Logos: The Neurological Alliance (England) The Neurological Alliance of Scotland, Northern Ireland Neurological Charities Alliance, Wales Neurological Alliance.

Paid opportunity: #BackThe1in6 neuro community portrait (closing date 6 February 2023)

Are you looking for a creative opportunity to reflect and celebrate the neuro community?

Do you have lived experience of neurological conditions (either as a person with a neurological condition or someone with a close personal connection to neurological conditions, such as a relative or caregiver)?

And are you ready to work with others to create a powerful community portrait to inspire action and support for the #BackThe1in6 campaign?

Apply now!

Who we’re looking for

We are looking for a creative designer with lived experience of neurological conditions (either as a person with a neurological condition or someone with a close personal connection to neurological conditions, such as a relative or caregiver) to create a mosaic portrait made up of pictures of different people affected by neurological conditions.

Once completed, the finished portrait will be projected on to wall space, either inside or outside, at different venues across the UK, and made available to view online on mobile and web platforms. You will need to have the technical skills and knowledge to make sure the finished portrait can be displayed effectively in all of these mediums.

Be ready to collaborate, communicate and coproduce with people affected by neuro conditions and meet tight deadlines.

The portrait

The portrait will be displayed as a projection in Portcullis House, Westminster, and at other venues in the UK. The exhibition will coincide with the hand-in of the Back The 1 in 6 petition calling on all UK governments to work together to create a Neuro Taskforce and improve neuro services. People who are unable to attend the exhibition will also need to be able to see the portrait online.

Creative needs

The portrait will:

  • Highlight the #BackThe1in6 message: 1 in 6 people in the UK live with a neurological condition but there simply isn’t the workforce or services in place to provide the support they need. This must change.
  • Represent the uniqueness of each person living with a neurological condition and their experience – each neurological condition and a person’s experience of it is as unique as a thumbprint.
  • Reflect and celebrate the diverse community of people affected by neurological conditions including children, young people and adults, and people of different genders, ethnicities, backgrounds and abilities.
  • Provoke interest in all neurological conditions.
  • Inspire action and support for the Back The 1 in 6 campaign to improve services for people with neurological conditions.
  • Highlight the large number of people affected by neurological conditions in the UK.
  • Reflect the fact that neurological conditions can affect the whole nervous system including the brain, spine and nerves.
  • Be bold and stand out. The portrait should be bright and eye-catching and help to raise the profile of Neurological Alliances across the UK.

Technical requirements

  • Accessibility: people should be able to see the portrait online, through mobile and web browsers, as well as at exhibitions, and the design should follow best practice accessibility standards.
  • Portability: the portrait will need to be displayed in different venues simultaneously as a projection – the size of the space available to project the portrait may vary, and the projection may be displayed inside an exhibition venue, or outside, for example on an external wall. These factors should be considered in the design.
  • Simplicity: it should be easy for people affected by neurological conditions to submit content to the portrait, no matter where they live.
  • Branding: the design should incorporate the colours of The Neurological Alliance brand, and those of The Scottish Neurological Alliance, The Wales Neurological Alliance and the Northern Ireland Neurological Charities Alliance.
  • Portrait completion deadline: the portrait will need to be completed by Wednesday 15 March 2023.

About you

We welcome applications from people from all backgrounds and walks of life, particularly people from often underrepresented groups. These include disabled people and/or people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds and the LGBTQIA+ community. We are committed to promoting equity, diversity and inclusion through our work and within and beyond our organisation.

For this role, we are looking for someone:

  • Skilled and creative: we are looking for someone with the skills and mindset to deliver a bold, vibrant portrait that engages others and communicates a clear and lasting message.
  • With lived experience of neurological conditions, either as a person with a neurological condition or someone with a close personal connection to neurological conditions.
  • Collaborative: you will be working with our coproduction group of people with lived experience of neurological conditions to shape the portrait and bring our vision to life. You need to be able to work as part of a team and collaboratively with them (via Zoom).
  • Communicative and understanding: remember that some people may need more time to answer your questions or give feedback due to the symptoms affecting them at that time. Communication is key for the end goal to be delivered and achieved, especially as we are working to a tight deadline.
  • Accessibility and inclusion aware: in particular the social model of disability, and design principles.
  • Understands the technical requirements of the brief and subsequent projection and how to display the image online.
  • Shares The Neurological Alliance’s values and our mission and passion for improving neuro services.

The background

In 2021/2022, we ran a survey – My Neuro Survey – to give a picture of the experience of care, treatment and support for adults and children affected by neurological conditions. Over 8,500 people took part, highlighting delays to potentially life changing treatment and care, lack of mental health support and a lack of information and support at diagnosis.

The UK wide survey was run in partnership with the Neurological Alliances of Scotland and Wales and the Northern Ireland Neurological Charities Alliance. There was also a version specifically for children and young people with a neurological condition.

Read the complete results of the survey here.

Out of this came the #BackThe1in6 campaign.

1 in 6 people in the UK live with a neurological condition but there simply isn’t the workforce or services in place to support them. We are calling on all UK governments to back the 1 in 6 and establish a Neuro Taskforce to address these problems and create real change.

As part of this we will be handing in a petition (signed by over 17,000 people so far) to relevant Ministers and Departments across the UK in March 2023. This portrait will be exhibited in conjunction with the hand-in and will play a vital role in raising awareness of the campaign, neurological conditions and Neurological Alliances.

Find out more about us here.

Application deadline

Please send your pitch and CV in by 9am on Monday 6 February 2023.

Key dates

  • Applications will be shortlisted by a panel in the week commencing 6 February 2023, and applicants contacted shortly thereafter.
  • Shortlisted applicants will be asked to attend a short interview (approximately 20 minutes) via Zoom in the week commencing 13 February 2023. This will be an opportunity to ask and answer questions.
  • The successful applicant will be expected to attend to a meeting with our coproduction group on Thursday 23 February 2023 between 6 and 7pm (via Zoom).
  • The portrait and projection will need to be completed by Wednesday 15 March 2023.
  • The petition hand-in and exhibition will take place on 22 March 2023 (subject to availability in Portcullis House).

How to apply

Send a short pitch to info@neural.org.uk outlining how you would approach the project to achieve its aims and meet the deadline. Include ‘Application: creative designer’ in the subject line.

This could be a short video (no more than five minutes) or a written statement (no more than 1000 words). You can include pictures and links to support your pitch. We also encourage you to show us relevant examples of work you have done before.

Your pitch should cover:

  1. What skills and experience make you a good candidate for the role? What attracted you to the role?
  2. Please share with us what diversity, equity, and inclusion mean to you and why they’re important? How would you put the principles of diversity, equity and inclusion into practice in this role?
  3. How might you work with our coproduction group to create a design that reflects and celebrates the neurological community?
  4. How would you highlight the #BackThe1in6 message in your design?
  5. How would you make sure your design was inclusive and accessible?
  6. Talk us through the technical requirements of the project: what do you need to create a mosaic portrait and projection that can also be displayed online? Are there things we should bear in mind when collecting images?
  7. We’ll be working to some tight deadlines: how will you make sure these are met?

Fee

Please submit an estimate of the cost of the project with your pitch. Please bear in mind the size of our organisation (we have an income of less than £250k) when estimating your fee.

Contact

For more information or if you have any questions please contact us:

info@neural.org.uk

01923 882 590

Download this application pack as a PDF here.

If you need this information in an alternative format, please contact us.