Muswell Hill Creatives Membership

Why Join Muswell Hill Creatives?

Key benefits
Muswell Hill Creatives is a dynamic collective of local artists, designers and makers who take pride in quality craftsmanship and promote creativity.
  • It is a carefully curated creative community with a difference as it has its own dedicated coordinator. It was founded in 2014 and recently celebrated its 10th anniversary.
  • ​Being part of a collective is mutually rewarding and a great way of feeling less isolated when you are working alone from home or in your studio. 
  • MHC is established as a well-known respected collective in North London.
  • Members are committed to a collective ethos which is collaborative, open, supportive and positive. 
  • All members share a passion for creating great work and loving what they do.  
  • The collective provides a non-competitive, friendly, agile, supportive and fun creative environment where all creative skills are valued and appreciated regardless of where you are in your creative career. 
  • Members have an open approach to new opportunities and to exchanging business/product development feedback to further the success of their creative business.
  • Members are committed to championing the collective and celebrating creativity in the local community as well as championing the work of fellow members. 
  • Members get together to sell their work at MHC events including the outdoor Makers Fairs held four times a year in in St James Square, Muswell Hill, its twice yearly Make and Mend events (March and October), as well as ad hoc pop up shops and exhibitions.
  • Membership is in 6 month periods to give flexibility in the ever-changing creative environment.  
  • We have an alumni web page and still stay in touch with past members as part of a wider creative community – along with those who join us at events as guests
  • A public profile on the MHC public social media pages and offline newsletters and publicity. (4.37k+ Instagram, 1.9k Facebook followers, 900+ mailing list)
  • One page for each member on the Muswell Hill Creatives website. Other presence on the website mentions on the News & Events page. 
  • Blog features on the MHC website. These are generally written by Rachael but on occasions may be guest written by a member of MHC. They are edited and posted by Rachael.
  • Regular social events to benefit from being part of a thriving creative community. These are organised by the coordinator or by one of the MHC members.   
  • Access to all MHC forums, mentoring sessions, social events and public selling events.
  • Being regularly informed of sales, PR, networking, training and new business opportunities by the coordinator. MHC members also exchange opportunities.  
  • Support/advice in brand, PR, website and social media development by the coordinator or members of MHC. 
  • Increased exposure: being exposed to a growing audience with social media profile beyond Muswell Hill.
  • Mentoring support: eg Etsy shop, social media, product development and training sessions (some will be chargeable as an extra depending on the nature of the session). 
  • Individual Marketing/PR support is chargeable separately subject to further discussion

Dedicated Coordinator

Unlike many other collectives, MHC has its own dedicated coordinator – Rachael Booth-Clibborn. 

Rachael founded the collective in 2014 and is responsible for coordinating the collective's activities, promoting its work and building its profile as a collective with a strong reputation for quality products, great events and engaging content.

Her career in marketing and event management enables Rachael to proactively seek and exploit opportunities for the group whether events, funding, advertising and publicity opportunities. 

Rachael manages and implements MHC’s calendar of events and communications across the MHC website, social media platforms and newsletters.

She maintains a consistent presence on social media of the activities of MHC as a whole and its individual members. She keeps on top of trends and ever-changing algorithms sharing new approaches and advice with the group

Rachael can be hired to provide individual marketing/PR support for members for an additional fee should this be required on a regular or ad hoc basis.

Eligibility Criteria

You Need to:
  • You must be local to Muswell Hill and surrounding areas in North London
  • You must be creating your own original product and working on your own to a high standard of workmanship 
  • You need to be operating as a creative selling business and are not just a ‘hobbyist’ 
  • Your work fits with that of current members and does not present a direct product conflict 
  • Your work brings something new in terms of craft discipline/style to MHC 
  • You can demonstrate you are fully committed to your creative practice and willing to develop and grow it with the support of MHC
  • You understand and value a collective ethos
  • You are open to business/product development suggestions and brainstorming you will be committed to working with Rachael and your fellow members to pursue and share new opportunities for the benefit of MHC
  • Be responsive to opportunities and actively engage with fellow members by sharing opportunities, assisting with problem solving and offering advice/ideas 
  • Be an “ambassador” of MHC championing the collective to your customers/follower
  • You can be working on your creative business full time or part time as your sole source of income or part of your income to be part of the collective
  • Teaching a craft is a bonus as we run workshop events but is not essential.
  • Have an e-commerce platform (your own website or Etsy/other shop) or have one in development
  • Be proactive on one or more social media platforms including Facebook, Tik Tok,  Instagram, Pinterest or be willing to become so. Training can be provided to help you boost your profile on these platforms.  (Note - MHC has recently deactivated its X account)
  • Be prepared to be hands on with practical aspects of events when help is sought– ie covering shifts at an MHC pop up shop or exhibition or assisting with set up/set down of a fair or other event

 Your Time Commitment

As a member you need to commit to: 
  • attending a minimum of three in person meetings a year in Muswell Hill or nearby whether it be an informal catch up, business review/development meeting or training session.
  • participating in at least two MHC events a year
  • reading and responding to Emails and WhatsApp messages from the coordinator to keep abreast of MHC activities and engage with opportunities. This can be on a daily or weekly basis
  • actively and regularly engaging with social media posts from MHC or your fellow members 

Membership Fees

New Member Selection Process
Membership is £165 for 6 months invoiced in advance.  (Subject to one month's cancellation notice period.) 

An additional coordinator fee is charged for the main MHC sales events (including fairs and pop up shops) to cover event management and marketing.  The coordinator’s fee depends on the scale of the event and time commitment involved. Costs associated with the event are also shared amongst the participants. More details available on request. 

All members share ad hoc general costs including website hosting, MHC branding materials, social media ads, subscriptions etc in addition to their membership fee.  Approximate cost per member is £20 and members will be notified of these costs normally in May and October.  

Membership (and associated fees) are reviewed in February and August each year.   
New member applications are reviewed by existing collective members with final decision made by Rachael as founder.

You may be asked to provide further information in order to understand your eligibility and fit for MHC 

If you would like to establish if your application will be considered in an upcoming membership round before completing the application form, do email Rachael at [email protected]

We are really interested in those working skilled crafts such as working with natural materials such as wood, textiles and sculpture and art disciplines such as screen-printing.  

Testimonials

If you are interested in joining our collective, subscribe here for news of future calls for new members and to hear about upcoming events you can apply to join: