Water Champion – Parishes and Communities

Are you a dynamic individual with a background in community engagement, looking for your next challenge? Do you have a passion for inspiring others about our water environment and wish to work for an ambitious local charity? This could be the role for you.

Purpose of the job:

Water Champions will help parishes and communities understand and cherish their riverscapes and take action to help protect them, building a community of change. Water Champions are part of the collaborative Downs to the Sea project. Made possible by support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Downs to the Sea brings together a partnership comprising the South Downs National Park Trust, South Downs National Park Authority, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Western Sussex Rivers Trust, Brighton and Hove City Council, and Writing Our Legacy.

Together the partnership will restore and protect ponds and wetlands across the South Downs, in the Arun Valley and at Pagham Harbour, which are some of the most special places in and around the South Downs National Park yet failing to reach their ecological potential. Through engagement activities, the project will reach more diverse audiences, promote health and wellbeing, and develop people’s skills and understanding of the landscape, especially the vital role that water plays in all our lives.

Principal Responsibilities:

• Design communications for parish councils to increase local understanding of the ecology and pressures facing our riverscapes, and how to protect them.
• Provide relevant local information to guide change, including assessing opportunities for projects and signposting to WSRT team members, partner organisations and other advisory organisations.
• Give presentations in person and online to raise awareness of ways to help our rivers.
• Work collaboratively with parish councils to deliver projects to improve our riverscapes, inspiring local action to improve water quality and river health and get more people out in green/blue spaces.
• With other team members attend community events and festivals and promote the Water Champions messages via street stalls.
• Work with our Comms teams on a variety of communications to spread the Water Champions message.
• Pursue ways to link with other elements of the Downs to the Sea project and programme of work.
• Prepare regular reports to the Downs to the Sea Project Board and for reporting outcomes to the NHLF.
• Perform administrative duties as required by the role.
• To carry out any other duties in line with the role as required by the WSRT Trust Manager and Downs to the Sea Project Board.
• To collaborate with other WSRT projects such as our River Guardians citizen science water quality testing programme for mutual benefit of each project.
• Be responsible for health and safety of yourself and others.

Benefits:

• You will be a member of a small, dynamic, passionate, and supportive team, joining WSRT at an exciting time of growth.
• 10% Recharge policy – WSRT team members are encouraged to take 10% of their working week for mental and physical recharge, getting out into the catchment to explore a new area, further their knowledge or enjoy a river-related activity.
• 25 days holiday, plus bank holidays (pro rata for part time staff) and Christmas to New Year shutdown.
• Flexible working.
• Employee assistance programme (counselling, specialist legal and financial support).
• Pension scheme (3% employee, 5% WSRT).

We can be flexible with working hours, but require a minimum of 22.5 hours per week and maximum of 30 hours per week. This is a fixed term contract to October 2027.

Want to know more?

We welcome informal discussions if you would like further information about this role or working for WSRT.