Gardening jobs in Crewe

You will empower and facilitate opportunities for our volunteer workers to be involved in all aspects of Fordhall, specifically within growing food, nurturing the soil, woodworking and conservation/ecology work. Nurturing these spaces, sharing knowledge as well as providing opportunities for an individual’s progression will be a key aspect of your role. As a result, you will be adaptable to working with the seasons and delivering outdoor sessions appropriate to the time of year.

Key results from your role:

· volunteer workers increase their practical skills and confidence.

· appropriate certificates are awarded to support a clear progression path, with different opportunities being provided to each individual appropriate to their needs. This may include tool use, maintenance skills, conservation tasks, independence and life skills, or gardening.

· growing spaces become more productive and opportunities are grasped and developed as your enthusiasm for growing and the soil are shared with the team.

· working spaces evolve and continually improve for the benefit of volunteer workers, the wider community and nature.

You will work in collaboration with the Care Farm Manager and other team members to implement our collective vision, using your practical knowledge and nurturing approach to help shape the service and increase the potential of what we can offer.

As a member of the team, you will be committed to challenging yourself and committed to bringing the best part of ‘you’ to the role.

About You:

You will be a passionate gardener, love nature and have an instinctive understanding of how the health of the soil and a connected growing system provides a healthy and productive site. Most importantly, you will be willing and keen to share this knowledge with others.

Woodworking skills? We have a wonderful greenwood shelter and we would love to use it more. You will have the skills to help us do this, developing basic carpentry and tool use skills within our group. You may be helping to create things for them to take home, making repairs together to enhance the garden space, or maintaining other areas onsite.

You will have excellent personal skills and a genuine interest in empowering people. You will be enthusiastic about enabling people to learn and develop at their own pace and appropriate to their situation. You will need to be sensitive to the needs of others, open-minded and a willingness to be as open hearted as possible when the need arises. You will be committed to championing the needs of the individuals you are working with.

Working within a small dynamic team, adaptability is essential, as is an ability to plan ahead and resource effectively.

Your strengths will include listening, problem solving, creative thinking and self-motivation. Communication skills are also vital to maintaining the viability of the team and the needs of those you support.

We seek to support people through building connections to our natural world. This is fundamental to the role, together with the linked behaviours we all need to adapt to limit our impact on the climate.

A day on the care farm is never dull with a myriad of tasks and activities on offer. From growing food to planting trees, cooking outside or engaging with a craft activity, no two days are ever the same.

Key Roles and Responsibilities:

· To proactively engage with developments within the garden setting, supporting ecological improvements or gardening activities suitable for the group.

· To lead in the planning and delivery of basic wood working projects and to support gardening activities

· To proactively engage with developments within the garden setting, suggesting ecological improvements or gardening activities suitable for the group.

· To be jointly responsible for maintaining the organic growing areas and storage spaces, ensuring a safe and tidy site. Supporting the general cleaning and maintenance of greenhouse, shed, storage areas, all internal and external areas used by the group.

· Support people attending the care farm to ensure they are safe and welcomed, and are able to carry out the activities to best of their abilities and in an enjoyable manner.

· To work with empathy and understanding to support, guide and empower our participants to achieve their potential and improve their physical, mental and emotional well-being.

· To help make the farm an interesting and safe place for care farm participants, staff and visitors.

· Undertake training and continuous professional development in accordance with the needs of the service and the people we support.

· Be actively involved in the gathering and documentation of individual’s achievement. Keep all appropriate records and information up to date, provide any information and documentation required and prepare regular reports on the day’s activities, including individual evaluations

Sickness: Sickness pay is in place and is activated following six months’ continual service.

Holidays: Equivalent to 5.6 weeks per annum pro rata

Hours: Please note we are looking for an average of 19.5 hours per week over 3 days (9-3.30pm) with options for overtime. The Care Farm operates Monday to Thursday year-round, with a compulsory close over Christmas.

To Apply: Please see our website www.fordhallfarm.com/jobs where a full job description and where an Application Form can be downloaded.
CV's received without a full application form will not be accepted. You must complete an application form from our website.

Deadline: Midnight July 29th 2023

Job Types: Part-time, Fixed term contract
Contract length: 12 months

Pay: From £10.86 per hour

Expected hours: 19.5 per week

Benefits:

• Company events
• Discounted or free food
• Employee discount
• On-site parking
• Sick pay
• Store discount

Schedule:

• Day shift
• Monday to Friday

Work Location: In person