Food Discovery Coordinator – Birmingham

Food Discovery Coordinator – Birmingham 

We are searching for an inspiring child-led educator with a good knowledge of food, farming and
the environment, as well as schools and communities. 

Key details: 

• Location: Home-based, to work with 1-2 schools in Birmingham and with farms in the surrounding
  area.
• Part-time freelance contract – Approximately 38.25-60 days over the academic year (approx 1-1.5
  days per week in term time) plus agreed paid time for induction, training and meetings.
• Freedom to set your own working days.
• £164 a day, plus mileage (45p a mile).

This role is subject to successful fundraising – we are awaiting the outcome of pending
applications which we expect to know during the recruitment period. 

About The Country Trust 

As a nation we’ve lost our connection with the land that sustains us all, with big and urgent
ramifications for health, sustainability and equality. The Country Trust is changing this
through high quality food, farming and countryside experiences that empower children in the
most disadvantaged communities across the UK. For 45 years, we’ve worked with farmers to bring
the countryside alive for over 600,000 children least able to access it. Our impactful
programmes include the Food Discovery Programme teaching cooking and growing skills,
Countryside Discovery Residentials, farm visits, and campaigns like Farm in a Box and Plant
Your Pants. 

About the Role 

We are seeking a
self-motivated, inspiring Coordinator to join our nationwide Food Discovery team. In this role,
you will share your passion for cooking, growing, and the countryside to empower children in
building confidence, making healthy choices, and developing a connection to their food. As a
child-led educator, you will organise and lead safe, engaging cooking, gardening sessions, and
farm visits for primary school children. You will have the flexibility to plan your workload
independently with support from a remote manager. Responsibilities include storing and
transporting provided equipment, recruiting farmers/producers to share expertise, and
undergoing training in areas like health/safety and food hygiene. The ideal candidate has
experience with primary education, strong knowledge of schools/communities, and the ability to
inspire teachers to incorporate outdoor learning.

About You 

We want to be as open and flexible as possible to the range of skills people could bring to
these roles. There are some skills and attributes that we know every Coordinator needs in order
to thrive in the role:

• Able to work in the UK. 
• Living in within an hour of Food Discovery schools.
• Experience of working with primary age children and teachers. 
• Experience of delivering cooking and/or gardening sessions to children. 
• Awareness of best practice in health and safety, risk assessment and safeguarding, although
  training will be provided. 
• Familiar with educational organisation (eg key stages) and the national curriculum, able to
  discuss learning objectives and learning resources with teaching staff. 
• Knowledge of, and more importantly, infectious enthusiasm for food, farming and the
  countryside. 
• IT Proficiency: a working knowledge of MS Office (Outlook, Word, Excel), cloud-based
  systems and social media, confident to adapt to new systems. 
• Demonstrable passion for hands on learning and able to tell and show us how you
  successfully take children on a learning journey.
• Able to articulate and demonstrate understanding of the barriers to accessing food, farming
  and countryside experiences faced by the children we work with.
• Excellent communication skills enabling you to build productive relationships with a range
  of people. 
• Self-aware and self-motivated, with the resilience to work independently as part of a
  remote team. 
• Able to deliver administrative aspects of role with attention to detail and within agreed
  timeframes. 
• Sharing in our vision and core values 

Safeguarding

The Country Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young
people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. This is to be achieved
through effective recruitment and retention of competent, motivated staff members who are
suited to, and able to deliver their roles. All eligible post holders are subject to a
satisfactory enhanced check with the Disclosure and Barring Service and regular training is
mandatory.

Enquiries: [email protected]

Closing date: 24 June at midday 

Provisional interview date: 11 July 

Candidates will be expected to plan and lead a short in person activity based around food and
farming with a group of children as part of their interview. 

Start Date: References, DBS and online training during June/July. Delivery from September
2024. 

Shortlisted applicants will be contacted by telephone and email.