Volunteer Gardener

Come join our volunteering team to help change the lives of some of the most vulnerable people in society. Ranked 2023 Q3 by Best Companies as the 6th best charity to work for in the UK, Medaille Trust is one of the UK’s leading charities in the fight against modern slavery. Our innovative model is based on three principles: Prevent, Protect and Pursue.  We are one of the UK’s largest providers of survivor services, with ten safehouses and six outreach hubs, staffed round the clock by specialist staff, working with more than 600 men, women and dependent children each year.  We work to raise awareness in the UK and to provide preventive work in source countries. Our Pursue work helps survivors to engage with police and within the legal  system to seek justice and to secure convictions against their perpetrators.

As part of the work we do, we offer activities to service users to help them to gain skills, learn new things and create friendships.

We recognise the importance of wellbeing and being in nature, so we are looking for a Gardening Volunteer to help us develop and maintain our garden alongside our service users. Teaching them the skills of planting, maintaining, and harvesting their own food, as well as other plants.

We are looking for a Gardening Volunteer to help support us with gardening and working alongside service users to teach them all things gardening related, tasks will include:

• Digging, planting, maintaining, harvesting of plants and flowers.

• General gardening duties.

• Sharing knowledge of plants, flowers and food cultivation with service users. 

• Organising gardening activities for service user participation.

• Consulting service users to gain their feedback about what sessions they would like to participate in.

• Helping service users to socialise within a group setting. 

• To offer a safe and comfortable experience for all service users, showing awareness of service users’ varying physical and mental well-being needs.

• To provide feedback to Service Manager reporting any observations or concerns in a timely manner.

• Making refreshments/drinks

• Helping to set up and tidy up group space

• To take part in regular supervision and support

• To regularly attend volunteer or staff meetings

• To attend training as and when required

• To work within agreed professional boundaries at all times

• To provide a safe and non-judgmental environment that promotes the core values and ethos of the Trust, in accordance with the Medaille Trust Policy, Data Protection Act, and Health and Safety Regulations

The role would suit someone who is friendly, kind, empathetic and non-judgemental.  This position is very rewarding and would suit a person who is happy to work in a team, in a busy and sometimes challenging environment.   

This role requires maturity, and an ability to engage with female adults in a trauma informed way, while working alongside staff members to deliver the activities in line with agreed procedures and systems.  

• Volunteers must be at least 18 years old. 

• Volunteers will need to have a good standard of spoken and written English

• Have experience or qualifications in gardening, cultivation and harvesting of plants and flowers.

• This role requires a regular commitment every week

• Ability to maintain confidentiality is essential

• Volunteers to have knowledge and understanding of human trafficking issues or willingness to learn

• Knowledge of mental health issues and the challenges faced or a willingness to learn

• An understanding of the importance of professional boundaries in the role

• Must be able to get to the venue which is based in Manchester

For full details and how to apply, visit our website and complete an application form.