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

Will you join us? We're looking for a Eat Smart and Education Champion…

If you’re a committed and creative educator who believes in empowering young people to take action—and you’re excited by the idea of joining a team reshaping how we value food, this part-time role could be a brilliant fit for you.

We are seeking a passionate and organised Eat Smart and Education Champion to lead our engagement work with young people and deliver our successful Eat Smart programme in primary schools across County Durham and Sunderland.

About us

REfUSE is an award-winning social enterprise based in Chester le Street, working towards a healthier, more sustainable food system. We intercept around 8 tonnes of food per month that would otherwise go to waste and turn it into healthy, accessible meals, served on a “Pay as You Feel” basis at our volunteer-run community cafe. With a community of over 150 volunteers, we run regular restaurant nights, sell Waste Not Box food hampers, and run education and engagement projects including our Eat Smart programme which engages primary school pupils in the causes of and solutions to food waste in their schools. We are raising awareness, inspiring, and empowering people towards community-led transformation of our food system in the North-East. Our vision is to reveal the true value of things, places and people that are unjustly wasted or overlooked.

About our Engagement work

A key part of REfUSE’s five‑year strategy is for young people to understand the issues in our community around food and food waste, that they are equipped with the skills to make change in their own lives, and that they have the confidence and capacity to advocate for change in their wider communities. To support this, we deliver engaging workshops and activities in the REfUSE cafe and warehouse for youth groups and other visitors, and take activities out to youth clubs and to other events.

About Eat Smart

Eat Smart is a successful primary school educational programme designed by BIND UK, delivered by REfUSE to inspire children and schools to reduce food waste and build sustainable food systems. We deliver engaging resources and learning experiences that empower schools and pupils to take action, have more ownership of their kitchens/dinner halls, improve student wellbeing, and have increased environmental awareness.

Since 2022, Eat Smart at REfUSE has enabled 20 schools in Durham and Sunderland to rescue their food waste by over 23%, equivalent to saving 2,400 meals worth over £6,000 per school per year and are working with our partners to affect school food procedure and policy on a regional and national level.

We have funding to work with our community and schools in County Durham and Sunderland until March 2028, with the option to extend beyond this subject to funding.

Job Specification:

We’re looking for a part-time inspiring educator (30 hours) who will:

• Lead the delivery of the Eat Smart project in County Durham and Sunderland, ensuring it meets its intended outcomes
• Recruit primary schools to Eat Smart and arranging delivery of sessions
• Deliver assemblies, Food Awareness workshops and Waste Warrior meetings with primary school pupils to ensure their active participation in the planning and decision making process
• Hold meetings with senior school staff, teachers and kitchen staff to ensure the whole school is engaged in the project
• Generate and organise food waste data to produce bespoke reports for each school
• Co-design interventions to reduce food waste with pupils and school staff
• Lead meetings with other organisations to make changes to school meals e.g. catering companies, local authorities, school trusts
• Deliver Eat Smart Plus, the legacy element of Eat Smart in the most engaged schools
• Liaise and manage partner organisations delivering elements of Eat Smart
• Deliver an annual Eat Smart celebration and awards event
• Train and manage Engagement volunteers to assist with delivery of Eat Smart and other engagement outreach activities
• Plan, promote and deliver REfUSE engagement outreach programme for young people, including visits to REfUSE, with the support of a team of volunteers
• Support REfUSE engagement outreach at external public events
• Monitor programme performance and support reporting to our funders
• Promote REfUSE engagement through social media channels
• Ensure an excellent and professional relationship is maintained with schools, community groups and other organisations
• Attend regular REfUSE staff team meetings, monthly check-in with a member of the Senior Management Team, and twice termly Eat Smart meetings
• Undertake any other tasks or duties that may reasonably be required

Person Specification

Essential: To be amazing you will have the following attributes & experience....

• Passionate about grass-roots environmental and social change, have a good understanding of sustainability and ethical choices around food
• Positive attitude and ability to solve problems under pressure
• Personable, excellent communicator
• Experience of working with children of primary school age, and the ability to inspire them and capture their imaginations
• Knowledge of primary school curriculum systems, policies and procedures
• The ability to work in a self-directed manner and as part of a team, where the ability to develop and build good working relationships is key.
• Ability to manage competing priorities
• Very strong organisational, administrative and time-management skills
• Available to work some flexible hours including evenings and weekends
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• A flexible and non-judgmental approach to people and work
• Good IT skills (shared documents, spreadsheets, Zoom/Teams, social media and emails)
• Full, clean driving license

Desirable: It would be great if you have...

• interest in, and awareness of, food waste on a local and global level
• experience of delivering an educational programme
• experience of working in a school or commercial kitchen environment
• knowledgeable in H&S and safeguarding policies
• experience of working with volunteers
• access to own transport

Pay and Benefits

• Part-time role: 30 hours per week
• Annual Leave: 168 hours (inc. bank holidays, additional days based on length of service)
• Due to the nature of the work (i.e., delivery of sessions within school):
• the majority of the working hours will be during the school day, and
• the majority of leave will be taken during Durham County Council’s school holidays
• working days and hours will vary from week-to-week, occasional evening and weekend working required (but can be scheduled by yourself in advance)
• Salary: £28,760 pro rata plus 3% employer’s pension contribution
• Employment term: Until March 2028 with an initial probationary period of 3 months. Contract extension subject to securing grant funding.
• REfUSE Eat Smart and Educagtion - Job Information Pack

Application information

This is an exciting role so if you are considering applying, why not contact us to have a chat or arrange a time to visit us at REfUSE? If you require any further information, please contact Naomi or Karen, 07511 450207 or admin@refusedurham.org.uk (You can head to our website to check out all the current opportunities to 'Work with us')

If you would like to apply, please email us the following required documents:

• A covering letter describing why you would like to work for REfUSE as the Eat Smart and Education Champion, your relevant experience and how you meet the job specification above (1 A4 page maximum)

• An up-to-date CV (2 A4 pages maximum)

• Contact details for 2 referees 

Send your email to admin@refusedurham.org.uk with an email subject of ‘Your Name - Eat Smart and Education Champion’. Please inform us of any adjustment you may need so we can support you in coming to the interview.

The deadline for all applications is 17:00 on Sunday 22nd March.

Key Information

• The deadline for all applications is 17:00 on Sunday 22nd March – applications received after this date will not be considered.
• Interviews will take place in person on Monday 30th or Tuesday 31st March 
• Interviews will be held at REfUSE, 143c Front Street, Chester le Street, County Durham   DH3 3AU
• Start Date - as soon as possible 
• Please refer to the application process above. Any applications received after the deadline or without the required documents will not be considered.
• We will endeavour to contact all applicants promptly to inform them of the status of their application.
• For the successful candidate, we will contact their two referees before making a provisional job offer. We will then carry out pre-employment checks (including a Medical Health Questionnaire, Right to Work Check, and an Enhanced DBS Check). We will review this information on a case by case basis to ensure that, with any reasonable adjustments, you can meet the requirements of the role. 

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