Community Engagement

Work Experience

We are pleased to offer work experience placements to people in our community. In January there were seven students here helping us and gaining valuable experience. Two of the students interviewed each other and then wrote a short piece to give you an idea of what they have been doing and what they have gained from their time here.

Daisy’s Experience

Daisy has come here from Frome College to spend a week here at the Bishop’s Palace; engaging in a wide range of activities such as helping in the café, to shadowing an employee in an office. The main reason why she came to complete her Work experience in Wells was to experience the different opportunities, resulting to an exponential increase in both her confidence and communication skills working with both a team and having conversations to the general public. This has had a huge effect on Daisy as prior to joining, she never had a part-time job – meaning she can use these soft skills in the wide world and adapt them to any sort of job.

Overall, she would hugely recommend this to anyone who hasn’t got a clear understanding of what they want to do in the future as the Bishop’s Palace offers a wide range of activities to engage in, whilst also learning crucial soft skills that can be used in any sort of circumstances.

Kai’s Experience

Kai goes to Yeovil College and is doing a T-Level in Management and Administration- a coursework-based qualification which means that he can spend every Friday in The Bishops Palace Finance Department and every afternoon helping in the admin side of things. Throughout the 3 months, he has been helping he says he has gained skills in communication and responsibility that will prepare him for future employment and having the opportunity to obtain professional references if need be.

Kai believes that working at The Bishops Palace is a great opportunity for young people because of the wide range of different experiences they offer, and the friendliness of the staff who are willing to accommodate any style of learning, meaning anyone can come and feel welcome and supported.

Please note we are now full for Year 10 work experience July 2026.

Christmas Eco Art Exhibition 2025

Schools and nurseries from across the area created some incredible exhibits on the theme of ‘Christmas Carols’ for the 2025 Christmas Eco Arts Exhibition. Hundreds of children, with some help from their dedicated teachers, created wonderful and imaginative exhibits interpreting the Christmas carol theme. Prizes were awarded for the cutest, the biggest, the best interpretation of the theme and the exhibit involving the most children.

If you missed the exhibition, you can see it in all its glory on our YouTube channel. The Bishop’s Palace would like to thank all of the children and nursery and school staff who worked so hard on their exhibits.

If your school would like to take part next year, please contact Gemma Palmer, Community Engagement Assistant, at [email protected].

Community Engagement Updates – November 2025

We continue to support people in our community with career opportunities and work experience, and in turn they bring a fresh perspective to our organisation. Here is a snapshot of what is going on right now behind the scenes. We currently have a full-time trainee gardener on placement for the next year through the Historic & Botanic Garden Training Scheme. The garden team also have someone doing an 8 week work experience placement through Wells Job Centre. Last month a student from Yeovil College also started an 18 month T level placement one day a week leading to a qualification in Business Management and Administration. A member of our catering team is currently doing an apprenticeship to qualify as a chef. Two school students are completing their Duke of Edinburgh Award volunteering placement with us. For the first time we have also had a young person who has just graduated getting some practical experience relevant to their Photography degree. This has included them taking photos at events, creating and editing video for our YouTube content and completing their online drone license. Last but not least, we have already got nine year 10 students lined up for work experience in 2026!

Here are some of the images taken by our photography placement student, Tomos, of the Playing Cards Competition awards evening and the Somerset Poppy display.

Community Engagement Updates – October 2025

We want to make sure we are relevant to our community and this doesn’t only mean welcoming people here on site. We often go out and about to community events or deliver outreach sessions to schools and community groups, too. In the last few weeks, our Community Gardener, Jo Stevenson, has been out to visit Stepping Stones Nursery in Wells and they came back for a return visit too (pictured). Gemma Palmer, Community Engagement Assistant, attended a Careers Fair at Kings of Wessex School in Cheddar (pictured) and we have already had one of their students apply for work experience. Gemma also went out to St Lawrence and Priddy Primary School to run a workshop on the history of The Great Hall. Siobhan Goodwin, Community Engagement Manager, did an assembly for Year 7 students at The Blue School, Wells and also represented The Bishop’s Palace at a county-wide conference in Bridgwater run by SPARK Somerset, called Vision for Volunteering. Moira Anderson, our very own Swan Whisperer, did a talk at The Lawrence Centre in Wells, a day centre for older people.

We are also working on the Christmas Eco Art Exhibition by local schools so you can look forward to seeing that in the conference room in December. The theme this year is Christmas Carols.

Work Experience 2025

Last month we had almost 20 work experience students here, learning about marketing, events, gardening, designing and creating costumes, customer service and spending time helping in the café and shop. Some of them even presented a mini guided tour which was quite an achievement. Some of the students picked flowers from the community garden to leave in random places in Wells so someone got a nice surprise and a treat  to take home. The students came from 5 different local schools and colleges. Here’s what they had to say:

“I improved my confidence talking to the public”

“I liked that there was a variety of things for us to do. I learnt a lot”

“I’ve had a fabulous week and everyone has been really welcoming”

“I liked that it was very hands on and we were treated as part of the team”

“I felt genuinely supported every step of the way”

“I wish we had had more time to feed the swans”

“My favourite part was designing the costumes”

If you know someone who might be interested in doing work experience with us please contact [email protected]