Project Assistant And Trainee

Going Wild in Bishop’s Castle
Project Assistant and Trainee
22.5 hours per week, fixed term contract from 1st July 2024 to 31st January 2027

Salary Scale: £22,308 per annum pro rata (£10,038.60 for 2024/25). This salary will increase by 5% at the start of each financial year.

Reporting: The post-holder is responsible to the Going Wild in Bishop’s Castle Project Co-ordinator.

What is Going Wild in Bishop’s Castle (Going Wild)?

Going Wild is a part of Lightfoot (see below) and was formed by members of the Bishop’s Castle community as a response to the climate and biodiversity crisis which we face. Going Wild is committed to improving the Shropshire town of Bishop’s Castle and its immediate environs for biodiversity and to bringing wildlife into the lives of those living in Bishop’s Castle and visiting the town.

Going Wild aims to enhance public green space, private gardens and nearby farmland, working closely with the Town Council, schools, local businesses, landowners to make all of these spaces richer in biodiversity. Going Wild aims to engage local people of all demographics in this endeavour and to increase the skills within the community to record and manage species and habitats.

What is Lightfoot?

Lightfoot is a not-for-profit organisation whose principal activity is to promote sustainable use of the Earth’s resources for the benefit of the public and the environment. An initiative of Bishop’s Castle-based Wasteless Society, Lightfoot Enterprises was incorporated in 2008 and became a registered charity in 2013. Lightfoot operates in the Welsh Marches, covering parts of Powys, Herefordshire and Shropshire. There are many local community initiatives that operate within this area and the organisation aims to share and spread ideas and good practice across the whole region, acting as a hub for environmentally-focused activity in Bishop’s Castle and beyond and a trusted partner for many cross-border organisations. Lightfoot supports local actions that increase knowledge and understanding of the Climate and Ecological Emergency that we all face, and are supported by a knowledgeable and experienced Board.

What is the Going Wild in Bishop’s Castle project?

Going Wild will build on the evidence of two years of voluntary work to increase the size, biodiversity and interconnectedness of the town’s green spaces; making them Bigger, Better, More and Joined Up, increasing engagement and empowering people to act for positive community-based environmental change.

Working on 33 sites, and actively managing up to 20, the project will engage the local community and encourage action, both at home and through organised activity. The project will create a ‘big vision’ allowing everyone to contribute, from a plant pot to a pond, focusing on the power of collective action to improve local green spaces and build community connections. 

The project will work across the community and across demographics to engage, extending project involvement beyond existing volunteer groups to encourage involvement from disengaged areas of the community and develop social prescribing potential. Community members will be empowered to contribute to the biodiversity of their green spaces and providing opportunities to get up close and personal with nature.

Going Wild will create a Biodiversity Toolkit to allow wider communities to benefit from the project with a template for action. This will demonstrate how this kind of activity can succeed and where to start. Town and Parish Councils do not know how to respond to the biodiversity and climate emergencies and this toolkit, coupled with talks and other training, will provide a practical starting point. 

Main Purpose of the post

Working directly for the Going Wild Project Co-ordinator, help to provide simple management plans for public spaces within Bishop’s Castle. Help to engage the community of Bishop’s Castle with nature through a series of events, articles and talks, using face-to-face and digital methods to reach as many people as possible. Help to run regular activities for volunteers which will include taster sessions, work parties, a children’s/young people’s wildlife club and a series of winter talks in the town hall. The post holder will help to plan, organise, manage and deliver this programme of activities and public facing events with a specific focus on nature-based volunteer involvement and participation.

Principal duties and responsibilities

The following duties are not our exhaustive list but are an indication of the responsibilities of the post-holder:

• Help to recruit, manage and train new groups of volunteers to undertake regular conservation tasks in and around Bishop’s Castle. Plan and deliver monthly conservation tasks, suitable for volunteers with a range of training and ability.
• Help to implement a system of training opportunities to ensure high quality work and valuable learning opportunities exist for volunteers. Budgets exist to pay for specialist input.
• Help to work with owners and managers of land to create simple management plans for minimum 20 of the previously identified 33 green spaces including a map, a monthly work plan and a three-year work plan.
• Help to recruit children and young people to join a Going Wild club and run regular activities, liaising with existing local clubs such as the scouting groups. Work closely with both schools to improve their grounds and engage pupils.
• Help to care for the project resources (protective clothing, tools and stocks of materials) and for ensuring they are maintained and replaced as appropriate.
• Help at community events in the area to promote the project and to recruit new volunteers. These will include events such as the Carnival and Michaelmas Fair and on occasion, town council meetings.
• Help to organise and deliver taster events to engage. Assist in the running of a series of winter talks in the town hall to be followed by summer activities outdoors.
• Help to plan and deliver a rolling programme of publicity and promotion across a range of media to encourage involvement with the project and to galvanise people to action in their own homes and gardens.
• Help to produce a Toolkit to enable other communities to undertake similar work, whilst this will be of interest to individuals and groups it will be particularly aimed at Town and Parish Councils needing to respond to the climate and biodiversity crises.
• Support work in partnership with other groups and organisations engaged in nature conservation and in increasing public wellness.
• Assisting with day to day project operations, gathering evaluation information, reporting to funders and preparing claims.
• With guidance from the Project Co-ordinator, ensure that all practical work is carried out adhering to Health & Safety procedures and be aware of responsibilities under the Lightfoot policy statements.
• Ensure volunteers and learners receive valuable experience and training plus enjoyment and a sense of achievement

General

• Keep records of work undertaken and log time using the GWinBC timesheet.
• Carry out any other reasonable duties to perform job role.
• Assist with activities involving staff in general such as AGM and open days.

Training and Development

Going Wild and Lightfoot are committed to a strategy for the training and development of its staff. The responsibility for training and development is shared between individual members of staff and the organisation. Each member will receive induction training to provide basic knowledge of his or her job and the organisation. Continuing training will also be offered in the form of in-house training or attendance at external courses for skills and personal development as individual needs are identified.

Training for the successful applicant will include:

• Practical conservation skills such as scything and other tool use and care.
• Species and habitat identification and habitat management.
• Ecological planning and running conservation tasks.
• First aid, risk assessment and running events for children and young people.

Application deadline: 10am Monday 20th May

Interviews will take place in Bishop’s Castle on Tuesday 4th and Thursday 6th June 2024 and if short-listed you will hear from us by 24th May.