Volunteers

volunteer page

Exciting new volunteer opportunity!

Are you looking for an opportunity to gain or deepen your experience of volunteer management?

Are you a confident and skilled person who is comfortable in maintaining regular contact with volunteers?

We are looking for a Volunteers Coordinator.  In this demanding volunteer role you carry out a wide range of tasks which include helping to recruit, place, manage, develop and retain volunteers in all our projects including Abundance and Sheffield Food Network. In order to do this, you will work closely with the Grow Sheffield co-ordinators and the Abundance coordinator to assess our needs, write and update volunteer opportunities and advertise on a number of recruitment platforms, including social media.

Working with existing policies and procedures, this role involves keeping in contact with volunteers and making sure that they are on track to complete their tasks, and that they are happy with their volunteer experience. This contact will be maintained through email, phone and face to face meetings.

You will make first contact with new volunteers and make sure that our needs complement the needs and skills of the volunteer. You will also ensure that all volunteers are properly supported.

This role gives you the opportunity to keep up-to-date with legislation and policy related to volunteering, and you will be able to update our Board of directors (core team) on requirements for our volunteer care policies and procedures. To be able to do this role and fully benefit from the experience, you should be able to spend the equivalent of at least one day based in our office, which is in Sharrow, close to the city.

You will need to have good communication and IT skills, have some experience in working in the voluntary sector and people supervision. You must have a mature and proactive approach to work and be able and willing to work mostly on your own initiative.

For more information or to request an application form, email: [email protected] or contact Emily Clark on 0114 258 0784 (Please note that we work part time and so might not always get back to you straight away!)

 

Sheffield Food Network micro-volunteering

The Sheffield Food Network map of sources of independent, local and fair food has been up and running for a while now, but we’re pretty sure we haven’t got anywhere near finding all of the places across the city doing great things with local and fair food.

So, we are looking for your help in finding food businesses or food organisations that might meet the Sheffield Food Network criteria and submitting details to the website. These microvolunteering tasks should take less than 15 minutes.

1. Find a food business or organisation, either one you know of from your neighbourhood, or one you’ve found out about through a leaflet, or from a friend, or from the internet.

2. Check whether they are already on the Sheffield Food Network map.

3. If not, please try to gather enough information to be able to fill in the details on this form. We are looking for contact details, opening times, and some information on what the organisation/business does and how they meet the Sheffield Food Network criteria (independent organisation producing or selling food that is local or fair, or both). Don’t worry if you can’t find all the information, even a few details would be really helpful.

4. If the organisation is already on the map, is the information correct and up-to-date? If not, please submit corrections or updates on the form.

And that’s it.

If you are interested in this type of bite-sized and online volunteering, we’ve also just started a new map of disused land and vacant plots which we’d love your help in developing.

Or if you’re interested in getting involved with community gardens and growing projects or other volunteering opportunities with Grow Sheffield, please see our volunteers page for details.

Mapping disused spaces

We have started up a Crowdmap to try to map disused spaces, vacant plots, derelict sites and other locations where community action could help turn such land into local amenities, such as community food growing sites or parks.

This is a development of the work we did earlier in the year with the Everyday Growing Cultures project and inspired by the land advocacy work of 596 Acres over in Brooklyn. We are hoping that people will get involved with this project in two main ways:

1. Add reports to the map. Do you know of a plot of land in your community which is disused or vacant and which could be put to better use? You can add information about the site to the map by filling in a simple form.

2. Start to organise activity around a site. If you see a site on the map which you’d be interested in trying to turn over to community use, you can start by commenting on the report on the map to notify people of your interest and start a conversation about it.

It is very early days so far, but we’re hoping to begin to build up a picture of the land across the city which could be an asset for the community and provide a starting point for people to organise around it.

What’s your role in the future of Grow Sheffield?

Over the past few weeks we’ve been putting the finishing touches to our new volunteer roles. We’re delighted to finally pull back the curtain and reveal all! From blogging to fruit preservation; These 8 roles will be key to the future of Grow Sheffield. So, if you want to contribute to an organisation that is aiming to celebrate, inspire and raise awareness of local food issues, whilst continuing the transformation of Sheffield into an urban food growing landscape, these roles could be for you.

You’ll need to commit to around four hours a week. However some roles, such as the Abundance Area Coordinator,  may involve more or less commitment at certain times of the year due to the seasonal nature of the project. If you’re interested, you will be asked to fill out an application form. If you meet the role specification, we will then arrange a time to meet up, have a chat, eat biscuits and find out more about each other.

These roles hold real responsibility within the organisation, and we hope they will make a great addition to any CV. We will provide the utmost support for our volunteers: from an on-site induction to organising role-specific training.

If you’re passionate about local food and want to really make a difference, take a look at the roles today and get in touch.

 

More information? Contact Tom on 0114 2580784 or email [email protected]

Join the Multi-faith forest garden at Parkwood Springs

You are invited to join us at the Multifaith Forest Garden at Parkwood Springs on: Saturday 9th February at 11am – 2pm. This amazing space, perched just outside the city centre relies on committed volunteers for maintenance so your participation is truly appreciated and has a huge affect on the local community.

The workday will include mulching fruit trees and bushes, fruit tree husbandry, removal of mulch matting and general maintenance. The garden is really looking great despite the winter conditions and there will be another chance for a guided walk around the garden for those pokies online who haven’t visited before.

  • Please bring food/drink
  •  Come with nothing or your prayers, blessings, songs, poems, readings, music, dance or whatever!
  • Let’s have an enjoyable time with our common mother, planet Earth!
  • Please note there are no public conveniences or facilities for seating on-site so do come prepared. Wear sturdy shoes and come prepared for the weather.
  • Location: Meet at Parkwood Springs Forest Garden car park (opposite flats104-138), Shirecliffe Road, S5 8XB at 11am.
  • Travel: Buses – to 2(TM Travel),83,83A to Shirecliffe Road/Cooks Wood Rd (Please note; these buses that run directly to Shirecliffe are in the process of changing please check with SYPTE) or alternatively use 47,48 or 87 to Pitsmoor Road/Barnsley Road or 75,76,97 or 98 to Burngreave Rd/Cooks Wood Rd (and then a short walk).

For more information contact: [email protected]

Nirmal Fernando – Phone: 07932 017 929
Email: [email protected]

Tim Shortland, Community Forestry Manager– Phone 07785 362289
Email: [email protected]

We will be at the entrance of the car park from 10.45am. We hope to see you there!

 

 

Common Ground: Volunteer on a saturday!

Common Ground, a community food growing space in Nether Edge, is looking for eager helpers to attend their volunteering mornings on Saturdays from 10am until 12pm. If you”re interested in helping to establish a vibrant garden in a popular Sheffield suburb then this could be for you.

Volunteer”s will continue the development of the space, maintain the site and look after the produce in the raised beds. You”ll be able to pick up tips and tricks from seasoned growers, whilst meeting iGame et er rendyrket casino som tilbyr i overkant av 150 spill. new people.

The activities are interesting and varied. Below is a list of upcoming sessions:

10th November – general garden maintenance
17th November – building a bug hotel
24th November – planting bulbs
1st December – general garden maintenance
8th December – garden inspired Christmas crafts
15th December – Christmas quiz!

By volunteering at common ground, you”ll be joining a real community and helping to provide valuable, productive green space for local residents.

The sessions will be run by Emilie Taylor who you can contact at [email protected]

Go ahead and drop into a session!

Where is it? Machon Bank, Sheffield, S7 1GP just off Abbeydale road, opposite the picture house.