Communications Manager

About Alexandra Rose Charity 

Founded by Queen Alexandra in 1912, Alexandra Rose Charity (ARC) has a long history of supporting people experiencing poverty in the UK. Our vision is for everyone to have access to healthy and affordable food, and our mission is to give families on low incomes access to fresh fruit and vegetables in their local communities whilst advocating for systemic change to address food insecurity and health inequalities.  

Since 2014, ARC has pioneered the use of financial incentives to improve access to healthy food and combat food insecurity through our Rose Vouchers for Fruit & Veg projects. To date, we have supported over 11,000 families, including over 20,000 children, to access £3.5 million of fresh fruit and vegetables in their local communities.  

To deliver this scale, we work with 73 children and family centres and community organisations, 69 market traders and independent retailers, two fruit and vegetable vans and one fruit and vegetable delivery box scheme. We estimate that our projects have generated a total economic value added of almost £9 million for the local economies of the eight locations where we work: five London Boroughs, Barnsley, Liverpool and Glasgow.   

As part of our new five-year strategy, we want to grow our reach and impact as part of a national movement where Rose Vouchers for Fruit & Veg projects are embedded in local and national policies and seen as a key intervention for transforming the diets of communities across the UK.  

About the role  

Location: London and the South East. Home working, with a requirement to regularly attend external meetings and events (mainly London but on occasions elsewhere in the UK) 

Hours: Full-time but will consider requests for part-time (4 days per week)

We are seeking a talented and passionate Communications Manager to lead the creation and dissemination of compelling content that elevates our brand, engages our audiences, and positions ARC as a thought leader in the provision of financial incentives for fruit and vegetables.  

Working with the Head of Advocacy, Impact and Communications, you will be responsible for building our communications into a coherent strategy and driving it forward, in collaboration with team members across the charity. You’ll help us to grow and extend our reach to key audiences, with demonstrable experience planning, creating and delivering high quality, engaging and informative communications and content across channels including our website, social media and publications. 

You’ll take the lead on media and PR activities for the charity, driving proactive media coverage, managing press bids, and pitching stories to national and local journalists, so significant experience working in media relations is essential.  

You’ll be a strategic, creative communicator, adept at keeping up to date with the latest trends and sector developments.  

Our ideal candidate will: 

• Be a brave and bold communicator who values collaboration and connection. 
• Have a strategic mindset, able to support our small charity team to elevate our communications and content to the next level. 
• Have a natural flare for transforming complex messages into engaging, easy to understand content. 
• Have a desire for telling compelling stories that amplify the voices of people affected by food insecurity and poverty.  
• Be friendly and approachable and enjoy working creatively and collaboratively within a small team, as well as with external stakeholders.