Volunteer Allotment Assistant - Halton

Come join our team working to help change the lives of some of the most vulnerable people in society. Ranked 2023 Q4 by Best Companies as the 8th 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.

Our volunteers come from all walks of life and have a wide range of experience and motivations. Whatever your reason for deciding to volunteer, we want to make sure you enjoy your time with us and know just how much we value your support.

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 and we have our own allotment to support this vision. We are looking for a Volunteer Allotment Assistant to help us maintain our allotment alongside our Allotment Coordinator and service users. Helping to teach the service users skills such as planting and maintenance of the allotment.

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

·       Mowing lawns and clearing grass

·       Trimming hedges and bushes

·       Weeding and watering plants

·       General allotment maintenance

·       Helping to keep the allotment tidy – litter picking

·       Sharing knowledge of plant, flower and food cultivation with service users.

·       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 Allotment Coordinator reporting any observations or concerns in a timely manner.

·       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 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, harvesting of plants.

·       This role requires a regular commitment- weekly

·       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 Halton

To apply, please complete an application form on our website.

An enhanced DBS check is required for this role, which we will arrange.