About FareShare South West

FareShare South West (FSSW) is the region’s biggest food and environment charity. With warehouses in Plymouth and Bristol, we join the dots between food waste and hunger.

We rescue good, surplus food from farmers, retailers, and other food companies, and deliver it to charities, food banks and schools across the South West. Once there, it’s made into food parcels and used to produce healthy, delicious meals for people that are struggling to get by. We’re a lifeline for tens of thousands of people in our region.

We do this with help from our volunteers who give their time for free to sort food in our warehouses and deliver it to charities. In return, we work with volunteers to provide them with a supported, meaningful experience that meets their needs, whether through our main volunteering programme or via FareChance, our youth-led employability programme.

During 2021, FSSW piloted our first employability programme to enhance and expand our support to the community. The FareChance programme runs from our Bedminster warehouse, Vale Lane, which we aim to become the first co-designed operation in the FareShare network with a steering board of young people to guide development.

 

Purpose of the post:

The purpose of the Employability Programme Lead role is to deliver and develop FSSW’s FareChance programme. The FareChance programme works with young people, predominantly aged between 18 – 25, to learn new skills, build confidence and realise their full potential. This is delivered through two parts of the programme; the first is steeped in all aspects of our food delivery logistics operation. Young people learn skills and gain qualifications which are transferable to a number of desirable industries. The second stage for the FareChance participants is the opportunity for a paid traineeship. Alongside the vital warehousing work, this gives a young person ownership of a project to manage, within a chosen area of interest, such as marketing, fundraising, communications, logistics etc.

The Employability Programme Lead’s primary role is to coach as well as coordinate the programme whilst supporting the growth of an innovative, supportive, and caring employability pathway for people to overcome barriers and move closer to the labour market.

The successful candidate will be passionate about supporting people to thrive and sensitive to the inequality and power imbalance faced by young people today. They will have experience of supporting young people to find their next step and can bring these skills to co-design, co-deliver, and co-evaluate FareChance. They will understand the benefits of taking a holistic approach to support and identify when working with partner organisations is needed. This role would suit someone who has lived experience of barriers young people face in realising their potential, although this is not essential.

This aim is for the successful candidate to develop this role across the organisation and has the opportunity for significant personal progression.

 

Duties and Responsibilities:

Programme Delivery

· Lead the delivery of the FareChance Programme on site with the Vale Lane warehouse team, working flexibly to ensure success.

· Provide tailored motivational coaching/mentoring to:

• Onboard and engage participants throughout.

• Set up and monitor an action plan for each participant with realistic goals to overcome barriers they face.

• Provide advice and guidance, build confidence and support them with suitable interventions and accessing resources (including CV, job interview techniques) into training/volunteering/work placements and work as appropriate.

• Identify project management opportunities and build plans with relevant staff in the wider team.

· Work with the Youth Steering group to design, deliver and evaluate the programmes.

· Support the Employability Development Manager to recruit for and tailor the programme to meet the needs of all our participants.

· Take a lead on developing and preparing programme resources.

· Build a network of signposting for participants across the programme including local businesses and apprenticeship opportunities.

· Identify specific needs and risks, liaising with senior colleagues, create and maintain risk assessments with individuals to ensure safety in the workplace.

· Alongside the Employability Development Manager, support the development of the strategy for future programmes.

 

External partnerships and relationship building

· Work closely with referral agencies for the participants throughout the programme.

· Liaise with and provide feedback to training bodies.

· Where appropriate, work closely with the individual and liaise with future work or training prospects.

· Alongside the Employability Development Manager, develop future partnerships with referral agencies and training bodies.

 

Reporting and Administration

· Create records and maintain processes in line with FSSW policies and procedures, both using on-line data bases and hard copy record systems.

· Maintain quality records of all interventions with project participants, ensuring the data collected supports funding claims and that such data is stored within the requirements of the Data Protection Act.

· Deliver programme data and, in conjunction with the Employability and Volunteer Development Manager, analyse and feed into future programmes.

 

General

· Respond to any enquiries/communications via telephone, email, in person or via inhouse IT/systems.

· Be an excellent ambassador for FSSW.

· Undertake administrative duties as required to support the effective functioning of the Charity.

· Work within FareShare South West’s, policies and procedures and adhere to legal frameworks.

 

Person Specification

Essential Criteria

· Knowledge and experience of delivering 1:1 motivational mentoring/coaching.

· Experience of working with a diverse range of young people

· Experience of working successfully within groups/teams

· Project management experience

· Successful experience of supporting people back into work or training

· Excellent interpersonal and listening skills.

· Good verbal and written communication skills

· Good IT skills

· Ability to set up and maintain good records for monitoring and evaluating purposes.

· Strong organisational skills including planning, prioritising and time management.

· Commitment to advancing equality and diversity.

· Ability to work flexibly, respond positively to project changes and meet challenging targets.

· Influencing, motivational and negotiating skills

· Understanding of safeguarding

 

Desirable

· Mentoring or coaching qualification

· Experience of building a programme

· Experience of working independently and using your own initiative.

· Experience of responding appropriately to challenging behaviours