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Gardening and Soft Skills Co-ordinator
Job Description: This post will actively promote local food growing, addressing food waste and developing the softer skills of cooking, sewing and knitting. The post will encourage the acquisition of skills which will increase self sufficiency and self reliance. The successful applicant will be expected to organise and recruit skilled people to run the workshops as well as advertising widely to ensure good participation from the colleges, universities and the wider community.. A good working knowledge and practical skills of gardening, in particular, will be expected. An allotment has already been identified and connections made which will need to be followed up to ensure quick progress is achieved in the reduced lifetime of the project.

£19,972 per annum, 23 month contract, 35 hours a week, 28 days leave pro rata

The position to be based in Dundee.

Start Date
29th April 2013 (dependant on availability)

How to Apply
The deadline for applications is 17.00 on Monday 22nd March 2013. To apply please send a CV and covering letter to skillsharedundee@gmail.com. The covering letter should explain how you meet the essential and desirable qualities laid out in this document.

Interviews will be held in Dundee for successful candidates between the 3rd and 4th April 2013, if you are unavailable on these dates then please let us know to arrange a possible alternative date.
On completion of interviews, successful candidates will be invited to attend a workshop day where their suitability for employment will be evaluated.

Those applicants that reach the final part of the Interview process will also undergo two workshop sessions to see how they work within our organisation with our current staff and participants.

About
Dundee’s population is around 144,000,1 with pockets of high deprivation18, an unemployment rate above the national average1, and earnings below the Scottish median.1 There is also a large student population compared to Scotland as a whole.1 Skill Share Dundee (SSD) will engage the local population in order to create significant reductions in CO2e, alongside a range of social benefits including active lifestyles, saving money and bringing generations together through the sharing of skills.

SSD will be run from a shop front in West Dundee and through road shows into the specific communities. Working in partnership with People & Planet Dundee, Allotment Lot, Greening Dundee(previously known as Dundee Transition Towns), Dundee University Students Association, Knit and Natter, Lush, TFCR, and Tin Roof.

There will be a variety of projects running, which will address the following themes:

Food: Grow Your Own & Composting: Participants will be engaged through a range of basic edible growing workshops, including composting. They will receive continued support and access to land through a garden share scheme where they are linked up to people who can't look after their gardens, the Allotment Lot, and the Greening Dundee food group. As part of the activity participants will receive a set of basic gardening tools that have been diverted from landfill. Students moving into new homes will be targeted to set-up composting in their gardens.

Transport: Cycling: Commuters travelling to work in the city centre or the university by car will be targeted. Participants will be engaged through workshops in bicycle repair and maintenance. They will be offered the opportunity to repair a bike diverted from landfill as part of the training. Participants will continue to be supported through access to the bike workshop facilities and tools, staff guidance, signposting cycle to work schemes, and cycling socials.

Waste: Reuse & Reduce: Participants will be engaged through workshops in which they will be taught how to repair clothes and shoes, appliances, electronics, and furniture. They will continue to be supported through home visits, access to facilities and staff, scavenger events, and a clothes making club.

Waste: Tools Exchange: A website will be developed that will allow tools to be shared by members. The site will be seeded initially with tools from SSD and some of its partners. Participants from other activities will be encouraged to register on the site, tools will be diverted from landfill and added, and DIY enthusiasts will be targeted.

The project will also continue to have a strong self-organising element alongside the more focused activities that funding will be used for, as it will still be a platform for all members of the community to share any practical sustainability skills.

Key Responsibilities

Running classes teaching participants how to grow their own food
Organising/running Craft Sessions
Managing the allotment and related garden spaces
Developing and managing a Land Share Scheme
Coordinate community activities such as the composting campaign, tree planting and help a neighbour to dig their garden
Assisting individuals to reduce their co2e carbon footprint in all aspects of their lives
Keeping partner organisations and sponsors up to date with the latest developments in the project

Specific tasks

Managing Helm allotment
Educating the public about wild resources/edibles
Foraging events
Sourcing growing locations
Managing land and participants who are taking part in the Land Share Scheme
Deliver the compost on tour events, making sure that participants have the support needed to compost in their gardens.
Developing food growing log books
Running seed share events
Assisting participants to help them grow food in their gardens
Collate information to assist with the monthly report
Helping to deliver Go Green Weeks.
Producing and distributing press releases.
Uploading content on the blog and website
Running craft stalls
Utilising reused materials for crafting sessions where possible
Assisting with the promotion of events and workshops
Assisting other members of staff to facilitate workshop sessions
Ensuring the smooth running of the SSD workshop
Checking all relevant health and safety procedures are followed
Organising scavenging events
Development of recycling information media


Essential qualities

Gardening experience/qualifications
Experience of providing classes/workshops
Ability to engage with individuals from a multitude of backgrounds who may not be ecologically-minded in an effective and approachable manner
Ability to participate in manual labour

Ability to be innovative, Imaginative and creative
Willingness to provide assistance in other workshop activities
Ability to work alone and as part of a team
Good organisational skills
Willing to learn

Keen interest in self-reliance/self sufficiency
Keen interest in the Make-Do and Mend culture

Flexibility in working times


Desirable qualities

Knowledge of permaculture and organic growing.
Qualified in outdoor/natural education
Experience of foraging wild foods
Wild plant identification

Experience of crafts such as sewing and knitting
DIY Experience

First aid qualification/experience
Ability to ride a bicycle
Ability to drive a van
Design/advertising experience
Good Networking skills
Organisation Skill Share Dundee
Location Skill Share Dundee Centre
 
Kind of job professional job
subject area Environment, Social engagement, Agenda 21 / Sustainability, Eco farming, Healthy nourishment / Consumers protection, Protecting of species and nature, Alternative energies, (Environmentel) education, Waste / recycling, Climatic protection, Forest, Alternative living
Actividades Children and youth work, Networking, Research, Education, Events / Seminars, Craft, Building / Renovation, Cooking, Art / Culture, Farming / Agriculture / Gardening, Practical nature protection, Alternative energies, Excursions, Social welfare, Social work, Environmental actions, Project management,
Media: Internet, Newspaper
Offerings Company bicycle, Insurance, Travel expanses, Working clothes, Tools, Own workplace, Own computer, Possibility to conduct your own projects
Educations Education offered
Certificates none
Payment up to 3000 EUR per month
 
Requirements none
Skills Craft, Artistic skills,
Knowledge on environment issues: General knowledge
 
Start of job 04/11/2013 — 04/30/2013
Job duration prior consultation
Gültigkeit der Stelle annual
closing date for applications 03/22/2013
 
please apply at
Organisation
Contact persons
Peter Ananin
skillsharedundee@gmail.com
Address
South Dudhope Mill
DD1 5AN Dundee
Tayside
United Kingdom
Email
skillsharedundee@gmail.com