Charity Support Officer
Location: Remote, with regular meetings in London, applicants must be based in or around London
Salary: £27,700 - £29,000 per year
Contract: Full-time with opportunities to work flexibly over 4 days
Reporting to: CEO
About AWN
All Ways Network (AWN) is a UK-registered charity dedicated to empowering non-profits that support diverse Muslim communities across the UK, particularly those with an annual income under £1 million towards becoming fundable.
We provide grassroots organisations with vital services from bid-writing and application reviews to webinars, training, and tailored charity support. This helps them access funding, strengthen governance, build capacity, and adopt best practices in a challenging funding landscape.
Committed to equitable grant-making and a stronger civil society, AWN champions the vision of: “Thriving non-profits empowering Muslim communities to enrich UK society.”
Role Overview: Knowledge in grant-funding, capacity building, organisational support
We are seeking a proactive and collaborative Charity Support Officer to help deliver AWN’s mission. You will be the first point of contact for grassroots charities, supporting them to strengthen their organisations and improve their chances of securing grant funding by offering practical guidance, signposting, and building trusted relationships that help them grow in confidence and resilience. The role includes helping organisations strengthen governance and compliance, sharing information on grant-funding opportunities, and supporting them to identify challenges and develop practical solutions.
The non-profits you will support work across a wide range of areas for example: women, health and wellbeing, youth, homelessness and poverty, family services, sports, faith groups, crime and gangs, prisoners and ex-offenders, refugees and asylum seekers, drug addiction, older people and rehabilitation, and many more.
Bringing a strong awareness of the barriers facing small charities particularly Muslim-led groups, will be key to helping them build long-term sustainability and impact.
Key Responsibilities:
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Act as the first point of contact for charities and community groups, managing a varied caseload and balancing priorities.
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Carry out needs assessments to understand organisations strengths, challenges, and funding needs, and develop clear action plans.
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Provide tailored support, including health checks on governance, compliance, finances, and funding readiness, offering recommendations and signposting to specialist services (e.g., Cranfield Trust, CVS, Charity Excellence etc).
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Advise on funding opportunities, strategy, and application readiness, with referrals to bid-writing support where needed.
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Deliver workshops, webinars, events, and one-to-one sessions to build skills, knowledge, and confidence of UK grassroots organisations.
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Work collaboratively with organisations and AWN colleagues (including via the triage and referral system) to identify challenges and develop practical, sustainable solutions.
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Build and maintain strong relationships with charities, funders, and sector partners across the voluntary, public, and charity sectors.
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Represent AWN at external events, conferences, and meetings, helping to organise and deliver events linked to your work.
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Keep accurate records on the CRM, gather feedback, write case studies, and contribute to monitoring, evaluation, and service development.
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Support AWN’s communications by contributing updates for the website and social media.
What We’re Looking For
We’re looking for someone who is approachable, empathetic, and motivated to make a difference. You’ll have a natural ability to listen, build trust, and meet people where they are, while offering constructive and practical support. Patience, curiosity, and cultural awareness will help you understand the diverse realities of grassroots charities and the communities they serve.
Alongside these personal qualities, you’ll bring a good understanding of the charity sector and the challenges facing small non-profits across the UK, for UK Muslim-led organisations. You’ll have exceptional knowledge of governance, compliance, and funding pathways, and the confidence to guide organisations towards growth, resilience, and long-term impact.
Essential Criteria
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3+ years’ experience within the UK charity sector (domestic, not solely international).
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Strong understanding of charity governance, compliance, and the UK funding and grant-making landscape.
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Insight into the needs and challenges of small and grassroots non-profits, with awareness of the systemic barriers affecting Muslim-led organisations.
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Experience supporting or advising charities, community groups, or local networks to build capacity and resilience.
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Ability to work collaboratively with organisations, offering constructive and practical guidance.
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Excellent communication and interpersonal skills with confidence in public speaking and engaging a wide range of stakeholders.
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Strong organisational and administrative skills with attention to detail and the ability to manage multiple priorities.
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Demonstrated ability to work independently, take initiative, and adapt in a fast-paced environment.
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Comfortable working autonomously and as part of a small team, with minimal supervision.
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Confident using technology to deliver support and manage work effectively, including CRM systems, Microsoft Teams, and other digital tools.
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Experience in one or more of the following areas:
- Community engagement and outreach
- Event or project coordination (online and in-person)
- Delivering presentations, workshops, or training sessions
- Monitoring, evaluation, and learning activities
Recruitment Process
Interviews will take place early October 2025.
The process will include two stages: one online and one in-person (to be held in the City of London).
Exact dates will be confirmed before the application deadline.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Role Summary
Join our team and help us improve public sector food across the UK with our School Plates and new Hospital Plates programmes. We're looking for a passionate and driven Chef Trainer to support schools and hospitals in delivering healthier and more sustainable menus.
The programmes continue to go from strength to strength. Through School Plates, we currently support over a third of all UK local authorities, catering for more than 12,000 schools and feeding over 1.25 million children daily. To date, we have been responsible for swapping over 50 million school meals from meat-based to meat-free or plant-based. We're now expanding our successful model into the health sector with our new Hospital Plates programme, bringing the same positive change to patient and staff menus.
Are you a skilled chef trainer with a passion for improving public food? Can you match our ambition? You'll be using your culinary expertise to train catering teams in both schools and hospitals, provide menu advice, and get involved with recipe development and culinary education. You will also run cooking workshops for pupils in secondary schools, inspiring the next generation to get excited about plant-based food. You will also build and manage relationships with our catering partners, helping them deliver delicious and sustainable meals. This is a UK-wide role and will require travel to different sites.
We’re looking for someone to join our team for 3 days a week but are open to applicants looking for flexible working hours, including, potentially, 4 days a week.
Job Details
Job Title: Chef Trainer - School Plates & Hospital Plates
Reporting to: Programme Manager, UK
Location: Remote (home-based with travel across UK)
Hours: 21-28 hours per week (0.6-0.8 FTE)
Salary: £32,000 per annum pro rata (based on 1.0 FTE)
Responsibilities
As our Chef Trainer & Programme Support, you'll be a key player in developing and delivering our School Plates and Hospital Plates programmes. You'll use your culinary expertise and passion for food system change to create resources, train professionals, and engage with our partners.
Key Responsibilities
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Recipe Development & Training: You'll co-lead the creation, testing, and development of new plant-based recipes for our school and hospital programmes, and lead on developing ‘grab-and-go’ and internationally inspired options for secondary schools. You'll also plan and deliver training sessions, including in-person and online workshops, and create e-learning courses for caterers.
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Programme Development & Support: Work closely with programme managers to develop and refine the strategy for our initiatives. This includes supporting pilot programmes, measuring their impact, and creating bespoke catering resources for our partners.
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Stakeholder Engagement & Communication: Represent our organisation at events and in meetings, providing expert catering advice and information on our programmes. Collaborate with our communications manager to create engaging content, including recipes and videos for our website, e-learning platform and social media.
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Education & Outreach: Partner with our education manager to plan and co-deliver secondary school cooking workshops. These sessions will teach pupils basic plant-based culinary skills that align with the National Curriculum as well as inspire the next generation to choose plant-forward options and learn about the impact of their food choices in a positive way.
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Inspire Catering Teams: Your role is to build and maintain relationships with catering partners, providing expert catering advice and practical recipe suggestions. You'll work with them directly on pilot programmes, offering bespoke support to inspire positive menu changes. You'll also provide essential administrative support for our programmes and help create and deliver presentations to promote our work to a wider audience.
Qualifications
Essential
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Experienced in planning and delivering cooking workshops to groups.
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Experience of working in a culinary setting and developing recipes with a strong interest in plant-based recipes.
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Excellent communication skills and be a confident and engaging educator.
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Flexible and agile approach, with a willingness to be a true team player and fill gaps as needed.
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Proactive with initiative and drive.
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Strong organisational skills.
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Attention to detail.
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Solution-focused and resilient.
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Confident in creating basic spreadsheets and slide decks.
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Ability to work well under pressure and manage time effectively in a fast-paced and small but fast-growing non-profit work environment.
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Ability to work well unsupervised with experience of working in remote teams with a reliable internet connection.
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Passionate about food systems change.
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Alignment with our vision and mission.
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Based in the UK and able to attend meetings, events, and training to represent the team and programme across the UK.
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Willing to travel across the UK for workshops and events.
Desirable
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Experience of working within school and/or hospital food.
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Experience of food photography and creating recipe content for social platforms or online courses.
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Experience of managing projects.
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Experience of liaising with local authorities, schools, or other public sector bodies.
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Experience in the field of nutrition, including an interest in plant-based nutrition.
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Experience of working in the food, health or environmental sector.
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Experience of using customer relationship management (CRM) systems (training will be provided).
Benefits of working with us
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Generous annual leave entitlement - 25 days per year, with an additional day granted at the start of each calendar up to a maximum of 30 days (plus bank holidays)
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A strong organisational focus on personal development, with a designated training budget.
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Provision of a work laptop.
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Flexible, trust-based working arrangements and home-office arrangements.
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Career development support
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Enhanced maternity, paternity, shared parental and adoption pay
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Compassionate animal companion leave
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Employee Assistance Programme including counselling
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Access to 24/7 virtual GP Service
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Mindfulness support via a free Headspace account for you and up to 5 friends or family members
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Access to the Wisdom app with exclusive perks and discounts
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Membership to the OpenUp platform
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We are a workplace that encourages everyone to bring their whole selves to work. We are an inclusive workplace for our diverse employees around the world.
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And, last but not least, become part of a great team and work with us towards a world where everyone chooses delicious and healthy food that is good for all humans, animals, and our planet!
When?
Application deadline: 5th October 2025
Start date: November 2025
Application process and timeline
Please submit your application using our online form including your CV and cover letter. By submitting your application you agree that your personal data will be processed by and shared with our UK entity (ProVeg C.I.C.) and German entity (ProVeg e.V.).
The recruitment process consists of two rounds: 1): an online trial task; 2): an interview with the Programme Manager and Director.
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Application deadline: 5th October 2025
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Online trial task: sent to longlisted candidates by 10th October 5pm, to be completed by 12 October at 5pm
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Interviews: take place on 21st and 22nd October 2025
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Start date: November 2025
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.