Head of Horticulture (Social, Educational and Therapeutic) – Full Time, £28,000pa

LOCATION: Hope Farm Community Garden, Moor Hill, Hawkhurst, TN18 4QB
HOURS: Full Time
REPORTING TO: Hands of Hope Board of Trustees
RESPONSIBLE FOR: The Head of Horticulture will have overarching and day-to-day responsibility for managing Hands of Hope’s key social, educational, and therapeutic horticulture activities.

ROLE OUTLINE

Are you passionate about the health, wellbeing and social benefits of gardening, horticulture therapy and food growing?

We are seeking an experienced Head of Horticulture to develop and lead Hands of Hope’s key social, educational, and therapeutic horticulture activities.

Projects include the preservation and restoration of the heritage walled garden and glasshouses, two large greenhouses for extended community growing as well as several participatory programmes developed around heritage, nutrition, growing and the conservation of the natural environment.

This exciting position would suit an applicant that believes in the power of nature and nutrition to improves people’s physical and mental wellbeing and who has the drive and desire to create a legacy space linking the past, present, and future for the benefit of all.

BACKGROUND & PURPOSE

Hands of Hope are restoring & developing a neglected walled kitchen garden and 22 acres of AONB land in Hawkhurst, located on the Kent and East Sussex Border – “Hope Farm Community Garden”. Since securing planning in January 2019, we have been delivering programmes aimed at tackling food poverty, rural isolation and loneliness as well as improving mental, physical & environmental health for communities throughout Rother, Hastings, & West Kent.

Projects include Get Growing, Great British Brick Off (GBBO), Bee in Company, Helping Hands Lunch Clubs, Men in Sheds and Holiday Hunger; additionally, we offer, free, rural crafts training & Volunteering sessions aligned to horticulture and conservation. We have a no-dig, productive, organic, market garden, with Soil Association Accreditation & extended our growing capacity in 2021 to support our in-season Box Scheme, Hope Farm Organics.

From 2023, our charitable aims will include incorporating environmental and ecological protections, where feasible, in everything we do.

THE ROLE & RESPONSIBILITIES

The Head of Horticulture will have overarching and day-to-day responsibility for managing Hands of Hope’s key social, educational, and therapeutic horticulture activities. The role will require an individual with exceptional experience of organic growing & training with knowledge in the development of a market garden of scale, productivity, diversity, and beauty whilst adhering to organic methods.

The project(s) we are developing on site includes the preservation and restoration of the heritage walled garden and glasshouses, two large greenhouses for extended community growing as well as several participatory programmes developed around heritage, nutrition, growing and the conservation of the natural environment.
This exciting position would suit an applicant that believes in the power of nature and nutrition to improves people’s physical and mental wellbeing and who has the drive and desire to create a legacy space linking the past, present, and future for the benefit of all.

We are looking for someone who can work with a wide range of people from all backgrounds. Whilst not essential, knowledge of countryside management is also desirable.

Responsibilities will include:

• Management of two productive growing areas
• Management of multiple indoor growing spaces
• Successful delivery of our social project Get Growing – teaching people in the region to grow their own food.
• Creation & delivery of new projects in the subject areas of “field to fork”, horticulture and nature related wellbeing linked to the subject area. 
• Creation, development & delivery of horticulture related programme content to a range of stakeholders from primary to adult learners. 
• Creation, development & delivery of Social Therapeutic Horticulture activities including the relaunch of Growing Buddies
• Co-management of new project(s) “Grow, Cook, Share” – Growing Together/Cooking Together and Food for the Future & GCSE “Growing, Cooking, Sustainability and the Environment”
• Identifying opportunities to develop innovative new programmes to complement the existing education landscape both as commercial opportunities and those that match grant funding priorities, in particular Horticulture for secondary school pupils and post 16 learners, tackling the current skills deficit.
• Maintaining effective administrative systems, policies, and procedures to provide an organised and efficient structure for the delivery of programmes. These systems will include: 
  1. Garden Sowing, Growing & Harvest Plan
  2. Timetables /programming 
  3. Booking systems 
  4. Attendance records
  5. Resource management and budget planning
  6. Evaluation of programme delivery
  7. Annual and funding report content
  8. Adherence to overarching strategic plan

HOW TO APPLY

To be considered for this role, please send your CV and an outline of your experience to Mandy Doran, Trustee: info@hohcharity.co.uk

HAWKHURST SHEDDERS PROJECT LEAD – PART TIME, circa £12.50ph

LOCATION: Hope Farm Community Garden, Moor Hill, Hawkhurst, TN18 4QB
HOURS: Part-time 8 hours per week
REPORTING TO: Hands of Hope Board of Trustees
RESPONSIBLE FOR: Leading on and delivering Men’s Shed/Crafty Shedders Project(s)

BACKGROUND

Hands of Hope is restoring & developing a neglected walled kitchen garden and 18 acres of AONB land in Hawkhurst, located on the Kent and East Sussex Border – “Hope Farm Community Garden” – whilst conserving the site’s natural heritage.

Since securing planning in January 2019, we have been delivering programmes aimed at tackling food poverty, rural isolation and loneliness as well as improving mental & physical health for communities throughout Rother, Hastings, & West Kent. Projects include Get Growing, Bee in Company, Helping Hands Lunch Clubs, Men in Sheds and Holiday Hunger; additionally, we offer, free, rural crafts training & Volunteering sessions. We have a productive, organic, market garden with Soil Association Accreditation & in July 2021 launched our box scheme, Hope Farm Organics.

Our current plans see us developing facilities on site that will support a thriving and inclusive community made up of Service Users, Volunteers, Service Providers, Corporate users, and commercial customers as well as continuing to expand the delivery of our outreach activities throughout Rother, Hastings, and West Kent.

We are relaunching Hawkhurst Shedders and are seeking a new project lead who will be involved from the outset, working with the Trustees and staff to ensure that the Shed becomes an integral part of Hope Farm Community Garden. This role would be ideal for someone who is recently retired and enjoys woodworking and wants to share their passion with others.

JOB PURPOSE

We are relaunching Hawkhurst Shedders and are seeking a new project lead who will be involved from the outset, working with the Trustees and staff to ensure that the Shed becomes an integral part of Hope Farm Community Garden. This role would be ideal for someone who is recently retired and enjoys woodworking and wants to share their passion with others.

MAIN DUTIES:

• To work with the Trustees and HoH staff in relaunching Hawkhurst Shedders.
• To actively promote the project and encourage older men & and women to participate in the project.
• Working with HoH team, to use such methods as giving/arranging talks; social media; organising one-off promotional events; arranging “taster” sessions; contacting the local media (via the Marketing Trustee).
• To recruit, train and support volunteers to help in the delivery of the project.
• To co-ordinate a team of volunteers to continually develop the project as a place of recreation and social interaction.
• To be responsible for Health & Safety for the project; undertaking risk assessments, etc; ensuring these activities are completed adequately, adhering to Health and Safety legislation.
• To be responsible for the security of the building including opening the Shed, locking up at the end of the day and holding the keys.
• To provide a comprehensive induction process for each new attendee, including a health and safety assessment for the use of any equipment.
• To ensure that all volunteers, staff, and participants in the project adhere to all approved safety procedures.
• To monitor all equipment on an on-going basis to ensure that sufficient equipment is available and is fit for purpose.
• To develop short courses and learning activities for volunteers and participants in the project aligned to Hands of Hope’s wider delivery of nature-based activities including rural crafts e.g. green woodworking, Sussex Trug Making etc.
• To develop a programme of activities for Members and encourage and facilitate them partaking in an activity of their choice. This includes daily management of the activities taking place in the sheds and of the conduct of all participants ensuring that a positive example is set by the coordinator.
• To identify and network with local organisations, businesses, and other charities to ensure good links and relationships which support the project and Hands of Hope.
• To act as a conduit of communication and information between Members attending the Shed and Hands of Hope, ensuring that a positive awareness of all services is maintained for the benefit of participants.
• To ensure that up to date and accurate financial records are maintained including charging records, petty cash, and income generation receipts.
• To undertake all other administrative tasks for the project as required.
• Working with the Volunteer & Members Co-ordinator make sure all records about the work of the project are up to date, providing reports and statistics on a regular basis for evaluation anD monitoring purposes.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

This role would be ideal for someone who:

• Enjoys woodworking and wants to share their passion with others
• Is outgoing and enjoys meeting and working with people
• Wants to take on group projects which benefit the local community
• Has strong organisational and leadership skills

HOW TO APPLY

To be considered for this freelance work supporting Hands of Hope, please send your CV and an outline of your experience to Mandy Doran, Trustee: info@hohcharity.co.uk