organic food growing – Wolves Lane Centre

November 9, 2023November 9, 2023

HOSPITALITY AND RETAIL ASSISTANT WORK PLACEMENT

ABOUT WOLVES LANE

Wolves Lane Centre is a thriving community hub in Wood Green, dedicated to sustainable growing, education, social enterprise, and community engagement. The centre aims to develop and distribute wholesome food, foster the local food economy through education and enterprise, and promote a healthier, more sustainable food culture in the area. Thanks to funding from the National Lottery and the Mayor of London’s Good Growth Fund, we are undertaking a major site redevelopment, and work to ensure Wolves Lane’s long-term sustainability as a vibrant community space.

JOB SUMMARY

The Hospitality and Retail Assistant at Wolves Lane Centre will play a pivotal role in providing excellent customer service and support in our hospitality and retail areas. This role is designed to offer practical work experience, skills development, and employment support for individuals who are looking to gain valuable experience in the hospitality and retail sectors while contributing to the vibrant Wolves Lane community.

Duration: 25 weeks, 2 days per week (negotiable)
Reports to: Retail Manager
Pay: £10.75 ~ £13.15 per hour (negotiable to London Living Wage, depending on experience)
Application deadline: Midnight Monday 27th November 2023
Interviews: W/C 4th December 2023

HOW TO APPLY

Please read the role description and person specification below and let us know how you think your skills and experience makes this traineeship right for you. Attach a CV or statement of your work/volunteer history, as well as either a cover letter or a video. We welcome applications even if you feel you don’t fulfil every element of the person specification.

Please send your application and equalities monitoring form to jobs@wolveslane.org with ‘Eco-build and Site Maintenance Assistant – (your name)’ in the email title.

Job Description

Equalities Monitoring Form

MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES

Greet and assist customers in a friendly and professional manner, providing information about Wolves Lane Centre and its products or services.
Serve and handle customer orders, including food and beverages in our café, and retail products in our store.
Maintain a clean and organised retail space, ensuring that products are well-displayed and appropriately stocked.
Collaborate with the kitchen and Retail Manager to create a welcoming and inclusive atmosphere for all visitors.
Operate the point-of-sale system for sales transactions and handle cash or card payments accurately.
Assist in food preparation, including making beverages, and other light food items. Help clean and wash up.
Follow health and safety guidelines for food handling, cleanliness, and maintenance of equipment.
Work with the team to organise and support events, workshops, and activities held at Wolves Lane Centre.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Skills, Knowledge, Ability, Commitments

Education and Experience

Aged between 18 and 25, or part of a specified beneficiary group (e.g., adults with additional needs, refugees).
No specific prior experience in hospitality or retail is required, but a passion for customer service and an interest in these sectors is a plus.
Willingness to learn and adapt to the demands of the role.

Skills and Abilities

Excellent customer service and communication skills.
Friendly and approachable, with a positive attitude.
Ability to work effectively in a team and independently.
Basic computer literacy, including experience with point-of-sale systems (training will be provided).

Personal Qualities

Enthusiasm for providing a welcoming and inclusive atmosphere for customers and community members.
Flexibility and adaptability to handle a variety of tasks and customer needs.
Empathy, patience, and a desire to contribute positively to the Wolves Lane community.

WORKING CONDITIONS

The role involves working in a fast-paced hospitality and retail environment. Work hours may vary, including weekends and special events, to support the Wolves Lane Centre’s activities and services.

November 9, 2023

ECO-BUILD AND SITE MAINTENANCE ASSISTANT WORK PLACEMENT

Role commencing December 2023 at Wolves Lane Horticultural Centre, N22 5JD

ABOUT WOLVES LANE

ABOUT THE ROLE

This Paid Work Placement at Wolves Lane Centre will be an integral part of our dynamic and inclusive community space team focused on eco-building and the maintenance of our food-growing and community site. This role is intended for individuals between the ages of 18-25 or those from specified beneficiary groups, such as adults with additional needs or refugees. The primary goal is to provide practical paid work experience, skills development, and tailored support to enhance employability while contributing to the development and upkeep of Wolves Lane Centre.

Location: Wolves Lane Centre, N22 5JD
Duration: 25 weeks, 2 days per week (negotiable)
Reports to: New Build Coordinator
Pay: £10.75 ~ £13.15 per hour (negotiable to London Living Wage, depending on experience)
Application deadline: Midnight Monday 27th November
Interviews: w/c Monday 4th December
Start date: w/c 11th December

HOW TO APPLY

Please send your application and equalities monitoring form to jobs@wolveslane.org with ‘Eco-build and Site Maintenance Assistant – (your name)’ in the email title.

Role Description

Equalities Monitoring Form

MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES

Participate in eco-building projects at Wolves Lane Centre, which will often include working alongside our professional construction contractors on the big build, working with a range of traditional materials timber, clay and lime, indoors and out.
Contribute to the maintenance and development of our wider site and facilities here.
To collaborate with the Wolves Lane Centre team to organise inclusive events and activities, engaging community members and promoting genuine participation at the grass roots level.
Receive mentorship and guidance to build essential employment skills, such as teamwork, communication, time management, and problem-solving.
Attend and co-facilitate training sessions and workshops aimed at enhancing knowledge of eco-building and infrastructural support for regenerative urban agriculture.
Work closely with the Employment Support Supervisor to set and achieve personal development goals.
Interact with fellow participants, the Wolves Lane Centre community, and our contractors onsite, in a positive, inclusive, and community-focused manner.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Skills, Knowledge, Ability, Commitments

Essential Personal Qualities

Desire to engage in physical labour and outdoor work, both within and without our glass houses and partially complete new buildings, which will include exposure to various weather conditions.
Enthusiasm for sustainable and participatory practices in construction, and landscaping, aligned with the Wolves Lane Centre’s mission.
Empathy, patience, and a positive attitude in working with diverse community members.
Strong commitment to personal growth and employability development.
Openness to diversity and the ability to work in an inclusive, multicultural setting.

Essential Skills and Abilities

Strong teamwork and interpersonal skills.
Willingness to learn and adapt to various tasks.
Effective communication skills, both written and verbal.
Problem-solving abilities and a proactive approach to challenges.
Basic computer literacy (e.g., word processing and email).

Desirable

Aged between 18 and 25, or part of a specified beneficiary group (e.g., adults with learning disabilities, refugees).
Skills/experience in land based work, labouring, green building, construction, decorating.
Comprehension of architectural information, construction drawings, 3D modelling, BIMx, and handbuilt models, ability to work to measure accurately across scales.
Low-budget design and build problem solving skills.
Digital skills to support content generation for our comms, social media and fundraising efforts.
No specific prior work experience is essential; however, a genuine interest in eco-building, agriculture, and/or community development is advantageous.

November 2, 2023

TRAINEE FOOD GROWER JOB OPPORTUNITY Role commencing end of February 2024 at Wolves Lane Horticultural Centre, N22 5JD

Are you part of the next generation of food growers? Looking to develop your skills and hands on experience in a sustainable and diverse environment? Be part of an operational food growing and horticultural centre in the heart of North London?

We are delighted to be able to recruit three trainee growers 18-25y/o at the Wolves Lane Centre to begin working end of February 2024, to work with the various growers and groups on site to get work-based training in small-scale commercial growing, as a first step in their career in food growing.

We particularly welcome applications from people with disabilities, neurodivergent, people from POC and LGBTQIA+ communities, and intersections therein, as they are under-represented in the horticulture/farming sector.

ABOUT WOLVES LANE

Wolves Lane Centre in Haringey is a former council-run plant nursery and garden centre run by a consortium of community organisations and volunteers since 2017. We grow and distribute sustainably produced food and plants, and offer a hub for education, enterprise and events, making good food accessible to all. Thanks to funding from the National Lottery and the Mayor of London’s Good Growth Fund, we’re redeveloping the site to establish Wolves Lane as a thriving and sustainable community green space in the coming years.

ABOUT THE ROLE

Organic produce is grown at Wolves Lane and our satellite site Pasteur Gardens, both outside and under glass. The site is operated by a mix of groups, with produce distributed to Wolves Lane cooking project, markets, restaurants, and local sale.

For this Trainee post, we are looking for people interested in pursuing a livelihood as a food grower or landworker, and seeking to gain the skills and experience to further this aim. You will be supported by our on-site Community Educator, and will have the opportunity to work as a team with the Wolves Lane Lead Growers, and Growers from Black Rootz, a black-led antiracist enterprise, specialising in growing diaspora crops.

Salary: London Living Wage £13.15 per hour
Hours: 3 days per week, 7 hour days, usually Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
Employment period: 15 weeks with scope to extend (late February 2024 – July 2024)
Responsible to: Wolves Lane Consortium board.
Application deadline: Midnight Monday 27th November 2023
Interviews: W/C 4th December 2023

HOW TO APPLY

Please send any questions and your application and equalities monitoring form to jobs@wolveslane.org, with ‘Trainee Grower and (your name)’ in the email title.

Equality-and-diversity-monitoring-form-2020-1-1 Download

MAIN TRAINEESHIP OBJECTIVES

To learn about and assist with all aspects of planting, growing and maintaining produce sustainably in an urban setting
To learn about and assist with all aspects of harvesting, preparing, and selling produce
To learn how to provide support for volunteers
To participate fully in the Traineeship Programme and commit to share learnings with the next round of Trainees.

MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES

Trainees will learn all aspects of running our urban growing project and horticulture centre by:

Assisting the growers on site 3 days a week practising agroecological methods, split between our Wolves Lane Growers and the Growers at Black Rootz.
Work closely with the Growers to learn all aspects of running the glasshouses, outdoor beds and composting systems. This might include seed sowing, potting on, planting out, weeding, watering, harvesting, pest and disease management, making compost, record keeping, supporting distribution of veg, and any other associated tasks on site.
Harvesting produce to the agreed methods, ensuring quality control and preparing and packing produce according.
Supporting and supervising volunteers.

PERSON SPECIFICATION
Skills, Knowledge, Ability, Commitments

Desirable

A demonstrable interest and passion for sustainable and socially diverse food growing and production, horticulture and landwork.
One season’s experience volunteering/working on a food growing site/ garden
Happy and able to work mainly outdoors throughout the year
Demonstrable experience of performing physical work with pressure to deliver
Experience of volunteering or working in a diverse community setting
Knowledge or direct experience of the local Wolves Lane community
Ability to carry out shared tasks and work effectively within a team
Ability to supervise and explain tasks to volunteers clearly and with compassion
Experience of paid employment in horticulture or a horticulture placement
Level 1 or 2 horticultural qualification or equivalent
Can demonstrate clearly why this traineeship is right for you

________________________________________________________________

DIVERSITY MONITORING AND DATA PROTECTION

Wolves Lane Consortium is committed to eliminating discrimination encouraging diversity amongst our workforce. We will not discriminate with reference to age, gender, sexual orientation, race, colour, religion, marital status, and disability. To help ensure our recruitment process is fair and equitable, we collect diversity data from applicants to our roles, using the separate equalities monitoring form.

Any personal data you provide (e.g., address, telephone number, employment history) will be used for recruitment purposes only, and only shared with individuals involved in the recruitment process.

July 3, 2023July 3, 2023

Wolves Lane is Recruiting for three new posts……

A Shop and Retail Manager //

A Grants and Communication Officer //

An Events Coordinator//

About Wolves Lane Centre: Wolves Lane Centre is a thriving community hub in Wood Green, dedicated to sustainable growing, education, social enterprise, and community engagement. The centre aims to develop and distribute wholesome food, foster the local food economy through education and enterprise, and promote a healthier, more sustainable food culture in the area. Thanks to funding from the National Lottery and the Mayor of London’s Good Growth Fund, we are undertaking a major site redevelopment, and work to ensure Wolves Lane’s long-term sustainability as a vibrant community space.

Wolves Lane Consortium is a partnership of community organisations led by The Ubele Initiative and OrganicLea. With thanks to the National Lottery Community Fund for supporting our work.

To organise a site visit or ask any further questions please contact Denise – jobs@wolveslane.org full Job descriptions and how to apply in the links below.

Diversity-Monitoring-Form

Shop & Retail Manager

Grants & Comms Officer

Events Coordinator

March 20, 2023November 2, 2023

Hiring Two Growing Apprenticeships 18-25y/o

We are delighted to be able to recruit two paid apprentice growers 18-25y/o at the Wolves Lane Centre, to work with the various growers and groups on site to get work-based training in small-scale commercial growing, as a first step in their career in food growing. We particularly welcome applications from people with disabilities, neurodivergent, people from BPOC and LGBTQIA+ communities, and intersections therein, as they are under-represented in the horticulture/farming sector.

ABOUT THE ROLE

Organic produce is grown at Wolves Lane and our satellite site Pasteur Gardens, both outside and under glass. Different parts of the site are operated by different groups with the produce distributed to the Wolves Lane cooking project, to a local produce stall, to restaurants, and for local sale.

For this apprentice post, we are looking for someone interested in pursuing a livelihood as a food grower or landworker, and seeking to gain the skills and experience to further this aim. You will be supported by our on-site Community Educator but will have the opportunity to work across the various growing projects at Wolves Lane and tailor your work experience according to your particular interests. Apprentices will work together, as well as being primarily hosted by our Wolves Lane Lead Grower, and growers from Black Rootz, a black-led antiracist enterprise, specialising in growing diaspora crops.

Salary: London Living Wage £11.95 per hour

Hours: 3 days per week, 7 hour days, ideally Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Employment period: 30 weeks (until end of November 2023).

Responsible to: Wolves Lane Consortium board.

Closing date for applications: Midnight 16^th April 2023

Interviews to be held on: 26^th April 2023, for 1 hour. Interviews will be held in person at Wolves Lane Centre, N22 5JD. Finalists will then be invited for a paid trial day.

MAIN APPRENTICESHIP OBJECTIVES

To learn about and assist with all aspects of planting, growing and maintaining produce sustainably in an urban setting
To learn about and assist with all aspects of harvesting, preparing, and selling produce
To learn how to provide support for volunteers
To participate fully in the Apprenticeship Programme and commit to share learnings with the next round of Apprentices.

MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES

Trainees will learn all aspects of running our urban growing project and horticulture centre by:

Assisting the grower on site 3 days a week, split between our Wolves Lane Lead Grower and the growers at Black Rootz.
Work closely with the Wolves Lane Growers to learn all aspects of running the glasshouses, outdoor beds and composting systems. This might include seed sowing, potting on, planting out, weeding, watering, harvesting, making compost, record keeping, supporting distribution of veg, and any other associated tasks on site.
Harvesting produce to the agreed methods, ensuring quality control and preparing and packing produce according.
Supporting and supervising volunteers.
Gaining experience supervising the workday and harvest when the grower is absent.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Skills, Knowledge, Ability, Commitments

Desirable

A demonstrable interest and passion for sustainable and socially diverse food growing and production, horticulture and landwork
One season’s experience of volunteering or working on a food growing site or garden
Happy and able to work mainly outdoors throughout the year
Excellent listening and time management skills
Demonstrable experience of performing physical work with pressure to deliver
Experience of volunteering or working in a diverse community setting
Knowledge or direct experience of the local community near Wolves Lane
Ability to carry out shared tasks and work effectively within a team
Ability to supervise and explain tasks to other clearly and with compassion
Experience of paid employment in horticulture or a structured placement in horticulture
Level 1 or 2 horticultural qualification or equivalent
Can demonstrate clearly why this apprenticeship is right for you

HOW TO APPLY

Please read the role description and person specification below.

To apply, please send the following to jobs@wolveslane.org, with ‘Apprentice Grower and _YOUR NAME_’ in the email title:

Your CV (or statement of your work/volunteer history)
A cover letter or a video, letting us know how you think your skills, interest and experience makes this apprenticeship right for you.
Completed equalities monitoring form

We welcome applications from you even if you feel you don’t fulfil every element of the person specification.

For any questions or further information, please email education@wolveslane.org

Equality-and-diversity-monitoring-form-2020-1 Download

Wolves-Lane-Apprentice-2023 Download

____________________________________________________________

DIVERSITY MONITORING

Data Protection Note

Any personal data you provide (e.g., address, telephone number, employment history) will be used for recruitment purposes only, and only shared with individuals involved in the recruitment process.

September 9, 2020November 4, 2020

We received National Lottery funding to develop a community food hub

Since April we have been part of the Covid-19 emergency response providing cooked meals for distribution in the local area. This service has been complimented by our own food growing activity where fresh, healthy and culturally appropriate produce is being grown and distributed in the local area to schools food parcel programmes, youth clubs and food hubs, as well as into our meal service. We also want to empower people to grow some of their own food – it not only means you can pick your own super fresh food but also helps you feel more connected to nature and the seasons, and learn new skills, which has a positive impact on mental health and wellbeing.

Recently, we received funding from the National Lottery Community Fund to continue building on our emergency food provision and strengthening our community links using food as the connector, offering plants and growing support to other community groups and individual residents.

Our project aims to:

Grow food and plants to support communities likely to food insecurity as a direct result of COVID-19.
Provide training and skills development in food growing that empower local people and improve health and wellbeing.
Develop a community food hub that supports local food enterprise, scaling up of local food production, and uses food as a connecting tool to help rebuild and support community resilience during the Covid-19 emergency.

About The National Lottery Community Fund

We are the largest funder of community activity in the UK – we’re proud to award money raised by National Lottery players to communities across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Since June 2004, we have made over 200,000 grants and awarded over £9 billion to projects that have benefited millions of people.

We are passionate about funding great ideas that matter to communities and make a difference to people’s lives. At the heart of everything we do is the belief that when people are in the lead, communities thrive. Thanks to the support of National Lottery players, our funding is open to everyone. We’re privileged to be able to work with the smallest of local groups right up to UK-wide charities, enabling people and communities to bring their ambitions to life.

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August 19, 2020October 28, 2020

Have your say about the future of the Wolves Lane Centre!

The Wolves Lane Consortium is in the process of developing the Wolves Lane Garden and Horticultural Centre into a community hub.

Our vision for Wolves Lane is a thriving centre for growing and distributing wholesome food and a space for the local food economy to develop through education, enterprise, and events, making good food accessible to all and building a healthier, more sustainable food culture in the area.

We will be developing the Wolves Lane site into a community hub that facilitates and serves the local community of Wood Green and the wider community of London. New buildings and landscapes are being proposed to allow the Wolves Lane Consortium to grow: to better facilitate community use, food production, and education. They include a community hall, classrooms, office space, storage, and a workshop, as well as a forest classroom, a working yard, well-being and edible planting, outdoor space for events, and new entrance canopies. The existing buildings will be refurbished, with solar panels and rainwater collection extended, and a production kitchen.

The current proposal –   https://wolves-lane-futures.squarespace.com/vision

Timeline of anticipated planning submission, approval, construction –   https://wolves-lane-futures.squarespace.com/whats-next

It’s important that we hear from the local community, please complete our survey about   Wolves Lane Market City Survey

Do you have any further questions? Please join us on Thursday 20th August @ 5:30 pm – 6:30 pm for an online Q&A with the Paloma Gormley, Practice Architecture, and Pedro Gill, Studio Gil the architects leading on the redesign of the Wolves Lane Garden and Horticultural Centre. Register via Eventbrite