Job description

Job Title:Food Co-op Regional AdviserEast Midlands

Employer:Sustain

Freelance rate: £135 per day

Hours:Average of 2 days per week, based on flexible working

Terms: Fixed Term FreelanceContract until March 2012

Location: Home-based

Reports to:Food Co-ops project officer, Sustain: The alliance for better food and farming

Overview

Sustain is the alliance for better food and farming. It is a not-for-profit organisation that advocates food and agriculture policies and practices that enhance the health and welfare of people and animals, improve the working and living environment, enrich society and culture and promote equity. We represent around 100 national public interest organisations working at international, national, regional and local level.

We are currently recruiting an East Midlands Food Co-op Adviser who will work as part of a national programme on Food Co-ops and Buying Groups (FCBG) (see: The FCBGprogramme is a strand of the larger ‘Making Local Food Work’ portfolio being led by the Plunkett Foundation, and for which Sustain is a collaborative partner (see:

The main aim of the Food Co-ops and Buying Groups programme is to help new food co-ops set up, and for existing food co-ops to become more sustainable and increase their turnover. The first two years of the programme have focused on identifying and sharinggood practice on different models of food co-ops to enable their successful implementation across England. Thiswork has been concentrated particularly in London, Somerset and the North East and has been undertaken with the help of several partner organisations. In this initial phase we have also produced the Food Co-ops Toolkit (see: Theprogramme is now focusing on embedding sustainable practice throughout the English regions, and working to link local farmers and supplierswith food co-ops, to help communities take more control over their food and where it comes from.

Job purpose

The role of each Food Co-opsRegional Adviser is to undertake a programme of work, to make an agreed contribution to the overall Food Co-ops and Buying Groups national targets which are to:

  1. Improve the sustainability of 200 existing and new food co-operatives and buying groups who have taken part in the project
  2. Help establish 100 new food co-operatives or buying groups
  3. Double the overall turnover of the 200 food co-ops and buying groups that we are working with by the end of the programme
  4. Establish new trade links between groups of organic producers by the end of the project
  5. Ensure those who are working to establish food co-ops and buying groups in England are aware of good practice and regularly share information and learning
  6. Increase people’s access to a healthy diet through use of a food co-op or buying group.

Main duties and responsibilities

The main duties and responsibilities of each Food Co-ops Regional Adviser are as follows.

  1. To raise awareness of food co-ops through a range of activities, including:
  • Making contact with existing food co-ops in the region and adding these to the online Food Co-ops Finder (
  • Delivering talks on food co-ops to a range of local groups such as community groups, schools, housing associations, etc.
  • Writingpress releases and promoting the project in the local and regional media, including community-based publications, websites, etc.
  • Organising regional networking and information events
  • Running workshops and giving presentations at other relevant events
  • Liaising with other community projects, public sector bodies, and food organisations in each region
  • Carrying out other promotional and publicity work in the region.
  1. To provide support and advice for new and existing food co-ops, including:
  • Receiving training from Sustain on helping people to set up food co-ops
  • Running training sessions for groups and individuals interested in setting up food co-ops based on the guidance set out in Sustain’s Food Co-ops Toolkit (
  • Provide one-to-one advice to new and existing food co-ops
  • Distributing free marketing materials or other resources as available/appropriate to new and existing food co-ops
  1. To help local producers and suppliers to connect with food co-ops, including:
  • Contacting producers in the region to find suitable suppliers for food co-ops
  • Recording details of suppliers on the Food Co-ops Finder website.
  • Organising farm visits and other events to link food co-ops with producers
  1. To monitor and evaluate the project,including:
  • Completing and submittingreports on work undertaken on a quarterly and annual basis
  • Collecting monitoring information for all activities in line with Making Local Food Work and Big Lottery requirements
  • Liaising with external evaluators to measure impact of work undertaken
  1. To contribute to the national programme,including:
  • Running workshops at national conferences and events
  • Attending regular meetings (at least quarterly) in London or another central location and taking part in teleconferences and e-mail discussions with other food co-op regional advisers
  • Encouraging food co-ops to sign up to the project’s newsletter.
  • Helping to organise exchange visits to enable food co-ops to learn from each other
  1. Other, including:
  • Working collaboratively with other food co-op regional advisers to ensure maximum shared learning and minimum duplication of work
  • Undertaking the work within an agreed budget, and keeping good financial records
  • Keeping up to date on relevant issues
  • Additional duties and responsibilities in keeping with this work as may be reasonably requested

Management

The Food Co-op Regional Advisers with be managed and supported by the Food Co-ops Project Officer, who in turn reports to Sustain’s Policy Director and Trustees.

Special conditions

  • Some evening and weekend work may be necessary, as well as travel within the region and sometimes nationally
  • There will be a three-month probationary period for each post, which will include a review to assess initial progress
  • If regular work with schools or young people is planned, then the freelance worker will need to undergo a CRB check

Person specification

Sustain is seeking to appoint a team of eight motivated and well-organised freelance Food Co-op Regional Advisers. The essential and desirable skills and experience are listed below.

Essential / Desirable
Qualifications /
  • Good general education
/
  • Education to degree level in a relevant subject
  • Training qualification

General
Experience /
  • Experience of managing volunteers
  • Project management experience
  • Practical experience of providing training
/
  • Practical experience of working with food co-ops
  • Partnership working with a range of agencies

Skills and knowledge /
  • Good communication skills, written and verbal
  • Computer literacy with knowledge of word processing and Excel databases
  • Understanding and working knowledge of food and health issues
  • Understanding and working knowledge of the voluntary and community sector
  • Understanding of, and sympathy with, sustainability and the local food sector
  • Ability to facilitate groups, identify learning points and produce comprehensive reports
/
  • Experience of updating websites
  • Evidence of ability to record and report, to meet high quality standards
  • Ability to design training materials

Personal qualities /
  • Ability to work with people at all levels
  • Ability to work on own initiative, within a strategic framework
  • Ability to work as part of team
  • Ability to keep good financial records

Other /
  • Ability to travel easily around the region by private or public transport
  • Able to attend evening and weekend events and meetings
  • Own IT equipment and internet access