communications role will lead on the communication activities of the organisation.
Working closely with the Board, Director, and team – as well as communicating with our Member organisations – the post holder will be responsible for managing the breadth of the organisation’s (digital) communications channels. Adopting a proactive cross-sectoral approach, the post holder will play a key role in maintaining and raising BEFS profile with policy makers, the sector, and wider stakeholders.
As we are in our 20th year, BEFS are seeking the right individual – with an excellent turn of phrase, and an eye for detail – to fit into a small, friendly team.
The Senior Communications Lead will be involved in all aspects of BEFS newly funded NLHF project which develops BEFS governance, BEFS strategic framework development, and BEFS EDI offer for the sector (and internal training).
Please see the Job Description for detailed information on the role and skills required.
To apply: Please complete the Application Form (no CVs please) and send your application attached to an email BEFS [The subject of the email should read: Confidential – Job Application – LEAD]
Closing date: 5pm on Wednesday 9 August 2023
Interview date: Monday 21 August 2023. Interviews will be held, in person, in central Edinburgh.
BEFS Communications & Policy Officer
Salary: £20,000 -24,000 (FTE) depending on skills and experience; For example, 30h = Salary £16,000 – £19,200
Hours: 24-30h These hours can be worked flexibly, as long as there is consistency, and the majority of hours are worked between 8am-6pm. The post holder can work some hours each day, or several days together, or a combination that fits with their other commitments.
Status: Contract until 31 March 2025.
Location: The job is home-working based – the team all work remotely, and are based in/around Edinburgh with regular face-to-face meetings expected. Very occasional event support may be required across Scotland, or in the evening.
BEFS are looking for a proactive person who will work well remotely, but closely with the team. A person who wants to develop effective communications for not only BEFS as an organisation, but also advocacy messaging for the wider sector; and is keen to provide wider project and policy activity support flexibly. Flexibility, accuracy, and ability to work enthusiastically and proactively is key.
This will be a learning and development role within BEFS where the successful applicant will have a degree of autonomy in supporting the Communications activity and Policy activity; but will also be welcome at a wide range of Built Environment Policy discussions and meetings to develop their own learning.
Training and support to develop your communications and policy understanding is part of the role, and individual development areas will be discussed and developed over the term of the role.
Please see the Job Description for detailed information on the role and skills required.
To apply: Please complete the Application Form (no CVs please) and send your application attached to an email to BEFS [The subject of the email should read: Confidential – Job Application – OFFICER]
Closing date: 5pm on Wednesday 9 August 2023
Interview date: Tuesday 22 August 2023. Interviews will be held, in person, in central Edinburgh.