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The Head Gardener role offers a unique opportunity to work in a historic and peaceful environment. You will be part of a dedicated team, working closely with colleagues to create and maintain the Palace's beautiful gardens. This role provides a chance to showcase your gardening expertise and leadership skills in a supportive and flexible work setting.
The Head Gardener has overall responsibility for the presentation, management, maintenance, upkeep and agreed development of Bishopthorpe Palace Gardens and line management of the garden staff engaged as employees and volunteers.
This post gives an excellent opportunity to work in a small, friendly, environment, in unusual and pleasant surroundings. Colleagues at Bishopthorpe Palace work as a small and close-knit team and support each other at busy periods with flexibility and good humour. The person appointed will relate directly to the Archbishop, Chief of Staff, Palace and Events Manager and Palace Warden. Working closely with the Assistant Gardener, casual staff and volunteers working in the grounds.
MAIN DUTIES
Responsible for the maintenance and management of the grounds of Bishopthorpe Palace, ensuring that the appearance of the entire garden site is kept to the best standard at all times including:
- Planning and balance of year-round needs of garden/estate.
- Designing the winter and summer annual bedding and arranging the
purchase and cultivation of the plants. - Maintaining paths, perimeter and riverbank vegetation
- Hands-on weeding, pruning, dead-heading, plant division and replanting
where necessary throughout the grounds. - Directing and assisting in the care, cultivation and maintenance of all
plants, seasonal planting, borders, shrubs, trees, lawns and ponds. - Management of wildlife in the grounds.
- Management of the pond.
- Planting of seeds and bulbs and caring for them during the winter.
- Ensure the safety of paths and the grounds during the winter, including
clearing snow and salting paths - Hands-on working with the garden team to achieve autumn leaf clearance
and appropriate disposal. - Hands-on working with the garden team to ensure all lawns and hedges
are kept trimmed to the required standard. - Irrigating all garden pots/planters and ornamental areas, including lawns,
to ensure good growing conditions. - Propagation of garden plant material for use in the garden and plant sales at garden events.
Monitoring and control of weeds and algae in gravel paths, paving, ponds and borders and taking appropriate action.
Responsible for the management of the Palace woodland including:
- the use of chainsaws to fell and crosscut timber.
- monitoring existing trees and re-planting when necessary to ensure the continuation of a safe and healthy woodland.
Develop and implement a garden risk management control plan which includes, but is not limited to, the inspection and periodic pruning of trees
Responsible for the purchase, storage, handling and application of pesticides and weed killers used throughout the Palace grounds adhering to current Health and Safety legislation.
Ensuring the garden bothy, garden tool and machinery sheds, potting shed and greenhouse are all kept in a tidy, safe and well-presented manner
Manage the garden budget in conjunction with the Palace and Events Manager and Accounts Manager including:
- Production of an annual budget for expenditure relating to the maintenance and management of the grounds of Bishopthorpe Palace.
- Submitting requests and invoices for expenditure within the agreed budget for Bishopthorpe Palace garden.
- Agreeing expenditure items with the Palace and Events Manager and Accounts Manager in advance.
- Preparation of a schedule of maintenance and replacement for all machinery and tools including annual servicing.
HEALTH AND SAFETY DUTIES
- Attendance at Bishopthorpe Palace H&S meetings.
- Ensure all garden works are in full compliance with Health and Safety at Work and COSHH regulations.
- Ensure all chain saw and garden chemical licences remain current and comply with Health & Safety legislation.
- In consultation with the Palace & Events Manager and Palace Warden ensuring the safety of garden users by regular checks on trees, access areas, steps and paths and reporting or repairing any hazards.
- Responsible for monitoring all personal protection equipment used in the department to ensure expiry dates for critical safety equipment are adhered here.
- Responsible for maintenance of machinery and tools, including annual servicing.
LINE MANAGEMENT RESPONSIBILITIES
- Responsible for the line management of the Assistant Gardener.
- Responsible for the line management of casual and volunteer garden staff.
- Overseeing, directing and training garden staff when they are working in the garden.
- Assist the Palace manager with the sourcing, management and supervision of contractors working within the Palace grounds and woodland.
- Assist with the interviewing and appointment of future garden staff.
OTHER DUTIES
- Attendance of regular Bishopthorpe Palace Operation meetings to update on site work by other departments.
- Attendance of management training courses and in-house training and briefing courses when requested.
- Lead on internal and external communications for the Gardening team, including attending office meetings, including the huddle.
- Liaising with the wider Bishopthorpe Palace Estates team to enable maintenance and restoration work via garden areas and agreeing making-good costs for the garden.
- Liaising with the Hospitality team to enable smooth running of their events in both the Palace building and garden
- Dealing with garden enquiries and giving guided tours of the garden.
- Setting up garden open days and attending all garden events at Bishopthorpe Palace as requested by the Palace and Events Manager, to help with stewarding, event presentation and security.
- Helping with the security of the Palace when required, including:
- Dealing with alarms - subject to their home location
- Locking external gates
- Making the Palace and grounds secure.
- To help with various duties around the Palace as agreed with the Palace and Events Manager.
Essential
- Experience in ground maintenance and gardening of a large garden
- Some experience of use and maintenance of lawn mowers, etc
- Ability to work independently as well as part of a team
- Ability to forward plan and manage orders of equipment and plants as necessary
- Experience in managing staff, including delegation of duties
- Ability to motivate, develop and praise the garden team and be a good people manager
- Able to perform hands-on routine responsibilities whilst maintaining attention to detail
- An enthusiastic and committed gardener
- Desire to maintain the existing garden as well as provide development ideas
- Punctual and reliable
- Ambassadorial skills to promote and embrace the garden and its many uses
- Willingness to undertake any training to further skills for the job
- Good communication skills, including delegation, negotiation and diplomatic skills
- An enthusiastic and committed gardener with a desire to promote and develop the garden and its many uses
- Excellent plant knowledge
- Experience with specific and testing growing conditions
Desirable
- City and Guilds qualification in horticulture or gardening
- Experience of maintaining a large garden or estate and use of garden machinery
- Qualified First Aider, although training can be arranged
- Qualified in the use of chainsaws, although training can be arranged
- Able to work to deadlines and prioritise workload
- Able to organise and take initiative
- Experience in managing rewilding natural spaces
- Hard working, confident gardener
- Hold a full driving licence
- Plant and pest/disease identification
- Some knowledge of the structure of the Church of England, including the Archbishop's ministry
- Qualified in the handling and application of pesticides and weedkillers
- A basic working knowledge of Microsoft Outlook and the internet
Closing date for application is 21 April 2026 at midnight
Registered Charity
101 - 500
The Church of England’s vocation is and always has been to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ afresh in each generation to the people of England.
Thank you!
Learning Disability Community Leader, L'Arche London
ABOUT THE ROLE
Hours of work: 37.5 hours per week (including some evening and weekend working, and regular on-call)
Salary: £55,000 (including London weighting)
Reports to: L’Arche UK Director of Care and Communities
Place of work: L’Arche London Community, West Norwood, SE27. Some travel and overnight stays will be required within the UK.
Contract type: Permanent
Closing date: Thursday, 16th April, at midday
Notes: If you have already applied for this role and received an update on your application from us, please do not submit another application.
Main purpose of the role
The Community Leader is responsible for ensuring that the Community is living the mission of L’Arche, by providing excellent and sustainable care and support services, support for spirituality, and engaging with our neighbours and the wider community around us.
The Community Leader will:
- Lead the Community by responding to the needs, choices and context of our members while being faithful to the L'Arche UK Vision and Values, the L'Arche International Identity and Mission Statement, and to a co-created Community Mandate and plan.
- Maintain and enhance high-quality, person-centred care, support, and housing for people with learning disabilities, both at home and in our day services in partnership with the Registered Manager, the Team in London, the National Leadership Team, individual circles of support, and external partners;
- Ensure the Community's financial sustainability through robust financial planning and management, including setting budgets, controlling spending, maximising occupancy, negotiating care contracts, growing day services, and spotting fundraising opportunities;
- Foster a culture that maximises the voice and power for people with learning disabilities, building listening and collaboration between Community members with and without learning disabilities;
- Contribute to the national work programmes of L'Arche UK, as part of the National Council, collaborating with Community Leaders of other L'Arche Communities, to share skills, best practice, and resources
Key essential criteria
- Senior leadership experience in support to adults with learning disabilities (or transferable skills and experience in a closely related field);
- Experience in leading, managing, and developing an organisation or large teams to deliver results, maintain compliance and quality, and to respond to risks and opportunities;
- Good financial planning skills and experiences of successfully managing a substantial budget;
- Ability to think strategically and work collaboratively to develop and implement community plans;
- Experience of living or working alongside people with learning disabilities and/or autistic individuals;
- Passionate about person-centred support and the values and mission of L'Arche;
This role is subject to an enhanced DBS criminal record check.
You may have held these job titles in the past: Registered Manager, Service Manager, Head of Care, Senior Operations Lead, Community Director, Head of Community Services, Country or Regional Lead, Learning Disability Services Manager, Head of Mission and Community Life, Health & Social Care Manager, Local Authority Commissioning Lead;
You can find more details about L'Arche London here.
Additional details about L'Arche can be found here.
Discover what makes L’Arche a rewarding place to work—explore our employee benefits here.
A full job description and person specification can be found in the Recruitment Pack.
To apply, please submit your CV and include a cover letter via our online application form.
The closing date is: Thursday, 16th April at midday
First round interviews are expected to take place either on 22nd or 23rd April 2026 online via Microsoft Teams.
Second round interviews will take place on 30th April 2026 and will take place within the L'Arche London Community.
We encourage you not to wait until the closing date to submit your application, as we may begin interviewing strong candidates before then.
We also reserve the right to close the advert early if we receive enough suitable applications.
Please also read our privacy notice for job applicants.
Registered Charity
501 - 1000
Our inclusive communities challenge people to think differently about disability
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Thank you!
This is an exciting opportunity to lead CPAG’s strategic legal work at an important time in the organisation’s fight to end child poverty. As Head of Strategic Litigation, you will oversee and carry out CPAG’s work using legal cases for positive impact, to benefit families and children in poverty. You will be responsible for setting the strategic direction of CPAG’s legal work, in addition to managing CPAG’s legal practice and playing an active role in conducting high-profile litigation on a day-to-day basis.
We are looking for someone who is strategically minded and passionate about using the law to advocate for the rights of, and directly improve the lives of, families in poverty. The ideal candidate will be a solicitor (E&W qualified) with substantial post-qualification experience. You will have experience of conducting public law litigation and legal aid (publicly funded) work. You will be able to supervise the casework of colleagues, such as CPAG’s junior or trainee solicitor(s) and welfare benefit advisers, and support the professional development and wellbeing of your team. You may have experience of working with clients in vulnerable situations or with additional needs, for example, survivors of domestic abuse, refugees, disabled people or children and young people.
We welcome applications from individuals with the skills and experience outlined and we can be flexible about working arrangements. We operate a hybrid working system and would be happy to discuss any flexibilities required. CPAG is committed to equity, diversity and inclusion which you can read more about in the job pack.
For more information about this post and to apply download the Head of Strategic Litigation job pack and application form.
If you have questions or need specific arrangements or reasonable adjustments to take part in the selection process please contact us.
To apply, please return to us the application form, taking particular care to provide full details of how you meet the person specification.
Closing date for applications: 11.59pm, Wednesday, 15 April 2026
Interviews will be held at our London office: w/c 27 April 2026
Registered Charity
51 - 100
Child Poverty Action Group works to prevent and end child poverty – for good.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.