Community Engagement Officer, Welland Rivers Trust
Location: GWCT The Allerton Project, Loddington, Leicestershire, LE7 9XE
Salary: £21,000 p.a. plus pension and expenses
This is a one-year post with the potential to extend.
Do you want to connect people with their local river and wildlife as part of an exciting new engagement project? Do you see the opportunities for connection with nature to improve people’s health and wellbeing? Do you have the skills to deliver a wide-ranging and varied volunteer and community engagement programme? Do you share our passion for improving our river?
The Welland Rivers Trust is starting a new initiative to better connect with communities living in the catchment, understand their needs and concerns and develop innovative new projects and events related to the river that will improve their health and wellbeing.
As Community Engagement Officer, it will be your job to strengthen and build relationships, consult existing volunteers and understand how the River Welland and its tributaries can form a meaningful part of people’s lives. We want to ensure community input and benefit are at the heart of all our projects and you will have complete freedom to explore and develop new ways of making this happen. Part of the role will involve using the information and evidence gathered during this year-long post to apply for further funding to deliver the new project ideas and ensure long term success of the initiative. You will also assist the Project Manager in the delivery of WRT’s citizen science monitoring project, River Wardens and deliver informative and engaging educational visits to schools and scouts groups.
You will be capable of working independently and creatively as part of a small team and demonstrate a committed, professional and flexible approach to your work. We are looking for an individual with experience of delivering an array of practical community engagement activities such as walks, volunteer clean ups and educational workshops. You will be an approachable and friendly communicator who will be able to inspire others to respect the natural world whilst building strong relationships and partnerships to achieve outcomes on the ground.
The Community Engagement Officer will report to the Welland Project Manager and the board of trustees and sit on the Welland Valley Partnership to ensure that the interests of local communities are factored into multi-organisational planning of works in the catchment.
Although most of your work will fall between normal business hours, community engagement events and meetings can be held in the evening and at weekends. A reasonable commitment to out-of-hours working will be required and compensated with time off in-lieu.
Essential candidate skills:
- Experience in environmental education and community engagement
- Strong social and inter-personal skills
- Excellent organisational and networking skills
With:
- Full driving license and own vehicle
- Strong computer literacy (Microsoft Office, Social Media, WordPress, Email)
- A genuine desire to improve the aquatic environment
Who:
- Will live in the Welland catchment area (Including Market Harborough, Stamford, Oakham):
http://www.wellandriverstrust.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Welland_Catchment_Map_Sep_19-1.pdf
Desirable candidate qualities:
- Knowledge of and connection to the Welland catchment and its settlements
- Experience of work to develop funding bids
- Academic training in a related environmental science (conservation, biology, geography) with knowledge of aquatic ecosystems and conservation
We will be interviewing for the role the week beginning the 17th of February with a view to have the selected candidate in post by mid-March.
Please send a CV and covering letter with details of two recent references to Chris French – [email protected]
We look forward to receiving your application!
