Find your place in the field of good food

Our goal is to connect good people with good food. We advertise sustainable food jobs and training opportunities to help jobseekers and employers find each other.

Job description

Job Title: Redbridge Food Action Alliance (RFAA) Coordinator   

Reporting to: FEAST Operations Manager   

Hours: 21 hrs per week, flexible days 

Holiday: 25 days pro rata + bank holidays  

Salary: £30,000 gross annual pro rata 

Location: Redbridge Borough - based in the Welcome Centre Welcome Project IG1 1QX, and various other locations across the borough 

Contract: 12 month fixed-term, with probability of extension subject to funding 

FEAST With Us - Feeding and Empowering All Sustainably Together (FEAST) 

FEAST With Us (FEAST) started in 2015 as a weekly community meal at a hostel for homeless people, using surplus food that would otherwise be thrown away. Each meal is a collaboration whereby volunteers and people experiencing food insecurity cook and dine together as equals.     We support people with daily nutritious meals per week in multiple hostels for people experiencing homelessness, and 1-2 services per week in and delivered to community centres for anyone struggling with food poverty. We now work with 14 partner venues across London. 

FEAST is expanding its services including offering training on nutrition and practical experience in the kitchen for vulnerable people experiencing food poverty, to give opportunities to help people become independent from food aid services. In partnership with UCL we were awarded funding by the British Dietetic Association (BDA) General and Education Trust (GET) Fund to conduct an 18-month cross-sectional study assessing the nutritional status of homeless adults residing in temporary accommodation. This research is much needed to identify dietary health inequalities and solutions to support this disadvantaged population group who are known to experience food insecurity and likely malnutrition. 

Our Mission:  

• Improve the nutrition and health of those vulnerable to food poverty and insecurity 
• Reduce food and packaging waste 
• Build community & create opportunities to socialise 

Our Values:  

Inclusive; Collaborative; Empathetic; Empowering; Innovative  

Redbridge Food Action Alliance (RFAA) Background 

Since January 2023 FEAST have been building relationships with existing partners and other VCS food aid providers in Redbridge borough, as well as with Redbridge council and public health. In August 23 we were awarded funding from the GLA to create a new network of cross-sector food organisations to work together to tackle food poverty in the borough – the Redbridge Food Action Alliance. Food initiatives in Redbridge span the borough but are often not coordinated. Building collaborative relationships will provide opportunities to share best practice, collaborate on joint initiatives, submit joint funding opportunities and to develop sustainable services beyond food aid. 

Since October 2022 FEAST have led a similar initiative in Camden – the Camden Food Partnership, and will draw on their experiences and learnings to support the new RFAA. 

Role Description 

The RFAA Coordinator will lead the initiative to create a new RFAA – a collaborative network of voluntary and community sector (VCS) organisations providing free or low-cost food across the borough, and other cross-sector food organisations, including SMEs, food suppliers, retailers, growers, educators, as well as Redbridge Council and Public Health.  

The RFAA Coordinator will be supported by a part-time Community Partnerships Coordinator who will also support the Camden Food Partnerships, enabling sharing of best practice and resources between programmes. 

Main Responsibilities 

Lead the RFAA network infrastructure setup and core development - 25% 

• Establish the host relationship with the Welcome Project 
• Carry out site visits of VCS organisations to develop relationships and gain greater understanding of the challenges and opportunities in Redbridge  
• Map food aid and advice providers across Redbridge borough to establish picture of stakeholders, food service providers, advice service providers and other VCS organisations addressing poverty 
• Establish and recruit VCS partners, council representatives and other interested parties to a new RFAA network and steering group  
• Agree RFAA terms of reference, guiding principles, convening schedule, meeting structure  
• Schedule and lead regular meetings with a set agenda focused on sharing experiences and knowledge, project updates, challenges and learnings, Healthy Start scheme uptake, funding opportunities alongside key deliverables and actions to take forward   
• Deliver additional workshops/meetings as needed, to identify and progress actions to tackle food poverty in Redbridge. 

Relationship building across the RFAA network and steering group - 40% 

• Proactively engage with, develop, and maintain effective working partnerships to support project delivery 
• Coordinate meetings with the Local Authority and Public Heath to feed into strategy and collaborative work 
• Widen participation in the RFAA 
• Identify funding opportunities for RFAA members, supporting/leading applications where appropriate  
• Identify funding opportunities for continuation of RFAA beyond Sept 2024 

Coordinate the development, and oversee the delivery of the poverty action plan - 25% 

• Co-develop a food poverty action plan with the RFAA steering group and wider network; to tackle food poverty in Redbridge in line with the agreed RFAA guiding principles  
• Ensure meaningful resident participation in the RFAA, e.g. co-development of actions 
• Maintain the action plan as an iterative document, responding to resident feedback and learnings as the RFAA develops. It will also be informed by data such as from Time To Spare and the council and other surveys and research 
• Communicate the action plan to RFAA and other related organisations supporting their work 
• Lead / oversee the delivery of the action plan and benchmark outcomes 
• Support outreach programmes and cross organisation projects and initiatives 
• Conduct surveys across RFAA to capture baseline data for future comparative reporting  
• Design a Healthy Start campaign to be disseminated across the network and translate into key languages   

RFAA communications and meetings - 10% 

• Create a mailing list and initiate regular digital newsletters and other digital communications highlighting RFAA news, events, funding opportunities, sharing best practice (from FRAA or other food partnerships), collaboration opportunities, available support and initiatives 
• Increase the profile of the RFAA and FEAST through wider communications 
• Maintain regular updates for the FEAST team, RFAA network and Redbridge Council 

Person Specification 

Essential:  

We are looking for the following skills, aptitude, experience and attitude; you may be stronger in some areas than others and FEAST will provide training to support personal development. Your experience should evidence your shared values with FEAST and a personal commitment to our mission to reduce food poverty amongst vulnerable people. You must be able to travel to and work from Camden for at least 50% of your working time. 

Skills & Experience: 

• Ability to communicate effectively and confidently on the phone, in online meetings and face-to-face, and develop positive relationships in diverse organisations 
• Ability to manage multiple different stakeholders with competing priorities 
• Excellent writing and reporting skills 
• Good organisational and time management skills 
• Able to manage a virtual team and resources to deliver initiatives and actions, using flexible leadership styles and tools 
• Proactive approach to problem-solving and agility to respond to challenges dynamically 
• Project management 
• People management; leading, collaborating with and learning from team members 
• Working to tight deadlines autonomously, and delegating tasks appropriately 
• Experience of working with vulnerable groups, the volunteer sector, and safeguarding processes 
• Data collection, management and analysis 
• Strong IT skills including MS Office 

Knowledge: 

• Fundraising  
• Community and volunteer sector structures and systems 
• Data protection and compliance processes 
• Food systems and food policy 
• Insight into food poverty/insecurity 
• Local knowledge of Redbridge and surrounding areas 

Personal Qualities: 

• Able to think on feet and adapt to changing climate 
• Interpersonal approach, empathic and friendly demeanour 
• Professional and proactive ambassador for FEAST and its vision and values 
• Positive attitude and collaborative approach 
• Commitment to growing personal skills and skills of the team 
• Ability to travel to and work in Redbridge regularly (at least 50% of working time) 

Desirable Skills & Experience: 

• Facilitation skills 
• Experience of CRM (Salesforce), PowerBI and AirTable  
• Financial reporting skills and budget management 
• Business development experience 
• Safeguarding and valid DBS check (will be part of FEAST training) 
• Account management/experience working with corporate organisations and local authorities 

FEAST will provide formal induction and training to meet the needs of the successful applicant.  

Application information

To apply for this role, please send your CV and a covering letter to careers@feastwithus.org.uk by 30 September 2023. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis when received, and we aim for interviews to be held between 2 – 13 October.  

Please mention Roots to Work when applying for these jobs