Gardener - Haven House Children's Hospice

The hospice is set in a 24 acre estate, of which 4 acres are gardens. The grounds are taken care of by a small number of volunteers and they form a fundamental part of the hospice facilities that our children and families can enjoy.

Main tasks and responsibilities

• As a gardener for Haven House, your role will be to assist in all aspects of gardening including weeding, planting bulbs, herbaceous plants, and shrubs; pruning; edging lawns; watering plants and hanging baskets; digging/forking over soil and adding compost as required; sweeping up and general tidying, including the paved areas, driveway and car parks.
• Tools and equipment are to be cleaned as necessary and returned to their designated area when tasks are completed or at the end of the day.
• Volunteers will not be asked to use power tools unless specifically qualified and authorised to do so. Volunteers will be asked to dispose of garden waste appropriately in the designated areas and to bring any construction / maintenance issues to the attention of the Facilities Manager.
• From time to time, volunteers may be asked to assist the Maintenance Team with tasks where extra pairs of hands are needed, such as, receiving deliveries, laying paths etc. and to work alongside some of the corporate teams that garden for us on one-off days.

Benefits for volunteer

• Mixing with other volunteers.
• To volunteer doing something they enjoy on a personal level.

What skills do I need?

Skills, attributes, experience and qualifications

• No specific skills or qualifications are needed; an interest in gardening and working outside would be helpful. You need to be able to use initiative, and take direction as part of a garden team. 

• The average length of recruitment is one to two months. This very much depends on when the volunteer is available to come in for an  informal interview and also how quickly we receive references and/or any other checks we need to carry out.
• Need to be 18+

Haven House is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all volunteers to share this commitment.

All volunteers have a duty for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults. Volunteers should be aware of the Haven House procedure for raising concerns about the welfare of anyone with whom they have contact. 

When do I need to be available?

	Morning	Afternoon	Evening
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday

Details

The core time for the garden to be taken care of is between the months of March - October, although there may be some opportunities outside of this. As volunteer gardeners will need to work alongside staff members. There is no minimum commitment period.

Where does this role take place?