Experienced food grower needed for St Raphael's Edible Garden Project

www.sufra-nwlondon.org.uk

Registered Charity No. 1151911

Growing Tutor

St. Raphael’s Edible Garden

Salary: £15/hour (negotiable)

Hours: Tuesday & Saturday Mornings (8 hours/week)

Responsible to: Director

Location: Stonebridge, London Borough of Brent

Are you passionate about growing your own vegetables?

Then this job is for YOU.

Sufra NW London is a local charity, which aims to confront the causes and effects of poverty in the local community. Our service revolves around the food bank, which collects and distributes 26 tonnes of donated food annually, supporting over 3,000 people each year.

The charity is soon to launch St. Raphael’s Edible Garden, a new food growing project on St. Raphael’s Estate. The charity has recently acquired a derelict site measuring over 500 square metres, which is currently being transformed into a communal growing facility for local residents.

In preparation for the launch of the project, we are looking to recruit an experienced gardener/food grower to lead the project and oversee a community growing club. The successful candidate will need to be able to inspire others and deliver both informal and structured training in horticulture.

For further information or to apply for this role, please submit a CV, Covering Letter (no more than 2 sides) and Equal Opportunities Form by email to admin@sufra-nwlondon.org.uk. The deadline for applications is Friday 28 August 2015.

The Edible Food Garden Site that awaits development

Job Description

Role

To oversee the development of St. Raphael’s Edible Garden, facilitate all growing activities and deliver informal and structured training in horticultural to local residents and beneficiaries of the project, including children, vulnerable adults and the disabled.

Main Duties & Responsibilities

·      Preparing a seasonal growing plan, in collaboration with local residents and volunteers;

·      Overseeing the delivery of two weekly growing clubs on Tuesday and Saturday mornings;

·      Engaging a wide range of regular and one-off volunteers, including school children, vulnerable adults, older people, faith groups and corporate/public-sector teams;

·      Delivering informal and accredited training in food growing and horticulture;

·      Undertaking inventories of tools, equipment and planting materials, and subsequent procurement of new supplies in a cost-efficient manner;

·      Maintaining existing growing infrastructure and developing new growing facilities in accordance with the overall vision of the site;

·      Supporting marketing, outreach and PR activities;

·      Compiling monitoring data relating to the project and project users, as required by funders;

·      Assisting in the general maintenance and cleanliness of the site.

Additional Duties

·      Undertaking any other reasonable duties to support the development of the project;

·      Working in collaboration with the Charity’s wider projects and in accordance with its ethos and values.

Person Specification

E = Essential / D = Desirable

A = Application / I = Interview / T = Test

Competency	Specification	E	D	A	I	T
Education	Relevant qualification in gardening or horticultural		ü	ü
Experience	Developing/Managing food growing projects	ü		ü	ü
	Tutoring, coaching and mentoring	ü		ü	ü
	Facilitating structured learning programmes		ü	ü	ü
	Working with vulnerable people	ü		ü	ü
	Organising projects, activities/events		ü	ü	ü
Knowledge	Landscaping or garden design		ü	ü	ü
	Food growing, composting and harvesting produce	ü		ü	ü
	Building raised beds and growing infrastructure	ü		ü	ü
Skills & Abilities	Good communication skills, both written and oral	ü		ü	ü
	Ability to work with others professionally	ü		ü	ü
	IT Literate (Microsoft Office)	ü		ü
	Heavy lifting		ü	ü
Attitude	Honest and trustworthy	ü		ü	ü
	Positive and hard-working	ü		ü	ü
	Commitment to the values of Sufra NW London	ü		ü	ü

The post is subject to a probationary period of 3 months.

Wembley and Kingsbury road closures on Sunday September 13th for 'Run to the Beat'

A number of residents were caught unawares by road closures for the Run to The Beat event in Wembley and Kingsbury last year. The event combines a 10k run with various music stages along the route It takes place this year on Sunday September 13th. Sunday traffic is often high in Brent on Sundays due to families visiting each other

I have posted an information PDF in the side panel.

Cabinet approves expansion of Uxendon Manor and Elsley Primary Schools

I was unable to attend the Brent Cabinet Meeting this afternoon as I was travellig back from a long weekend in Bristol. This is the Brent Council website statement on the decisions taken (unfortunately they got the spelling of Elsley wrong!):

Plans to expand two schools in Brent were given the green light at a meeting of Brent Council's cabinet this afternoon (24 August 2015).

Uxendon Manor and Elsey primary schools will be expanded to accept an additional two forms. Uxendon Manor will expand from September 2015 whilst Elsey will begin accepting additional places from September 2016.

The Cabinet also agreed to buy 35 new homes using around £2million of income generated from the Government's Right to Buy scheme. It was decided that the council should seek a partner to build 200 new, affordable homes with the remaining money generated from the scheme.

Councillor Muhammed Butt, leader of Brent Council, said: "We have today taken some key decisions in-line with our borough plan priorities which are based on what local people told us matter most to them.

"We have approved the expansion of two local schools to meet the increased demand for primary school places.

"We have approved the purchase of 35 new homes and we will build around 200 new homes to ensure local people have somewhere affordable to live."

Exclusive preview: Lycée International de Londres - Winston Churchill, in Wembley

500 students will be starting at the Lycée International de Londres - Winston Churchill on Thursday September 3rd. The private fee paying Lycée will operate in the old Brent (formerly Wembley) Town Hall.

I was given a preview of the refurbished building as well as the newly built block last week,.

As the Town Hall is a Grade 2 listed building refurbishment had to take place under strict conditions and I was interested in how the unique features designed by architect Clifford Strange had been preserved.

Acoustic ceilings have been installed in many of the rooms with lighting in sympathy with the original period of the building. The Paul Daisley Hall is now an assembly/sports hall with multi-use games area markings painted on the floor.

The original wood panelling is protected from damage  by a series of boards and the stage can be separated  from the hall by a partition to create a drama area.

The former Council Chamber has a state of the art video wall installed that will enable it to be used for international conferencing. The public gallery will enable parents and visitors to watch proceedings in the hall without disturbing the students.

The glass engraving at the entrance to the Council Chamber has been retained.

The parquet flooring in the old Committee Rooms has been restored and the rooms will retain a variety of uses, including formal examinations.

The Mayor's Parlour is now the Headteacher's Office and restoration has extended to the wooden desk and fire place. The electric fire remains in position in the fire place.

For me the most impressive room was the old Town Hall Library. Cleaned up and repainted, but empty of furniture, the room was full of light and the proportions beautiful.

The staircases and banisters remain as they were with some changes in the corridors to enable access for disabled pupils.

Some of the roof areas are accessible from the rooms and one roof garden has been carefully landscaped, albeit with astroturf.

A huge kitchen has been installed with a dining hall for pupils that overlooks landscaped gardens. There are expected to be three sittings for lunch eventually, each lasting 25 minutes, and children will have the choice of a French, international or vegetarian dish. Lunches are included in the school fees.

There are comfortable common rooms for middle and senior pupils which will be equipped with games as well as social seating areas. There will be student coucnls for both lower and upper secondary pupils.

The new block houses technology based subjects with Art, Science, Design Technology and IT rooms furnished and equipped to a high standard.

Outside there is a primary playground with a landscaped area shaded by the huge willow that can be seen from The Paddocks and three different MUGAs.

A unique feature is the running track due to be marked out along the frontage of the building between King's Drive and the Paddocks.

The school aims to be paperless with staff and pupils all having ipads. Secondary pupils will have an ipad each and there will be one between two at the primary level.

Photovoltaic panels have been installed on the roof and the school travel plan will encourage secondary pupils to travel to school by public transport. Pupils have been instructed to walk to school from Wembley Park station along the west side of Bridge Road, crossing at the junction with Forty Lane, and then proceeding right to the school across Barn Hill and King's Drive.

I was told the Lycée wants to cooperate with local schools in Wembley and does not see itself in competition with them. When the Autumn term is underway they will explore potential links with the community including evening classes.

My overwhelming feeling was one of regret that the same degree of care and investment in quality in this private school is not available for our new state schools. The Lycée will inherit a sense of history, permanence and continuity too often missing from our  'warehouse' schools.

And perhaps also missing from our new Civic Centre.

School website (English version)