Volunteer Assistant
Please note that we are not recruiting Volunteers over the Summer 2022. Please feel free to complete the expression of interest form at the bottom of this page and we will be in touch late Summer/ early Autumn when we will be recruiting volunteers again.
The Rewild Project CIC is a not-for-profit environmental education project, dedicated to enacting radical social change by teaching a range of Heritage Crafts, Land based Projects and self-organisation skills, connecting people with nature and building community.
Our main weekday crafts and land sessions are aimed at marginalised and disadvantaged adults here in The Forest of Dean. We work with schools and also run outdoor holiday club for primary school age, and coming soon, secondary school age children. In addition, we run workshops and courses which are open to the general public.
Our ultimate goal is to create a sustainable land based eco village community of craftspeople and land workers here in the Forest of Dean, running apprenticeship programmes, providing training & qualifications and building a real, workable local economy. You can read more about us on our website.
What it’s like working for The Rewild Project:
We hold a collaborative and supportive environment where crew and volunteers are valued and nurtured, and your input, talents and enthusiasm will be welcomed and appreciated.
We are a dynamic and exciting organisation to work for, operating on sociocratic principles of self-management and decentralised decision making. This means that every role within our organisation is a management role – our crew are trusted to manage their time / diary and schedule to fit the project’s needs – with room to allow it to also adapt to their own lifestyle where possible.
Each role is not set in stone – we are offering each job description as a starting point – you will have the power to adapt the exact roles and responsibilities to fit both yourself and the project’s needs.
To achieve this, we are recruiting authentic team members and volunteers who are comfortable with taking responsibility and having freedom and flexibility within their job role. People who communicate effectively to work efficiently with their team. People who take initiative, and who ask their team for help and support when needed. People who love to build close bonds with their team and want to collaborate rather than compete. People who want to be part of an amazing vision for a better future. We are building our knowledge of authentic communicating through Non-Violent Communication (technique and books by Marshall B. Rosenberg) and base our policies around The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz.
The Role: We are looking for energetic, organised, outdoorsy, crafty & reliable people to support The Rewild Project’s mission and build their skills by assisting our experienced team members. We need volunteers who will get stuck in and support our team in the work they are doing. Our volunteers are just as much part of the team as our paid staff.
We need volunteers to work in all areas of our project. This could be working within one or more areas of The Rewild Project. All our public facing sessions are based around heritage crafts and land-based skills. These are some areas you could work in:
· Home Education Groups: supporting sessions run for either teens or younger children, to assist before, during and after the sessions with tasks such as assisting with food preparation, preparing activities, tidying away, washing pots and other ad-hoc tasks that help the facilitators.
· Growing Futures Teams: working in schools supporting the team with sessions teaching permaculture, forest gardening and regenerative agriculture.
· Rekindle Youth Teams: to assist before, during and after the sessions with tasks such as assisting with food preparation, preparing activities, tidying away, washing pots and other ad-hoc tasks that help the facilitators.
· Weekday Craft Sessions for adults with support needs at Kensley Sheds: supporting the team with all aspects of running the sessions, preparing, cleaning up, chopping wood, keeping the fire going, supporting participants. Acting as a buddy for participants who need additional support. Supporting with cleaning, washing up and tiding up at the end of the session, ensuring participants are involved.
· Green Woodwork: supporting our woodwork sessions, caring for and sharpening tools, keeping the shed and storage areas tidy, support Green Woodwork Tutor in teaching participants how to use tools safely.
· Gardening/Permaculture: caring for plants and the allotment site, watering plants, propagating plants to sell through our shop or at local markets, harvesting, preparing and storing produce for the winter.
· Admin: our support circle works hard to support all our other teams within The Rewild Project. If you have admin skills we would love help with completing spreadsheets, social media, typing up minutes, proof reading, checking/sending emails or updating our website.
· General jobs: chopping wood, harvesting and storing willow, food shopping, packaging deliveries for our shop, lighting fires, cooking, collecting spring water or other useful jobs.
Hours: In exchange for investing in your development, organising your DBS, and providing relevant training, we ask that you commit to around 21 hours per month which equates to just over 3 days work 9.30-3.30.
What you get:
Satisfaction of helping other people, being part of a team, working together towards shared goals.
Training and personal development opportunities
Building experience, skills & confidence
Learning from experienced Rewild Project team and heritage crafts tutors.
CV experience and a reference for future job applications.
A transferable DBS certificate.
Occasional opportunities to assist and take up places on our weekend workshops.
Personal Qualities
Reliable and punctual.
Self-motivated.
Open-minded, willing to learn, flexible and adaptable.
Enjoy being outdoors & integrating with the natural world and passionate about sharing this with adults and/or children.
Have good communication skills, able to slot in and quickly build good relationships with team and participants.
Empathetic towards people who are less fortunate.
Be aware of health and safety issues.
Be able to work well as a member of a team, taking and following instructions when needed, but also be able to give instructions or suggestions when appropriate (for example, supporting participants to clean up at the end of a session or offering the team your ideas).
Have a sense of fun.
Be patient and tolerant.
Have a reasonable level of physical fitness.
A personal self-development / Rewilding practice is essential to work within The Rewild Project and organisational structure.
Skills / Experience Essential
Connecting with the natural world around the seasons.
Understanding of, or willingness to learn about the emotional, physical and spiritual needs of adults, children or young people (as appropriate to your role).
Comfortable working in off grid environments.
Ability to support team members and participants.
Skills / Experience Desirable (depending on your role/area of work)
Basic understanding of cutting green wood with sharp tools, including cutting with the grain.
Understanding of sharpening and looking after tools.
Knowledge and skills of using sharp tools and teaching others the safe way to use them to prevent harming themselves.
Heritage crafts / ancestral skills.
Permaculture growing, regenerative agriculture or forest garden skills.
Interest in alternative education provision such as Steiner / Montessori / Forest School / Reggio Amelia.
Working with children / young people in a nurturing setting.
Engaging children / young people in a range of outdoor activities.
Allowing children / young people to take risks and find their own boundaries.
Being ‘the coach’ rather than ‘the referee’ when supporting children or young people to resolve conflicts and challenging behaviour.
Working / engaging with children or adults (depending on role) with Special Education Needs.
Engaging children / young people with risky play & knowledge of how this is imperative for brain development. Training will be given if this is something you do not have knowledge or experience of.
Qualifications in alternative education provision such as Steiner / Montessori / Forest School / Reggio Amelia.
Sharing traditional handicrafts with children an age-appropriate level.
Basic admin skills, Microsoft office (mainly Word & Excel), Google drive, Gmail and webmail.
Social media/ marketing skills (help with creating graphics or posts) and/or basic website skills (updating existing site).
Experience living or working in cooperative or non-hierarchical settings, alternative settings, using Sociocracy /S3 or consensus decision making.
Authentic relating / communication / NVC – training will be given.
Qualifications / certificates Essential – To be completed as part of Induction Process
Safeguarding Children Levels 1 & 2 (if working with children or young people)
Safeguarding Adults Levels 1 & 2 (if working with adults in our weekday sessions)
Oliver McGowan Training (if working with adults)
Food Hygiene Level 2
Enhanced DBS with update service.
Outdoor First Aid +F
There are many other training courses available once you are signed up as a volunteer with us – the sky’s the limit!
Role and Responsibilities
Complete The Rewild Project induction when beginning a voluntary role.
Support The Rewild Project’s values, aims & ethos.
Work as part of a team with paid staff to assist and support sessions.
Delivering fun, interactive sessions with children and young people including circle time games, wholesome food preparation, crafts and games (if working with children/young people).
Follow The Rewild Project’s policies and procedures. Support staff in completing all relevant paperwork and keeping it up to date and in line with GDPR: risk assessments, accident book, registers, feedback, and other paperwork.
Seek support in the form of a conflict resolution process if / when a conflict arises.
We would like to hire volunteers who want to have a long-term future with The Rewild Project. We offer ongoing training/ team building across The Rewild Project. Occasional weekend / evenings by arrangement.
Closing Date for initial expression of interest form (below): 23rd September 2022
Closing Date for full Application Pack: 30th September 2022