Playing Cards Competition CLOSED

After the success of the Young Photographers’ Competition last summer we are holding another competition, but this time it is for all ages and there will be 54 winners because we want to create a bespoke pack of playing cards with images of the gardens, buildings and wildlife here. Perhaps you already have a photograph that you have taken at The Bishop’s Palace, or by the moat, that you think would look good on a playing card. Maybe you want to get your pet dog in the photo! We are planning on having five categories:

• Category 1 Diamonds : Wildlife
• Category 2 Clubs : Gardens
• Category 3 Spades: Buildings
• category 4 Hearts : Under 16s (any image of gardens/wildlife/buildings or pet dog)
• Category 5 Jokers:  A close up image of your pet dog (on a lead!) set in gardens or by the moat.

 Competition Rules

All entries must be received no earlier than 11^th July and no later than Mon 11^th Aug 2025.

We cannot accept photographs with people in them.

There will be a category for under 16s so please add your age if you are entering that category otherwise we will assume you are over 16.

All images must be sent as a JPEG attachment to an email and sent in portrait orientation.

Entries must be emailed to [email protected] and will be limited to two images per person (please state on your email which category you want each of the two images entered in to. Please remember it is a  maximum of two images allowed in total per person ie you cannot submit one for every category)

By submitting your images you give The Bishop’s Palace the right to use the images on bespoke playing cards that will be sold to raise money for The Palace Trust charity. The images may also be used on The Bishop’s Palace website and social media and in related publicity about the competition.

Entrants whose images feature in the deck of cards will receive two free packs of playing cards and an invitation to a launch event on the morning of Sun 12^th October 2025 with free entry for you and a guest to the palace and gardens afterwards.

New Palace Bench Plaques Raise Awareness for Mental Health

Two benches at The Bishop’s Palace have been fitted with new plaques that have scannable QR codes which link to a range of mental health support services. Reaching out for help when you are in distress isn’t always easy.  Siobhan Goodwin, Community Engagement manager, said, ‘We know that people often visit here to find a peaceful place to reflect at tough times in their lives, and we hope that these plaques may just help someone when they need it most. One of the benches is easily accessible in the entrance area with a wonderful view, and the other is in a very quiet spot out in the community garden.’

The plaques were provided by SAFE South West, which is a community safety charity working closely with the emergency services to help those with mental health issues by providing easy access to a range of information and support.

Students from The Mendip School are gaining hands-on work experience at The Bishop’s Palace and Gardens in Wells, thanks to an ongoing partnership that benefits both The Palace Trust and the young people involved.

The Mendip School, based in Shepton Mallet, is a school for pupils aged 4 to 19 with a primary diagnosis of autism (ASD) and speech language and communication needs.

The Bishop’s Palace’s Community Engagement programme aims to give a warm welcome to everyone and play a part in making Wells and the surrounding area a wonderful place to live and visit.

As part of this initiative, every Thursday students from the school take on a variety of roles at the Palace, from cleaning the brass commemorative plaques; to keeping the grounds tidy; to more public-facing tasks such as welcoming visitors to the Palace and checking tickets at the Lodge.

The experience helps them build confidence, develop practical skills, and prepare for future employment, all while making a meaningful contribution to the historic site.

Staff at the Palace have praised the students’ enthusiasm and dedication, noting the positive impact their work has on maintaining The Bishop’s Palace’s welcoming atmosphere.

The collaboration not only provides valuable opportunities for the students but also strengthens the connection between The Palace Trust, the school and the wider community.

Siobhan Goodwin, Community Engagement Manager at The Bishop’s Palace, says ‘As well as volunteering with us, the students have lessons in our learning room once a week with their teaching staff from school. It has been so rewarding to see them grow in confidence over the last six months. We would like to thank the students and the wonderful staff from The Mendip School who support them in their volunteering’.

On a sunny day in April we welcomed a group of displaced people from Frome, as our guests. They enjoyed their visit immensely and were impressed by both the Palace and the gardens. Iryna, who organised the visit, said ‘I am happy to see their smiles and I know that they had a great time. It’s very important for them to be able to enjoy the positive moments because many Ukrainian clients feel unhappy because of the uncertainty of their future in the UK and the situation in our home country. Such trips are very important for the mental health and wellbeing of our clients. Thank you very much for this great opportunity for our group to visit this beautiful place.’

The community engagement team has been getting out and about recently. Visits to The Blue School in Wells and Frome College involving over 300 students on the subject of careers. Many of them were surprised to find out that over 10% of our staff team started out here as volunteers. Jo Stevenson, Community Gardener has also been to visit Stepping Stones Nursery to help them plan their garden for this year. A group of 45 children from St Cuthbert’s School came to interview Adam, our Visitor Experience Manager, about how many visitors we get each year, where they visit from etc.  This was part of a class project. They were very well prepared and came with lots of interesting questions.

We have now completed our current round of volunteer recruitment. Thank you to all those people who have offered to join our team and are now taking part in the training. Many of them will have ‘volunteer in training’ on their lanyards for the first few week so please do give them a warm welcome when you visit. Having almost 200 volunteers on our team means that we really can go the extra mile to make the visitor experience top notch. Pictured are volunteers, staff and trustees working towards our Investing in Volunteering Quality Standard Award by completing the self-assessment stage. Watch this space towards the end of 2025 when we hope to have completed the process which will show we are a really good organisation to volunteer with.