Membership
How Muswell Hill Creatives Works
Muswell Hill Creatives (MHC) is a carefully curated creative community with a difference. Being part of a collective is fun, mutually rewarding and is a great way of feeling less isolated if you work alone.
Unlike many other collectives, MHC has its own dedicated coordinator – Rachael Booth-Clibborn. Rachael founded the collective in 2014 and since then has been responsible for coordinating the collective's activities, promoting its work and building its profile. She produces its calendar of events and its communications content across the website, social media platforms and newsletters.
Whilst MHC benefits from having a coordinator/PR, MHC is committed to its collective ethos and the members very much work as a team. Members have an open approach to new opportunities and ideas and jointly assess their value to the development of the collective, and to each member. On the practical side, belonging to the collective may involve doing a shift at an MHC pop up shop or helping with set up/set down of a fair or other event
You get to show and sell your work at MHC events including our outdoor fairs in St James Square, pop up shops and other events.
Rachael's background in PR and event management enables her to proactively seek publicity opportunities for the group as a whole and provides you with access to this expertise should you wish to commission individual PR support (fees to be negotiated separately).
Unlike many other collectives, MHC has its own dedicated coordinator – Rachael Booth-Clibborn. Rachael founded the collective in 2014 and since then has been responsible for coordinating the collective's activities, promoting its work and building its profile. She produces its calendar of events and its communications content across the website, social media platforms and newsletters.
Whilst MHC benefits from having a coordinator/PR, MHC is committed to its collective ethos and the members very much work as a team. Members have an open approach to new opportunities and ideas and jointly assess their value to the development of the collective, and to each member. On the practical side, belonging to the collective may involve doing a shift at an MHC pop up shop or helping with set up/set down of a fair or other event
You get to show and sell your work at MHC events including our outdoor fairs in St James Square, pop up shops and other events.
Rachael's background in PR and event management enables her to proactively seek publicity opportunities for the group as a whole and provides you with access to this expertise should you wish to commission individual PR support (fees to be negotiated separately).
Eligibility Criteria
Prospective members of Muswell Hill Creatives must be local to Muswell Hill and immediate surrounding areas, and creating their own original product.
Muswell Hill Creatives will look at applications from independent artists/designer makers based on the following criteria:
Muswell Hill Creatives will look at applications from independent artists/designer makers based on the following criteria:
- The quality of your product to ensure it is considered of a sufficiently high standard and how it fits with the existing members' work (including any potential conflicts of interest)
- Whether it reflects the mission of MHC
- That you are committed to your craft and run it/intend to run it as a selling business (not just a hobby)
- Have an e-commerce platform (your own website or Etsy/other shop) or have one in development:
- Be proactive on social media including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or willing to become so
- Be open and willing to exchange business/creative advice/skills with fellow members
Key benefits
- A public profile on the MHC public social media pages and offline newsletters and publicity. (3.3k+ Instagram, 1.9k+ Twitter, 1.7k Facebook followers, 800+ 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 the coordinator but on occasions may be guest written by a member of MHC. They are edited and posted by the coordinator.
- 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.
- PR/publicity: a presence in MHC feature/press story pitches and support in generating individual PR stories. Press materials are prepared by the MHC coordinator.
- Support/advice in brand, 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.
Your Commitment
As a member you need to commit to:
- attending a minimum of three in person meetings a year in Muswell Hill or nearby
- participating in at least two MHC events a year
- regularly engaging and collaborating with Rachael and fellow members of the collective :
- via WhatsApp and Instagram group (weekly and often daily basis)
- attending regular in person meetings/business development sessions (mostly daytime)
- fully engaging with and championing MHC campaigns and activities as well as supporting /championing fellow members’ work at events or online
- being open to running workshops to teach others a craft or demonstrating your craft in public.
Fees
- £155 for 6 months’ membership paid 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 £25 and members will be notified of these costs ahead of membership renewal in March and September.
- Membership (and associated fees) are reviewed in February and August each year.
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:
