Kitchen Assistant Volunteer Roles

Do you have a passion for cooking and enjoy spending time in the kitchen? We are looking for volunteers to support our service in Folkstone Haven to prepare and serve food.

You will be giving back to your community by assisting our staff from preparing the kitchen, cooking hot food recipes, chopping vegetables, dishing up food and serving people who use our services!

What you will be doing

• Support the staff to manage budgets and purchase ingredients alongside the people who use our services
• Support the staff in the kitchen with food and meal preparation
• Support the staff with maintaining hygiene food standard levels in the kitchen
• Serving food to our Service Users.

The skills you need

• Food Safety Certificate/knowledge or willingness to complete relevant training
• Knowledge regarding cooking, food hygiene and allergies
• Ability to provide a supportive, and inclusive atmosphere.
• Calm and patient approach

What's in it for you

• Supporting You - You will have a dedicated volunteer supervisor to support you in your role; Quarterly volunteer forums with the central Volunteering team and volunteers across Hestia; References for job applications
• Developing You - You will gain knowledge and insight into issues that impact Domestic Abuse, Modern Slavery and Mental Health; You will have access to our extensive Learning and Development Programme; 40% of our departed volunteers secured a paid role at Hestia last year!
• Valuing You - We hold annual Volunteer Awards and Celebration events; We reimburse travel expenses and up to £5 for lunch for your volunteering; We hold social events and outings for our volunteers to get together and have some fun

We are looking for a volunteer to help the kitchen catering team provide tasty meals and snacks for patients, relatives, staff and other volunteers in the hospice wards and cafeteria.

Your role will include some of, but is not restricted to, the following tasks:\

• Wash dishes and keep kitchen areas clean
• Clean dining room tables and restock cutlery and crockery
• Simple food preparation after basic training
• Carry out all kitchen tasks in line with health and safety regulations 
• Help with other related tasks when necessary

Volunteering position available for Mind’s Community Day on a Wednesday in Yeovil. 

Applicant would assist as part of a team with the smooth running of arts and craft activities. 

Personal Skills and Qualities that will be beneficial: 

• Creativity 

• Humour 

• Willingness to help 

• Positive attitude 

• Compassion 

• Lived experience

• Works well as part of a team 

Tasks and Responsibilities: 

• Providing support to service users who have different capabilities to complete creative activities. 

• Collaborating with the team of volunteers to generate ideas for upcoming arts and craft activities. 

• General tiding, organisation and upkeep of both the community area and kitchen. 

Qualities and Skills gained or improved upon through volunteering for Mind Community Day: 

• Teamwork 

• Creative Skills 

• Time Management 

• Problem Solving 

• Organisation 

• Interpersonal Skills 

Amazing, giving, inspiring and awesome are just a few of the words we would use to describe our volunteers.

Our volunteers play an integral part in the services we provide and the people we support. If you are looking for a rewarding role where you will really make a difference whilst gaining experience along the way, then join us here at Rethink Mental Illness.

About the role

We are looking for Volunteer Café Assistants to support our John Hall Wellness Gardens in Leek. You will be based at our new Cafe operation and, ideally, you will be able to commit 4 hours per week to volunteering.

You will receive training and regular supervision to ensure you feel confident in your role. 

About the service

John Hall Gardens is a Community Education Garden & Café green space for the community of Leek, local schools, colleges, and social enterprises. With the aim of enabling the local community to work/learn and socialise with people with mental and physical health support needs. This includes adults of all ages and children and young people.

Assisting the Café Supervisor and your fellow volunteers, you will play an integral part of John Hall Wellness Garden’s future, by helping to deliver a café experience for the general public, Friends of the Garden, and guests.  If you think you can make a difference and commit some time on a regular on-going basis, we would love to hear from you!   This is a real opportunity to develop your current existing skills, learn new skills and network with other volunteers. We welcome anyone wishing to gain experience or have an interest in going into the hospitality sector.

What you will be doing as a Volunteer Café​ Assistant

You will have the opportunity to assist with food preparation, presentation, cleaning and serving/selling high quality food and beverages.

Under the guidance of the Café Supervisor, you, together with other volunteers will ensure that the Café is compliant with all relevant health and safety legislation and pursuing an outstanding performance and food hygiene rating.

In addition, there will be further opportunities to support activity groups in the café, special events and input into event and menu planning.

The main tasks volunteer café assistants will support with are:

• Support Café staff, other volunteers and trainees in the smooth day to day running of the Café.
• Carry out basic catering tasks including food preparation, cleaning and serving food to customers.
• Operate the coffee machine (full training will be provided).
• Handle cash or card transactions and operate the till.
• Work with the Café Supervisor to ensure relevant paperwork is completed and checks are carried out ensuring compliance against relevant food safety and health and safety policies and procedures.
• Ensure kitchen area and Café are clean and tidy (including equipment, walls, floors, tables, work surfaces), and waste is discarded safely.
• Provide good customer service, dealing with visitors and customers in a friendly and polite manner.

What will make you a great fit for this role?

• Eagerness to learn and train in all aspects of the café catering operation
• Cheerful nature, good interpersonal skills, can communicate confidently with a range of people of all ages
• Good customer care service skills

Although this is not essential - you may also have:

• Basic food safety knowledge or HACCP. Further training, will be provided including allergens
• Experience in food handling and basic preparation of foods

Who are we?

We’re Rethink Mental Illness, a leading charity provider of mental health services in England. We support thousands of people through our groups, services, policy, campaigns and advice and information. Our work supports us in delivering on our mission: “A better life for everyone severely affected by mental illness.”

A charity  based in  Croydon, Surrey, London, UK is looking for volunteer Charity Team Assistants; to volunteer 30 unpaid hours per week. The Charity serves a multi ethnic community especially people from Black and ethnic minority backgrounds. 

Responsibilities:

• To assist GNDFuk's permanent instructors in finding and providing creative forms of engagement for both our youth and adult programmes.
• To assist in project and schedule planning including setting and clearing up 30 minutes before and after projects and events
• To assist in ensuring that activities are executed safely
• To assist in coordinating events and activities to encourage the objectives of GNDFuk
• To assist in the delivery of events (ours and those we are invited to), projects and our yearly summer community event.
• To assist in the daily collection and drop off of Greggs after day produce to various soup kitchens
• To assist in promotion of organisations services. eg flyer distribution, school workshops, etc.
• To assist in the delivery of essential services 

Person Specification:

• Someone enthusiastic and creative who is committed to working towards the achievements of the charities objectives.
• Basic African Traditional Knowledege is preferable however not essential.
• Experience is desirable.

This is a non-paid one year temporary position however accommodation and maintenance will be provided.

All interested candidates are required to send us a letter of application, a resume, and contact to the email provided. If your application is accepted, you will be invited for a telephone interview. Any applications received after the closing date will not be considered unless we have been unable to find a suitable candidate for this vacancy.

Successful candidates will require a DBS/POLICE check and references prior to commencement.

Whether you’re a jobseeker interested in a career in construction or woodwork, a student or recent college graduate seeking experience, or just someone with spare time on your hands, wanting to do something positive and meet new people, volunteering with the Touch Wood project at EMERGE 3Rs may be just the ticket!

Touch Wood is a wood recycling and upcycling initiative, which collects surplus and waste wood and timber and gives it a new lease of life.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

* Preparing wood for resale

* Assisting with the construction of wooden products, from small household items to pieces of furniture

Our Touch Wood volunteers are able to gain skills in practical woodworking, as we offer hands-on experience of working with reclaimed timber; from making basic lumber products ready for resale, through to assisting with the creation of bespoke items, such as kitchen equipment and home and garden furniture.

Full training in woodworking and health and safety is provided, along with Personal Protection Equipment.

The UK generates around 5 million tonnes of wood waste every year, but less than 1% is reused. Touch Wood rescues waste timber that would otherwise be landfilled or turned into woodchip; creating jobs and training opportunities for disadvantaged local people at the same time. We collect from construction sites, industrial estates and other commercial sources, reclaiming everything from pallets to indoor cycle tracks – you name it, we take it! Anything we can’t reuse is locally recycled, so nothing goes to waste.  This reduces the carbon emissions associated with disposing of waste wood, offers cost savings for DIY enthusiasts, and provides training and job potential to volunteers in the workshop. Some of the timber we work with comes from high profile sources, including the entire track of the Manchester Velodrome cycling centre and wood removed in the recent refurbishment of Manchester’s historic Town Hall!

Our skilled team of staff and volunteers often use reclaimed timber to create beautiful and practical products, such as home and garden furniture. We regularly create bespoke pieces to order; some of it for famous clients like Olympic cycling champions Jason and Laura Kenny, for whom we made a table from the Manchester Velodrome track.

Please be advised that our volunteers require a fair level of physical fitness and manual dexterity as the role is entirely practical.

Our Touch Wood workshop and wood store is open Mon-Fri, 8.30am - 4pm (or outside of these hours only by arrangement). We occupy a unit at Maynard House, inside New Smithfield Market, in Openshaw, North Manchester, which is accessed from the main entrance on Whitworth Street East (off Ashton Old Road).