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.

Roots to Work is a project of Sustain: the alliance for better food and farming.

Job description

Job description

Community Gardener part-time (minimum 3 days) or full-time

Salary: £24,800 pa if full-time

Terms: Fixed-term contract until 31 March 2028, with the possibility of extension (subject to funding). We will consider offering a full-time or part-time role to the right candidate(s), and will consider weekend working.

Benefits: 3% employer pension contribution; 28 days’ statutory annual leave plus bank holidays (pro rata). Note: holidays will need to be agreed in advance and should not clash with periods of intense project activity).

Place of work: Allotment Soup community growing space on Mill Lane, Walney Island. Some very occasional office work required based at Art Gene’s offices: Bath Street, Barrow in Furness, Cumbria, LA14 5TY.

Art Gene is an arts charity based in Barrow-in-Furness. We work with communities, developing projects around thesocial, natural and built environment.

We are seeking an engaging individual with an enthusiasm for organic growing and nature, a strong knowledge of plants, and an ability to share this interest in a proactive way with the Allotment Soup community.

Art Gene established ‘Allotment Soup – the Isle of Walney community growing space’ in 2015/16 and it continues to develop year on year. This role is advertised at an exciting time for Allotment Soup: in 2026 we will celebrate our 10th anniversary and as part of our celebrations, involve the community in planting a new orchard and native hedge. This will help to protect more green space on Walney.

On the off-grid 0.65-hectare site, you will find: community-managed and Art Gene-run growing plots; a large pond; hot composting; wormeries, a small orchard; new hedges and areas supporting wildflowers. With the help of volunteers, we have created a stock of tools and erected two industrial polytunnels.

These sheltered spaces are the venue for our engagement work with schools and other community groups, and are used for potting up, growing-on and much tea drinking. The organic food we grow across the site is cooked by volunteers and served free at events and shared with Allotment Soup volunteers.

We are focused on growing a community, as well as food and biodiversity. See our website to explore the history of the site and to view the kind of work that we do there.

Objectives of the role:

1. Work with the allotment volunteers, Art Gene staff and the wider community to support organic food production, sustainable growing practices and planting for biodiversity.
2. Undertake seasonal garden maintenance work, including sowing, weeding, planting, pruning, watering, cropping, and raised bed and path repair.
3. Develop and deliver focused community engagement sessions on Allotment Soup with community groups and schools; offer a warm welcome to visitors at all times.
4. Work with the Projects and Volunteer Manager, the Art Gene Workshop and Facilities Manager, our wider team and the Artist-Director, as required, to help facilitate volunteer work parties and creative events on site.
5. Support any Allotment Soup extension projects, such as tree planting.

Responsibilities:

• Lead on ensuring a healthy, seasonally varied crop is produced.
• Work collaboratively with the team to plan, publicise and deliver hands-on gardening activity and maintenance tasks, directing volunteer labour as appropriate.
• Support Art Gene team members responsible for grass cutting, tool maintenance and composting, when required, ensuring the whole site is always safe and well-maintained.
• Work with the allotment volunteers, partner organisations (such as Natural England), and the wider community to support sustainability and planting for biodiversity.
• Ensure the site is managed to high environmental standards, avoiding pesticides.
• Communicate with and promote the Allotment Soup project to interested parties, as required, for example, by leading informal tours of the site and helping to support hands-on school visits.
• Make recommendations for future growing and for development of the site.
• Ensure Art Gene’s equal opportunity, inclusion, and health and safety polices are adhered to and ensure the project is accessible and welcoming to under-served groups, such as disabled people or refugees.
• Provide data on the people who engage with the project for funders and management, as required.
• Be responsive to the changing needs of the Allotment Soup project and take on any additional duties and tasks as required to deliver the contract.

Person specification

Skills and Qualifications

• Demonstrable knowledge of edible plants and horticulture.
• Experience of managing an allotment or large productive garden space.
• Understanding of sustainability and the importance of gardening in a nature-friendly way.
• Experience of composting.
• Excellent interpersonal skills.
• Experience of working with volunteers and community groups.
• Ability to teach volunteers by example the principles of good horticultural practice.

Personal Qualities

• Approachable and engaging.
• Self-motivated, with ability to work autonomously and manage own workload.
• Able to take a flexible approach to delivering success; adaptable and creative.
• Excited by the potential of a community growing space and of the role of community gardener; keen to communicate this enthusiasm to as wide an audience as possible.

Desirable

• Understanding of tree planting and care.
• Driving license. (Art Gene can provide a bicycle for use on workdays if required.)
• Note: Art Gene will undertake a DBS check ahead of you working with members of the public.

Application information

Please send a letter of at least one full page expressing your interest and suitability to take on this role, or a video of up to 8 minutes in length, alongside a C.V. In your letter or video please address how your experience matches the Person Specification in this job pack and what qualifies you to take on the responsibilities that are set out.

Please send your application to jo.reilly@art-gene.co.uk by the end of Tuesday, 27 January 2026. Please include the names of two referees, including email addresses and phone numbers (not relatives - we will not contact these people until we make a job offer).

Interviews are likely to be 5 or 6 February 2026.

In the event you are shortlisted for interview, please let us know in your application or in a separate email if we can offer any reasonable adjustments to help you access the interview and the role.

Please mention Roots to Work when applying for these jobs