Community building facilities assistant jobs

The Hainault Forest Visitor Centre Assistant is an integral part of the team delivering a welcoming and memorable experience for visitors to Hainault Forest. Working in the Woodland Trust’s visitor centre, the role will assist with retail operations, provide excellent customer service, support various visitor engagement activities, and promote ways that visitors can support our cause - including Woodland Trust membership. This role contributes to enhancing the visitor experience while supporting the Woodland Trust’s mission. Our work at Hainault Forest is delivered in partnership with London Borough of Redbridge and Vision RCL.

The Role:

• Provide a warm, welcoming experience for visitors by sharing information about the forest, facilities, activities, and key site features, and responding to general enquiries.
• Promote the Trust’s membership offer and actively encourage sign-ups as part of the visitor experience.
• Support the delivery of events such as local walks workshops, often with children on an occasional basis.
• Work as part of the Visitor Centre team to manage building operations, including opening and closing procedures, upkeep of shared spaces, and handling financial transactions and cashing up.
• Deliver high-quality retail service, including operating the till efficiently, maintaining the retail area to a high standard, restocking and rotating stock, and ensuring strong visual merchandising.
• Contribute to retail performance by supporting stock selection and stock level decisions, monitoring sales, and helping to develop the retail offer to maximise income generation at the forest.
• Provide occasional support with social media by creating content and posting on relevant platforms to help promote the site and its activities.
• Work collaboratively with colleagues, volunteers, and external partners, while following all health and safety procedures and adhering to data protection regulations when handling personal information
• This role will be based in the Hainault Forest Visitor Centre. You would be expected to live locally or within a reasonable travelling distance.

The Candidate:

• Experience working in a retail and/or customer-facing environment, with knowledge of point-of-sale (POS) systems, visual merchandising and stock management processes.
• Ability to manage your own time effectively within agreed working hours, balancing multiple tasks and priorities.
• Comfortable working independently using your own initiative, while also being a reliable and collaborative team member.
• Strong communication skills, able to engage confidently and appropriately with a range of audiences including children and young people.
• A basic understanding of health and safety practices relevant to public-facing environments.
• Confident using MS Office applications, including Word, Excel, Teams, and Outlook.
• A welcoming, organised, reliable, and passionate approach, with a genuine enthusiasm for nature and a desire to connect people with Hainault Forest and the Woodland Trust’s mission.
• Willingness to learn about Hainault Forest and the Woodland Trust, and subject to pre-employment checks including right-to-work, references and an enhanced DBS check.
• The successful candidate will be required to be over the age of 18 and required to undertake an Enhanced Background Check, as part of our pre-employment screening.

Benefits and Wellbeing:

Joining our team means you’ll be a big part of tackling environmental and climate issues. We take good care of our staff, offering support and training opportunities. We also offer:

• Enhanced Employer Pension
• Life Assurance
• Flexible & Hybrid Working Options
• Generous Annual Leave - 25 Days Plus Bank Holidays (pro rata’d for part-time)
• Buy and Sell Holiday Scheme
• Enhanced Parental Pay
• Employee Assistance Programme

About Us:

The Woodland Trust is the UK’s largest woodland conservation charity.  We want to see a world where trees and woods thrive for people and nature. The Trust engages and inspires people to make their difference tackling the nature and climate crisis helping protect, restore and create our vital woods and trees.

Our Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion:

To achieve our vision of a world where woods and trees thrive for people and nature, we need to better reflect society and the communities we work in. All people, no matter their background, identity, ability, or circumstance, should benefit from trees.

People of colour and disabled people are currently under-represented across the environment and conservation sector. If you identify as a person of colour and/or disabled, we particularly encourage you to apply.

Please contact us to discuss any additional support or adjustments you may need to complete your application.

Application Advice:

For fairness we keep our candidates’ personal details hidden from the hiring managers, and CVs are redacted until after shortlisting is complete. Make sure that your Personal Statement clearly shows how your skills and knowledge link to the specifications in the job description and you share with us your passion for the role. Even if you don't meet every requirement of the role, we would encourage you to apply.

Acceptable Use - Artificial Intelligence (AI):

We understand that candidates may choose to use AI tools to support their job applications-for example, to help structure or edit written responses. We welcome the use of AI in this way, particularly where it helps improve accessibility, such as for neurodivergent applicants. However, we ask that any information submitted reflects your own experience, skills and understanding. During interviews, candidates are expected to respond independently without the use of AI tools. 

Apply Now:

If you're ready to make a difference and grow with us, send in your application today. We might close the job opening early if we get a lot of applications, so it's a good idea to apply soon. If we do close the advert early, and you have an application in process, we will email you prior to closing to give you time to complete.

Interviews will take place at the Hainault Forest Visitor Centre.

The Sheppard Trust provides homes for older women in housing need, and we support them to live independently.  We reduce loneliness and isolation by fostering a supportive community spirit.   

We're about to move to brand-new, purpose built accommodation near Hampton Court village in Surrey, with 60 one bedroomed flats and a range of communal facilities.  Our residents will live independently in their homes, with assistance to access the appropriate support services to maintain independence.We want them to live full and active lives in an inclusive, thriving community which is well regarded in our local community.

We're a small friendly team who care deeply about getting this project off to an excellent start and achieving our aims.  We operate with these values:  respectful, inclusive, conscientious, compassionate, honest.

We’re looking for someone proactive and flexible to help us for the first six months, as we set up the building, set up our new systems, and move everyone in.  This will be a really varied role where no two days are the same, and will be a mixture of administration and practical tasks.  You could be getting our staff kitchen set up, preparing the paperwork for a new resident, helping someone set up their heating controls or utility accounts, setting up and updating databases, answering queries at reception, logging maintenance tasks or helping with an event.

You might well have some housing experience already, or have worked with older people, but we also value transferrable skills, lived values and the ability to learn quickly.

An enhanced DBS check will be required.  This will be a fixed term contract from mid-July 2026 for six months.  We are open to offering this role on either a full time basis or an alternative working pattern of at least 25 hours per week.

You’ll bring:

· Confidence in organising and prioritising a varied workload

· Good administrative skills and ability to create and keep accurate records

· A proactive, flexible “can do” approach and the ability to “hit the ground running”

· Good communication skills with a wide range of people.

· a strong commitment to safeguarding and to respecting diversity and inclusion. 

We can offer:

· a salary of £26,000 - 28,000 per annum pro rata

· membership of the Social Housing Pension Scheme (defined contribution)

· a friendly and supportive working environment with strong values, good staff facilities (and free tea and coffee)

· lots of variety and a range of experience

· the opportunity to be part of setting up something brand new from the very start.

For more information please see the full job description and person specification attached.

Airplay is a national youth work programme delivered on behalf of the RAF Benevolent Fund (RAFBF). It provides engaging, supportive, and fun opportunities for children and young people from RAF families.

The programme includes: Airplay Youth Clubs for ages 8–18, Ben Clubs for children aged 5–7 & Airplay Connect, a digital platform supporting young people across the RAF community.

Delivered by OneYMCA through a partnership of eight YMCAs and in collaboration with the RAF People and Families team, Airplay supports young people who may face unique challenges, including frequent relocations. The programme offers consistency, a safe space, and access to high-quality activities and facilities.

Your Role: This is a Lead Youth Worker Role - the job description says "Assistant Station Youth Worker" - Reporting to the Senior Station Youth Worker at RAF Brize Norton, you will support the delivery and coordination of a wide range of outreach and centre-based youth work activities for young people aged 5–18, in line with the Airplay Handbook.

The role will involve delivering evening sessions, occasional weekend work, and daytime activities during school holidays

Key Responsibilities:

• Plan and deliver engaging activities for young people aged 5–18 in line with programme strategy and principles.
• Deliver and sustain a diverse programme of outreach and centre-based youth work
• Work collaboratively with YMCA colleagues, RAF personnel, and external partners to support young people effectively
• Maintain accurate records to support monitoring, evaluation, and reporting of outcomes
• Contribute to achieving Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and service objectives
• Support sessional staff, volunteers, and casual youth workers to ensure a high-quality, engaging service

Essential Criteria

• Experience working with children and young people from diverse backgrounds
• Full driving licence and access to a vehicle
• Flexible, adaptable approach to engaging young people with varying needs
• Enthusiasm for youth work, with the ability to act as a positive role model
• Ability to work independently, using initiative and problem-solving skills
• Strong verbal and written communication skills
• Team player with the ability to collaborate effectively with internal and external partners
• Good IT and numeracy skills, including Microsoft Office and willingness to learn new systems
• Desirable - Level 3 qualification in Youth Work or a relevant transferable qualification
• Experience in outreach work to engage young people in programmes or services
• Child Protection/Safeguarding Level 2 (or equivalent)

Further information is available in the full Job Description!

Please note that we are unable to offer visa sponsorship and can only accept applications from individuals who already have the right to work in the UK.

As some roles involve working with vulnerable people, a Basic or Enhanced DBS check may be required following a conditional job offer.

We welcome applications from all suitably qualified candidates. If you have applied for a similar role within the last 6 months and were unsuccessful, please consider whether your experience has significantly developed before reapplying.

One YMCA is committed to providing reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process. Please let us know in advance if you require any adjustments to support your application.

We are an inclusive organisation that promotes equality of opportunity for all. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and are committed to building a diverse workforce with a wide range of skills, experiences, and abilities

This is a  Part Time role.
Hours per week: 21
Working Pattern: The role will involve delivering evening sessions, occasional weekend work, and daytime activities during school holidays

Interviews on June 23rd