Assistant Project Officer Job Description

Brecknock Wildlife Trust Wild Communitities – Project Assistant Job Pack

About Brecknock Wildlife Trust Brecknock Wildlife Trust is a registered charity and membership organisation that has been operating since 1964 working for the protection of the wildlife habitats and species in the old county of Brecknock (now the southern third of Powys).

Brecknock Wildlife Trust has over fifty years’ experience of working to promote, conserve and engage people with wildlife, and has huge amount of knowledge of the area, its people, species and habitats. As a local organisation we can respond quickly to local issues and we can also use the leverage of our other Wildlife Trust partners throughout the UK when strength in numbers is needed.

Brecknock Wildlife Trust’s vision is for “An environment rich in wildlife for everyone”, which it aims to achieve by pursuing its mission of “Creating Living Landscapes and securing Living Seas”.

The Trust will do this by “Being passionate leaders and natural partners”, whose objectives are to:  Demonstrate how nature works  Inspire people and communities to value and take action for nature  Champion nature and our work

Overview of the Project Area Brecknock Wildlife Trust has joined forces with the Big Lottery Fund to deliver an exciting new project in the Upper Tawe Valley (Cwm Tawe Uchaf). The Upper Tawe Valley encompasses an area at the head of the Tawe river catchment mostly within the county of Powys. The main centre of population in the area is Ystradgynlais, a town with a history of coal working, ironworks and light industry. Today however Ystradgynlais and some of the communities around it now have higher than average unemployment and some significant issues around deprivation and health & well-being. Ystradgynlais itself has a population of 10,122 people and the rural communities around it that form part of the project include Abercraf, Cwmtwrch, Tawe Uchaf and Gurnos. The project is not strictly limited to these areas but these will be the main focus. The area of the Upper Tawe Valley is actually very rich in wildlife and Brecknock Wildlife Trust has five nature reserves that fall within the project area: Allt Rhongyr, Craig y Rhiwarth, Ystradfawr, Cae Lynden and Wern Plemys. Part of the project area falls within the Brecon Beacons National Park designation.

Overview of the project The project is about helping people in the Upper Tawe Valley area who are in need of assistance to improve their employability skills and/or people who suffer from poor health and well being, these people are hereafter termed our ‘beneficiaries’. The beneficiaries of this project will likely be already working with our partner organisations such as MIND, Job Centre Plus, Wales Probation Trust and other local bodies.

By providing opportunities for the unemployed community (including those suffering with poor physical and mental health issues) to increase their employability and health and wellbeing we hope this will in turn help to revitalise this deprived community and its local environment. We aim to engage local people with their natural environment, encourage them to learn to care for it and to take action to improve it for wildlife, in doing so they will benefit by gaining new skills.

How the project will work The project will deliver a range of tailored activities to beneficiaries that will include practical conservation days, formal skills training, environmental workshops, wildlife recording days, environmental education sessions, guided walks, wildlife events and wildlife talks, all aimed at getting beneficiaries outdoors, active, working with others, learning new skills, gaining new experiences and engaged with the natural environment. These tailored activities will be continually developed by the project in consultation with partner organisations and individual beneficiaries to ensure they best meet the needs of the local community.

Who will deliver the project The project activities will be delivered by two new project staff based partly in Ystradgynlais and partly in the Brecknock Wildlife Trust offices in Brecon. The project staff will consist of a Project Manager who will be in overall charge of delivering the project and a Project Officer whose main role will be to support the Project Manager in all aspects of project delivery.

The two main project staff will be assisted with the project delivery by a Project Assistant post, a position that will offer three short term (nine month) paid work experience placements during the life of the project to local candidates enabling these beneficiaries to develop a more in depth range of skills and experiences in addition to the training being offered to other beneficiaries. Additionally project staff will be assisted by external trainers and the Trust’s own volunteer resource and supported by existing Trust staff, in all of which there is a vast range of skills, knowledge and experience that will help the project to deliver its outcomes.

The project will be delivered over three years. The monitoring of its success will be judged using four outcome measures: Improved employability skills, improved self-esteem and social networks, individuals’ enhanced health and well-being and an increase understanding and appreciation of the local natural environment. Job Description

Post title: Project Assistant Responsible to: Line managed by the Project Manager Responsible for: Volunteers helping with project delivery. Main place of work: Post based at Brecknock Wildlife Trust Office at Wellbeing Centre, Ystradgynlais, 61-66 Pen-y-Bryn, SA9 1JB. Occasional work at the Brecknock Wildlife Trust Offices, Lion House, Bethel Square, Brecon. The nature of the project duties will mean time will be spent working outdoors in the Upper Tawe Valley area and occasionally at other sites. This includes nature reserves, allotments, school grounds and other green spaces. Status: Nine month fixed term contract, 30 hours a week including occasional evening and weekends. Salary range: £11,700 (30 hour week) Contract period: Fixed term for nine months (subject to 3 month’s probation period at start).

Main purpose of job To provide support in all aspects of the project to the project staff and volunteers.

Main duties of the post The Project Assistant will provide additional support to project staff in all aspects of project delivery, management and development as a way to gain in depth job related skills and training. It is expected that the post holder will be given more responsibility for various aspects of the project as their skills develop and confidence grow, e.g. leading on the organising and delivery of specific project events, tools and equipment maintenance. This post will require a good level of fitness to access sites and undertake practical work. There is also some outdoor working involved with this post, on nature reserves, allotments and other green spaces, working in all weather conditions.

 Assist with the development and delivery of the projects wildlife events, walks and talks programme under the supervision of the Project Manager.  Assist with the delivery of project activities under the supervision of the Project Manager, in particular practical conservation workdays, allotment sessions, training days, environmental workshops and education sessions.  Assist with the production of publicity and interpretation materials such as the writing of website, magazine and press articles and general project promotion.  Assist with beneficiary monitoring in conjunction with the Project Manager and Project Officer.  Assist with health and safety on all aspects of the project including risk assessments, tools & equipment, activities, reserves, office space and vehicles.  Assist with the writing of nature reserve management plans.

Other duties The post holder will be required to:  Maintain knowledge of and work to the Trust’s Health and Safety policy.  Work within guidelines set out in the BWT Staff Handbook.  Develop own work plan and maintain own personal and professional development.  Present a positive image of the Brecknock Wildlife Trust and funding partners, and maintain and develop good working relationships with other organisations.  Undertake such other duties, as may be reasonably required, and which are consistent with the general level of responsibility of this job.

Person Specification

Knowledge and experience It is essential that the post holder has:  Basic knowledge of UK wildlife, conservation issues, wildlife friendly gardening and food growing.  A basic working knowledge of Microsoft computer applications such as Word and Excel and experience of sending and receiving emails.

It is desirable that the post holder has:  1 years relevant work experience (paid or voluntary).  Experience of planning and delivering events, in particular wildlife events but this could be in any area and inside or outside of work.  Experience of working with/being a part of community groups  Knowledge of UK Habitats and their management.  Experience of being outdoors in various weather conditions and on challenging terrain.  Experience of working with and supporting volunteers either in a paid or unpaid role.  Knowledge and experience of Health and Safety at Work Regulations.

Skills and abilities It is essential that the post holder has:  Enthusiasm and understanding of community engagement work and enjoys working with people  A willingness to learn new skills.  An interest in UK wildlife and conservation and a desire to learn more.  An ability to work well as part of a team.  An ability to organise own work plan and tasks and work independently when needed.  Reliable and demonstrates good time keeping.  Responsible: To be responsible for your own safely and to provide a duty of care to volunteers.  Good presentation and communication skills: including the ability to read and write well and the ability to talk to people of all ages and backgrounds.  Basic Welsh conversation skills or willingness to learn (This is primarily an English language post but will require the post holder to communicate some of the time in Welsh in the project area to maximise project success).

It is desirable that the post holder has:  Some practical land management skills (e.g. fencing, coppicing, gate hanging, scrub clearance).  NPTC (or similar) certificates of competency for brushcutter, herbicides, quad bike and off road driving.  In date First Aid at Work qualification.

Other It is essential that the post holder has:  A willingness to travel within the UK to access further training.  A willingness to work outside standard office hours as dictated by the duties of the post.

It is desirable that the post holder has:  Full clean driving license.

Conditions of Service

 The post benefits from 25 days annual holiday pro rata, flexible working around core hours and a professional development allowance.  The Trust is in an automatic enrolment workplace pension scheme. This applies to UK based employees who are between 22 years of age and state pension age and who earn over £833 per month.  If those three criteria apply within three months of the commencement of the post the employee will be automatically enrolled into a workplace pension. This means that the employee will pay in 0.8% of ‘qualified earnings’, the employer will pay in 1% and there will be 0.2% of tax relief added on. The employee may choose to opt out of the scheme after enrolment. Both contributions rise over the course of time (see https://www.gov.uk/workplace-pensions for more details).  After 6 months employment the employers pension contribution will rise to 7%. If the employee remains in the BWT workplace pension scheme then a percentage of this will have to be paid into the workplace scheme in accordance with pension guidelines, the remaining percentage can be paid into the pension of your choice.  The appointed candidate may be required to use their own vehicle on occasion for work purposes should they have one, for which a mileage allowance will be paid.  It may be necessary to work some unsocial hours, for which time off in lieu can be taken under agreement with your line manager.

How to Apply

If you are interested in this post with the Brecknock Wildlife Trust and feel you meet the criteria listed in the Person Specification, then please complete an application form and return it by the deadline by:  Posting it to: Chris Jones, Brecknock Wildlife Trust, The Wellbeing Centre, 61-66 Pen y Bryn, Ystradgynlais, Swansea, SA9 1JB.Please mark your envelope with “Wild Communities Project Assistant ”.  Emailing it to: [email protected] please include “Wild Communities Project Assistant” as the subject heading.

Please note: CV’s will not be accepted; only applications on the BWT application form will be considered.

Deadline for applications is noon on Friday the 1st of December 2017, with interviews likely to be held on Thursday the 7th of December in Ystradgynlais.

The Brecknock Wildlife Trust does not discriminate on grounds of gender, race, disability, sexual orientation, religion or age. Appointments will be made subject to satisfactorily references and checks. Due to the expected large number of applicants, if you haven’t heard from us by the interview date, you can assume your application was unsuccessful on this occasion.

For more information on the Brecknock Wildlife Trust and its work, please visit our website: www.brecknockwildlifetrust.org.uk

For an informal chat about the post, please contact Chris Jones (Project Manager) at the Brecknock Wildlife Trust on telephone: 01639 844273 or email: [email protected]