This is who we are…
Fun Palaces are made by local people for their own communities.
We’re a small, part-time team based at The Albany in South London, supporting Makers right across the UK and beyond.
How we work
Everyone at Fun Palaces works part time, and flexibly.
Fun Palaces is a campaign to make the cultural sector fairer, more inclusive, richer and more fun. We strive to celebrate everyone’s cultural life, everyone’s voice, everyone’s uniqueness. Therefore, we take care of each other at work, develop our roles around the people in them, and respect people’s lives beyond the workplace. We are working on formalising our policies.
Meet the Fun Palaces HQ Team – the Support Hub
The small team at the heart of the campaign, here to support Fun Palace Makers wherever and however they’re making.
Fun Palaces Director
Amie Taylor
she/her
Amie (she/her) has been involved in Fun Palaces since 2013, and has made 4 Fun Palaces. She joined the Fun Palaces HQ Team in 2021 as a producer.
She’s a writer, theatre-maker, workshop facilitator and producer.
More about Amie
She has written three books: The Big Book of LGBTQ+ Activities, The Monster Book of Feelings and Pride Families. She has written short plays and made theatre shows for children and toured theatres, festivals and schools with this work. Amie founded and ran the LGBTQ+ Arts Review for 6 years, managing a team of theatre reviewers across London and beyond. She loves shadow puppets, being outside and karaoke.
Executive Producer
Orla Nicholls
she/her
Orla (she/her) is a tech enthusiast with a passion for planning, who originally joined the Fun Palaces team in the Co-ordinator role. She started her Fun Palace journey in 2014, creating the Luton Fun Palace over the first October Weekend of Celebration, so is able to bring first-hand experience of being a Maker to the role.
More about Orla
Orla also works for Our House, the movement for people-powered democracy on a mission to transform politics. She also runs a monthly craft collective group as well being a community organiser in her hometown. She has a keen interest in the power of intergenerational connections for communities as well as amplifying voices that are too often left out of the room.
Producer
Rachel Attfield
she/her
Rachel (she/her) joined Fun Palaces in May 2024. Rachel is happiest when she is making things, this takes the form of traditional and forgotten crafts, knots, plaiting and anything woven. Her work has recently been exhibited at Trowbridge Gardens in Hackney Wick following an artist residency. Her career began in dance working as a choreographer and engagement practitioner.
More about Rachel
In 2020 thanks to a career break, Rachel embarked on an MA in Cultural Studies at Goldsmiths London University where she explored Cultural Democracy focusing on the management of culture within funded participatory programmes. Rachel is excited to be part of Fun Palaces where she can put this research into practice, and her role fulfils a long-term aspiration to be part of the organisation after hearing Stella Duffy’s inspiring talk about Fun Palaces in 2015.
Communications Manager
Alicia Ferguson
she/they
Alicia (she/they) grew up in Brisbane, Australia, and has worked across communications, education, and community-led projects. They’re particularly interested in how creativity, ecology, and bringing people together can help us imagine different ways of living.
More about Alicia
Alongside their communications work, Alicia has been involved in projects exploring social permaculture, queer ecology, ecofeminism, systems design, and participatory education. Their own creative practice brings together writing, illustration, zines, and making, often exploring ideas around food systems, climate, and the more-than-human world.
Outside of work, Alicia loves gardening, ceramics, swimming, sauna-ing, and getting out into nature. They’re excited to be part of Fun Palaces and to celebrate all the brilliant, unexpected things people are already making happen in their communities.
?
Co-ordinator
Is this you?
We’re about to recruit a new Co-ordinator to join the Support Hub. If you love organising, bringing people together and making things happen – and believe everyone is creative – we’d love to hear from you.
Campaigns Manager
Ria Patel
they/she
Ria (they/she) is now the Campaigns Manager, and initially started as the Project Coordinator. They are passionate about genuine diversity, inclusion and fostering belonging. She studied Psychology at university, but have always been passionate about the arts, having danced from a young age.
More about Ria
They are a disrupter. Initially their experience in campaigns started with climate action, migrant justice and Queer liberation at both a local and national scale, but this has since expanded.
She is also involved in local politics in Croydon, being Croydon’s youngest-ever and first non-binary councillor. When not working, Ria finds joy in dancing, reading and being in nature!
F
Access Consultant
Faith
she/they
Faith (she/they) is a multidisciplinary creative and access consultant with a passion for storytelling, inclusion, and intersectionality. Her work focuses on ensuring that people have equitable access to the industries and environments they contribute to.
More about Faith
Faith thrives on collaborating to create spaces where everyone can flourish. They have provided access consultancy for global brands such as Virgin Atlantic and the BBC, as well as cultural organisations like the Film & TV Charity and FormidAbility. Whether supporting projects from opera to aviation, Faith’s aim aligns closely with Fun Palaces’ values: making sure people aren’t just invited, but truly seen, welcomed, and celebrated.
Outside of work, Faith loves telly, travel, and aromatherapy.
A
DEI & Anti-Racist Consultant
Anna
Anna is a freelance consultant who supports us with diversity, equity, inclusion and anti-racism – helping us to challenge and improve how we work, from our policies and recruitment to the way we support Makers and communities across the UK.
Our Advisory Board
Emma Rucastle
Freelance theatre-maker and Lead Maker, Lancaster Fun Palace
More about Emma
Emma is a freelance creative professional – writer, director, performer, facilitator, who has led and created performances – community and professional – in theatres, castles, libraries, parks and more. Passionate about inclusive theatre, she has delivered creative workshops and projects of all kinds in schools and outreach settings with the GRT community and refugee groups and has worked creatively in prisons, care homes, SEND settings and a wide range of other community venues. She is a Lead Maker of Lancaster Fun Palace, which has been running since the very start of the Fun Palaces campaign in 2014. More information about her work can be found at www.elartproductions.co.uk
Tracey Sage
Founder, SageCulture
More about Tracey
Tracey is the Founder of SageCulture where she works at a strategic level across sectors supporting local authorities, organisations, artists and entrepreneurs to develop their practise and create sustainable business models fuelled by their passion. She has been responsible for; developing place-making initiatives, leading cultural, tourism, regeneration & heritage programmes; devising commissioning and funding frameworks; facilitating collaborative partnerships; leading community engagement and inclusion initiatives; overseeing, curating and delivering large-scale festivals and events.
Hayley Murphy
Development Director and Deputy CEO, The Albany
More about Hayley
Hayley is Development Director and Deputy CEO of The Albany with extensive experience in fundraising, income generation and community engagement in the arts and heritage sector. Over the past 5 years at the Albany she has played a key role in shaping strategy and strengthening partnerships at the Albany particularly for Borough of Culture 2022 in Lewisham. Previously, Hayley held fundraising roles with Tate, Institute of Imagination and The Prince’s Regeneration Trust.
Mark Blay
Finance Manager, The Albany
Get in touch
Contact the Fun Palaces Support Hub team for more information
Social justice and equity is at the heart of everything we do, and we are always working hard to do better. We want Fun Palaces to be a workplace in which people, whatever their background, can do their best work, wholeheartedly, where people can be vulnerable and feel safe, where people can grow, and change the world. We know that this looks different for everyone, and each team member works in their own way. We make space for that.