Horticulture Volunteer - Share Community

Do you have green fingers? Would you like to use your gardening skills to help others? We have a beautiful garden site based at Springfield Hospital in Tooting where we provide horticulture training for disabled people and those facing health-related barriers to employment. This helps them move towards personal goals, opening up career opportunities and building confidence and self-esteem.

About the Organisation

Share Community is a charity dedicated to empowering adults with learning disabilities, autism, and mental health needs to live happier, healthier, and more independent lives.

What you will be doing

Share is a registered charity and a centre for training and wellbeing. We provide a range of programmes helping adults with learning disabilities, autism and other support needs become more happy, healthy and independent. Our vision is a world where disabled people are fully included in society, living the life they choose, and we need talented people like you to help us make that happen.

About the role

We need volunteers to help us on-site; you don’t need advanced gardening skills, you just need to be passionate about greenery and keen to support people with learning disabilities. You'll assist with garden maintenance as well as the educational, personal, and social development of our students. We’ve got lots of exciting new projects on the go, so now is a great time to join in the fun.

Commitment

We’re looking for people who are happy to support for one day per week, from 10am – 4pm, Monday – Friday. We’re also happy to hear from people who can offer half-days, or fortnightly volunteering. We hope that, in order to give our Students stability, volunteers can commit to the role for three months.

What's in it for you?

What do our current Horticulture Volunteers say? ‘Coming to the Garden is the highlight of my week.’ Why choose Share Community? We previously received a Best Practice in Volunteering Award from Lifetimes, an organisation that supports voluntary and community activity in Wandsworth. They were particularly impressed by the support, training, recognition and reward that we give to our volunteers and that we recruited people with additional support needs and those from marginalised backgrounds. In return for you giving up your time for us, you can expect: • A warm welcome into our organisation from our dedicated volunteering team. • A full-day training for all new volunteers to give you confidence in your role. • Ongoing support, and ‘top-up’ training from staff including topics like: Mental Health First Aid, Safeguarding, and Makaton. • An opportunity to develop new skills and add to your CV. • A reference for your time with us. • Reimbursement of travel expenses within TFL zone 1 – 6. • £5 towards lunch, or a free lunch in our onsite canteen at our Clapham Junction site (if volunteering for more than four hours a day). • Invitations to all our events such as: our garden parties, away days, Christmas parties and our student awards ceremony. • The opportunity to have your say in our annual volunteer survey. • A genuine opportunity to make a difference and become part of a community.

What skills will you need?

Activities
Community Work,Gardening,Teaching & Training,Environmental,Support Work
 
Skills & Attributes
Gardening, Working part of Team, Motivator, Communication Skills, Helpful & Caring, Listening Skills
 
Skills Description
Our ideal volunteer will: • Have a strong commitment to the inclusion of disabled people in all aspects of life • Be reliable and punctual • Be patient • Be friendly, warm and supportive of people • Have good listening skills If you have any experience of teaching that would be a bonus, but it isn’t essential.

What's the time commitment and where? 

We’re looking for people who are happy to support for one day per week, from 10am – 4pm, Monday – Friday. We’re also happy to hear from people who can offer half-days, or fortnightly volunteering. We hope that, in order to give our Students stability, volunteers can commit to the role for three months.

Location: Share Garden, Gillian Webb Memorial Gardens, Springfield Hospital, Tooting, SW17 7DJ. You can reach Share Garden on the G1 bus, or a walk from Earlsfield or Tooting train stations. There is parking and bike racks at the Garden

How can I apply?

Please complete the form below and we will put you in contact with the organisation.   It’s helpful if you can tell us a little about yourself and why you’re interested in this role in the message box below. 

By completing this form you agree for us to pass on your contact details to the organisation.

 

 

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