Press officer jobs in carlisle, cumbria

GrantScape is a national grant-making charity that funds community, environmental, and educational projects across the UK. Our grants make a meaningful impact—transforming lives, strengthening communities, and improving local environments in the areas we serve.

The Senior Grant Officer will play a key role in assessing and administering grant applications, and in coordinating meetings with local voluntary Advisory Panels who help prioritise funding decisions.

The ideal candidate will be an excellent communicator, capable of navigating complex situations and identifying practical solutions. You’ll bring strong project management skills to oversee a diverse portfolio of funded projects, and be confident working independently while thriving as part of a collaborative team.

We’re seeking someone with at least one year of experience in project management or grant-making (ideally two), and a solid understanding of the Third Sector. A full UK driving licence and access to a car for business use is essential. Mileage is reimbursed at 45p per mile, and a hire car will be provided for journeys over 120 miles.

The post will be a home-based role located in the Northwest of England, with easy access to the M6 corridor. Preferred locations include Lancaster, Preston or Warrington. The successful candidate must remain based in this region throughout their employment to ensure accessibility to meetings for location-specific funds.

Occasional overnight stays will be required, along with travel to our Head Office in Milton Keynes for team meetings up to three times per year.

A full job description and person specification are available below.

To apply, please email your CV along with a covering letter (maximum one side of A4) explaining how your experience aligns with the role requirements.

Key Dates:

• Application Deadline: 12pm, Friday 31 October
• First Interviews (Virtual): 11 November
• Second Interviews (In Person in the Northwest – venue TBC): 26 November

Senior Media and Communications Officer 

(UK Wide)

£32,145 per annum (pro rata for part time hours)

(Ref: 69REC)

Part Time: 22.5 hours per week – happy to talk flexible working

Base: Hybrid working from any UK wide Walk Wheel Cycle Trust Hub

About the role

We have a new opportunity for a Senior Media and Communications Officer to join the Policy and Communications team. In this role, you will be responsible for establishing and maintaining strong media relations that drive positive media coverage, enhance brand awareness, attract new supporters, and uphold the charity’s reputation across all media platforms.

Working closely with colleagues across the charity, you will contribute to the development and delivery of impactful communications campaigns that effectively tell the story of our work, highlight our impact, and strengthen our brand.

We offer true hybrid working, a flexible mix of working from home and occasional travel to a nearest office hub.

About you

You will bring experience in managing media and communications projects designed to generate positive coverage, applying creative PR techniques across trade, local, and national media outlets.

You will have experience in developing and implementing communications campaigns that leverage media, digital channels, and events to raise awareness and engage support for a charity.

Skilled at building relationships across a wide range of people including journalists, commentators and bloggers. You will effectively manage reputational crisis communications and confidently support spokespeople and senior leaders in responding to challenging or negative media coverage.

You will have proven experience in translating complex issues for diverse audiences using plain language and accessible formats. 

You’ll be instrumental in providing communications support to teams across Walk Wheel Cycle Trust including developing inspirational stories to showcase our work, creating content for publications and newsletters, preparing spokespeople with well-researched media briefings, pitching press releases and responding to media enquiries.

Walk Wheel Cycle Trust has a long-term commitment to being a charity for everyone - reducing inequality, valuing diversity, enabling inclusion and ensuring all people are treated with dignity and respect. We aim to be a truly inclusive employer and welcome applications from people from all parts of the community, in particular from under-represented groups. 

What we offer

In return we can offer true hybrid working to suit individual circumstances and a flexible, supportive and rewarding working environment. 

Wellbeing

• 28 days’ leave per annum plus bank holidays for full-time working
• Ability to buy an extra week of annual leave (pro-rata for part-time staff)
• Staff volunteer days
• 24/7 free, impartial and confidential support service
• We are members of the Green Commute Initiative and Cycle Scheme who both offer cycle to work schemes

Financial

• Group Personal Pension scheme with a 6% or 7% of basic salary contribution being matched by Walk Wheel Cycle Trust
• Bike, computer and season ticket loans
• Discount benefits
• London Weighting Allowance of £4,530 for all those living within a London Borough (32 local authority districts plus the City of London)
• Death in Service benefit – 3 x annual Salary

Family Friendly

• Enhanced maternity and paternity pay
• Flexible Working practices (full time hours are 37.5 per week, Monday - Friday)

Additional information

• Closing date for the receipt of completed applications is 23:59, 5 October 2025
• Interviews will take place via MS Teams on the 13 or 14th October 2025
• We encourage early applications as the role may close ahead of schedule if we receive strong interest.

Are you a talented communicator who shares our passion for using scientific evidence to benefit the lives of animals? Can you help us to disseminate knowledge about animal welfare to a wide range of audiences?

We, the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare (UFAW) and the Humane Slaughter Association (HSA), are two sister charities focused on the promotion of scientific, evidence-based approaches to animal welfare. We fund research, support the animal welfare science community, and advocate for evidence-based improvements to animal welfare worldwide. Communicating animal welfare science to both specialist audiences and the wider public is key to turning knowledge into real-world improvements in animal welfare. We are seeking a Scientific Communications and Content Assistant to join our talented Scientific Communications Team during an exciting period of growth and change for both charities.

The Scientific Communications and Content Assistant will support us to deliver our scientific communications strategy by helping to draft, design and publish engaging content for our print and digital platforms. This includes assisting with the creation of visual and written content that effectively convey complex scientific information to our diverse audiences.

The role will report to our Scientific Communications and Outreach Manager and work closely with the Public Affairs Lead and other internal teams to create engaging content for our audiences. We are seeking candidates with strong written, editing and visual skills, attention to detail, and the ability to collaborate with subject matter experts to ensure accuracy and clarity.

The ideal candidate will enjoy working as part of our small multi-disciplinary team and be confident to work unsupervised when necessary. You will be happy working across multiple projects, adapting to different communication styles and priorities, and keeping messaging clear and consistent across varied audiences.   

This role will be home-based. Because we’re based in the UK, the appointee will need to be UK-based and legally entitled to work in the UK. You will be expected to occasionally attend our offices in Hertfordshire to carry out duties as required and attend meetings. Travel costs and subsidence will be covered for you in these situations. The role may also require occasional travel within the UK and possibly overseas for events and other relevant activities - some of which may occur at weekends or in the evening. 

What you’ll be doing

• Drafting copy, designing graphics/visual materials (eg using Canva) and producing content for print, web, email, and social media 
• Overseeing the Charities’ day-to-day social media activity, including scheduling posts, monitoring channels, and responding to engagement.
• Assisting with the creation and dissemination of the Charities’ content including but not limited to press releases, newsletters, and digital campaign materials.
• Liaising regularly with internal teams to stay up to date on the Charities’ activities and to plan and schedule content across channels.
• Monitoring social media analytics and Mailchimp performance metrics to support reporting and strategy development.
• Collaborating with internal teams, for example Fundraising, to ensure consistent messaging and branding.
• Occasionally creating, editing and publishing video content.
• Liaising with external agencies, partners and stakeholders.
• Ensuring all materials and communications are accessible and inclusive.   
• Occasionally travelling within the UK and overseas for conferences, meetings and other events - some of which may take place during evenings or weekends.

What we’re looking for

• Proven experience in digital communications, content creation and social media.
• Demonstrable writing and editing skills with a high level of accuracy and attention to detail.
• Proficiency in using social media platforms (eg LinkedIn, Facebook, BlueSky and YouTube) and scheduling tools such as Hootsuite.
• Experience using graphic and content design tools such as Canva.
• Ability to monitor, analyse and interpret performance analytics from platforms including Mailchimp, social media, Hootsuite etc.
• Proven organisational and time management skills.
• Experience of working collaboratively with diverse teams, with well-developed interpersonal skills.
• Knowledge of and commitment to inclusion and accessibility.
• Experience working within brand and tone of voice guidelines.
• Experience creating content tailored to a diverse range of audiences and stakeholders.
• An understanding of and comfort with the Charities’ approach to animal welfare which includes co-operation with the livestock and slaughter industry, as well as laboratory animal researchers. Whilst both charities promote the highest standards of animal welfare, they do not oppose the use of animals by humans for research or food.

It would be great if you have

• Experience working in a charity or non-profit environment.
• A background in science such as a BSc or relevant experience in a scientific charity or setting.
• Knowledge of animal welfare science and practices.
• Familiarity with website content management systems such as WordPress.
• Experience creating and editing video content. 
• Understanding of policy communications or advocacy work.
• Understanding of SEO, engagement metrics, and digital advertising.

How to apply 

Please submit your CV and a covering letter (of no more than two pages of A4) that describes how your knowledge, skills and experience meet the requirements of our role. Applications close at 23:30 BST on Sunday 19 October. 

First round interviews will be held online on 3 November 2025, and second round interviews held in London on 10 November 2025. 

We use anonymous recruitment at the screening stage to enable an inclusive recruitment process.   

What we can offer you

• 25 days annual leave increasing to 30 days after ten years of service*.   
• Flexible working, including opportunities to work from home.
• Day one employer pension contributions of 8% of salary, into our pension scheme.
• Access to AonProtect Assistance which includes access to counselling services, legal, tax, medical and bereavement advice   
• Access to Mental Health First Aiders with two wellbeing days* per year to rest, recharge, and focus on mental, emotional, or physical health - without using annual leave.
• Optional childcare salary sacrifice scheme.
• Pet bereavement leave.   
• Generous sick pay policy.
• Training and development opportunities.

*Pro-rata for part-time employees. 

Land, and the way that it is owned and managed, impacts on all of us. It has different places in all of our histories, whatever our backgrounds or heritage, whether our experience is of public or private ownership, colonialism, dispossession, or migration, the difficulties of making a living in a rural economy or the daily impacts of urbanisation and gentrification. How we currently own, manage and make decisions about land lies at the heart of many of our current social, economic and environmental challenges and injustices. 

Shared Assets works with people and land for a just future.

We undertake advice & support, research, movement building, communications and resourcing work to support, mobilise and advocate for the development of models of managing land that create shared social, economic and environmental benefits. We see systems change as a core value of our work and seek to be transformative, both through externally-facing projects and internal approaches and ways of working.

Our research work supports collective learning related to working on and with the land. We communicate our findings through articles, blogs, podcasts, reports, events, and more - building a shared evidence base to support the development of a just land system. Through our research, we seek to make an impact at a local and a systemic level. We want to create conditions that allow people and communities to thrive, and promote care for the land and environment. We do this work on both a commercial and grant funded basis.

The role holder will lead the full range of Shared Assets’ research projects, from scoping and design through to delivery, follow up and evaluation. They will need to have experience of designing and carrying out research and learning activities with a wide range of partners - including academics, community groups, NGOS and local authorities - in collaborative ways. In the past we have worked on research projects of many scales - from large European Union funded consortia, to smaller, one-off pieces which help a local authority or community organisation move forward with their work. Often our research work involves collaborating with a group of other civil society organisations to provide evidence of why change in the land, food and farming system is needed, and generate action on these issues. 

The main areas of work are to: manage and deliver funded research projects (or projects with a research component) with partners, reflect with colleagues on what we are learning within and across workstreams as an organisation and sector, use this knowledge to create new ideas for research work, and support fundraising for these, as part of our ‘infrastructure’ role.

For more details please see the full application pack. Apply before 10am on Monday 27th October.