About Wales’ Temple of Peace & Health
Wales’ Temple of Peace & Health is an iconic Art Deco public building in the heart of Cardiff’s Civic Centre, opened in 1938 as Wales’ memorial to the fallen of World War One – as a centre for global cooperation: a ‘peace building, for peacebuilding’. The Temple is headquarters today to the Welsh Centre for International Affairs (WCIA), Wales’ leading internationalist charity, with a long heritage of global action from the 1920s to the present day. As well as being a hub for global action, learning and partnerships – bringing together many charities and community groups Wales and world–wide – the building is shared with Cardiff University, and is a popular venue for conferences, meetings and events, generating the income that enables WCIA’s work. In 2019, WCIA merged with sister charity UNA Exchange, bringing their expertise in managing 47 years of international exchange into the work of the WCIA.
This ESC placement will be supporting WCIA to uncover the rich ‘peace heritage’ of the Temple, its social movements and people over the decades; digitising archives and producing online information; and supporting visitors, events and community engagement projects.
Temple Volunteer Role(s)
WCIA is looking for volunteers with a keen interest in heritage research, digital communications, journalism / storytelling, and / or public engagement and learning, to support the Temple team with:
- Supporting a series of ‘Peace100’ Events and projects over 2022–23, marking the 50th Anniversary of WCIA and centenary of Welsh ‘League of Nations’ movements led by youth, women, teachers & communities.
- Digitising Temple Archives & Collections from the Library (and wider building), for online access.
- Curating displays and informative / educational visitor resources, for Temple Tours and public events.
- Hands–on environmental conservation work to improve Wales’ National Garden of Peace.
- Community engagement projects and activities with a range of WCIA partner organisations and groups.
- Day–to–day support to the wider WCIA team with visitors, events, social media and communications.
Wider Peace Heritage Project
This role will be part of a wider group of ESC placements across Wales (in Glamorgan, Swansea and Powys) who will:
- Link local work to Wales’ wider ‘peace heritage’, by exploring stories of internationalism from South Wales communities (e.g. support for refugees, past global campaigns, youth activism or volunteering).
- Research and write up stories for online features and on–site visitor information, and potentially develop creative social media such as video shorts or digital stories.
- Digitise archive materials into thematic collections online, such as via People’s Collection Wales or Flickr.
- Contribute ideas and content from your work over the year towards a ‘team exhibition’ by all ESC Wales volunteers towards the end of the placement period.
Practicalities
Day–to–day management will be under the direction of the WCIA team, with regular mentoring on heritage project activities in person or via Zoom. Occasional ‘team meetings’ with the wider ESC placements group may take place at the Temple or online, with possibly the occasional trip to Powys / Swansea (which would be arranged by WCIA).
Volunteers will live in rented accommodation in Cathays, within 15 minutes walk of the Temple – sharing with 2–6 other international volunteers who are currently on placements in Cardiff through UNA exchange – with communal kitchen, dining and bathroom / facilities, and individual bedrooms usually furnished with bed, desk and drawers. Cathays and the Temple of Peace are within 15 minutes’ walk of Cardiff’s City Centre, with regular public transport such as buses, trains and rental bikes, and plenty of local shops and facilities. As the capital city of Wales, Cardiff has a vibrant nightlife, lots of community activities, entertainment and tourism venues, and beautiful parks. The Glamorgan Coast and Brecon Beacons are popular areas of natural beauty within easy reach by public transport. Cardiff Central station offers regular rail services UK–wide, and Cardiff Airport offers direct flights across Europe.
Volunteers on these ESC placements will receive skills training and mentoring from WCIA’s different teams, as well as other Wales–based organisations, to be as effective as possible in the role and to gain an insight into different aspects of
working for an organisation. Volunteers should be highly motivated and self– starting, with an ambition to ‘learn through doing’. Joint applications from volunteers who know each other are welcomed (though not expected).
Application Process
- Enquiries and applications via WCIA’s Volunteer Team, with closing deadline of January 17th 2022.
- Volunteers Ukraine, Estonia, Russia, Spain, Belgium, Netherlands, France & Germany are eligible to apply for this project.
- Shortlisted applicants will be invited for an online interview with WCIA in February.
- WCIA will support successful placements through UK Visa process and other preparations.
- It is hoped that placements can start shortly after Easter (last week of April 2022).
- Placements are expected to be 12 months, finishing in April 2023.
For more information contact Michi Rohmann, on michaelarohmann@wcia.org.uk.