Community Engagement
The Palace Trust is a charity and community engagement is a key focus for us. We want to give a warm welcome to everyone and play our part in making Wells and the surrounding area a wonderful place to live and visit.
Below are a few examples of how we’re engaging with our community:
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We have set up a Community Membership Scheme which encourages local not-for-profit groups and organisations to make the most of this unique heritage site at the heart of Wells. It is also a great way for The Bishop’s Palace to build stronger links with the community. You can purchase memberships and we also issue 50 complimentary passes each year for local groups who will benefit the most from them.
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Each year we provide over 150 complimentary Bishop’s Palace Admission Tickets for local people who will benefit the most from them.
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Each state primary and secondary school in Wells, Shepton Mallet, Glastonbury and Street can apply to bring one class for free in 2026.
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We work with many local organisations to benefit our community.
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We provide opportunities for local people to return to work, gain work experience and pathways into employment.
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We take part in national and regional forums to promote good practice and take part in research.
Please contact [email protected] for more information on any of these community initiatives.
Please contact us if you have any ideas, suggestions or proposals for ways that we could work with you or how you might like to get involved here.
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]
