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Volunteer Farm Maintenance/Handyperson

One day a week (Thursday) - Tues/Wed also possible [Two half days possible]10am – 4pm or half days to be agreed (flexible).

Register Interest

Cyrenians Farm Enterprise,

12 Humbie Holdings

Kirknewton,

EH27 8DS

Overview

Cyrenians Farm Enterprise is a 7-acre community smallholding in West Lothian, where we grow food, skills and community. Our project seeks to address the various challenges relating to sustainability, inclusion, learning and wellbeing in our community.

We do this in our organic market garden where we grow food using regenerative principals which we include in our local organic veg-bag enterprise.

We also have an outdoor education program where we teach green-skills to young people at risk of the causes and consequences of homelessness.

Our goal is to provide a space for cultivating relationships - with the land, with ourselves and each other and we seek to empower people in a values-led and person-centred way.

Compassion, Respect, Integrity and Innovation are at the heart of all we do.

What are the aims and expectations of the role?

· You will be part of a friendly team of staff and volunteers, supporting the work we do to tackle the causes and consequences of homelessness.

· Maintenance of farm structures, tools and other equipment.

· Working with farm staff, volunteers and residents on group projects.

· Planning, construction and repair of farm structures e.g. shelters/racking.

· Repair and maintenance of farm and horticultural machinery/equipment (e.g. strimmers/mowers/wheelbarrows etc)

· Installation of new equipment (e.g. water butts)

· We can provide steel toe cap footwear and other PPE if you don’t have.

· We have a supply of hand/power tools that can be used.

· Appropriate outdoor dress and safety gear required

What kind of volunteer are we looking for?

We are recruiting a Volunteer Maintenance/Handyperson to help out at Cyrenians Farm. Our 7-acre site has a lot of maintenance needs, from small/medium scale farm development projects to tool and equipment maintenance. You will be working alongside a small friendly team of growers and outdoor educators, volunteers and service users.

We are looking for someone with practical skills and experience and a can-do problem-solving approach. Ideally you will have experience in assessing risk and safe-working techniques as well as both team and solo working.

There will be opportunities to support and lead on new projects/structures as well as support the regular maintenance of the farm site.

Seasonally there will be opportunities to get involved in other areas of the farm operations if you wish to.

Essential

· You must be 18 or over.

· You must be willing to be a member of the PVG Scheme (we will process this for you)

· Work as part of a team as well as alone.

· You must be familiar with safe-working techniques and able to assess risk in an outdoor/farm setting. (Ideally 3+ years working in a similar setting or trade)

· You must be confident working with tools and farm equipment.

· Be able to approach issues with problem solving mentality.

· Basic carpentry skills.

Desirable

· Good listening skills

· Enjoy being creative and work inclusively at times.

· Friendly and approachable

· Reliable with good time keeping

· Able to work with individuals who may have different support needs

· Non-judgmental

· Flexible and able to adapt to changing needs

· Respectful of confidentiality

· Basic skills in trades (e.g. plumbing/construction)

· Happy and confident to do some greenkeeping (strimmer/mower/tractor) – the role could increase to include greenkeeping as we are also looking for this.

What can you gain from this opportunity?

· Meet new people - as part of a friendly volunteer and staff team working to deliver a values-led service in the community.

· Gain knowledge of organic/regenerative market gardening (if you want!)

· Lunch is provided to all volunteers and staff.

· Opportunities to get involved with seasonal activities on the farm (e.g. apple harvest, scything etc)

· Take home some fresh produce and preserves etc.

· Chat to our resident bee-keeper and learn about bees.

Further Info

Expenses

We cover local travel costs at public transport rate or mileage.

About Cyrenians

Cyrenians is over 50 years old. We began with the creation of an innovative community to meet the needs of a group of homeless people who had fallen through the cracks of whatever support was available at the time. Our roots lie in responding to the injustice of homelessness.

We have spent the last five decades journeying with people grappling with the causes and consequences of homelessness through building and nurturing of trusted relationships and engaging with social exclusion and inequality which has so often been at the root of their tough reality. We are values-led and relationship based; our core values are Compassion, Respect, Integrity and Innovation.

Cyrenians’ head office is based in Edinburgh, with smaller offices in other areas, including Falkirk and West Lothian. Cyrenians is a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO), registered charity SC011052.

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