Horticultural Support Worker | Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust

This is an exciting opportunity to join our team at Darwin Nurseries and Farm Shop in Cambridge. You will work together with the Darwin Nursery and Farm Shop Team in delivering meaningful work experience and therapeutic activities in horticulture, animal husbandry, retail and catering.

Darwin Nurseries and Farm Shop is a therapeutic horticultural and retail workplace where adults with learning disabilities and mental health challenges can develop skills in horticulture, animal husbandry, retail and catering. In addition, they can gain confidence and independence to take a more active role in the community.

To ensure adults with learning disabilities learn and progress to reach their potential through meaningful activities in a horticultural and retail environment. To provide work experience and meaningful activities in the growing of plants and fruit and vegetables, caring for farm animals and all aspects of working within a retail shop environment, and catering and café experience.

To support and encourage adults with learning disabilities to develop independence and confidence through horticulture, animal husbandry, retail and café/catering activities. To provide rota cover in the farm shop on Sundays. To maintain accurate records and develop person-centred support plans, and objective setting and review.

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust is a health and social care organisation dedicated to providing high-quality care with compassion to improve the health and wellbeing of the people we care for, as well as supporting and empowering them to lead a fulfilling life. Our clinical teams deliver many NHS services, not only via inpatient and primary care settings, but also within the community.

These services include children’s, adult and older people’s mental health, forensic and specialist mental health, learning disabilities, primary care and liaison psychiatry, substance misuse, social care, research and development. To achieve our goal, we look to recruit high-calibre candidates who share our vision and values.

As an equal opportunities employer, we encourage applications from all sectors of the community, particularly from under-represented groups including people with long-term conditions and members of our ethnic minority and LGBTQ+ communities.

Please be advised we reserve the right to close adverts earlier than the closing date should we receive sufficient applications. Regrettably, we cannot offer sponsorship for all our job roles. If you apply for a role that we cannot offer sponsorship for, unfortunately, your application form will be rejected from the process.

For further information on CPFT, please visit our website at www.cpft.nhs.uk. Please refer to the attached job description and person specification for full details of responsibilities.

• Support and care, including personal care.
• To encourage and enable the development of the personal, social and employment skills of co-workers.
• To provide training, support and supervision in horticulture/animal care/catering and/or retail and life skills, in a clear informative and engaging manner.
• To carry out horticultural work and animal husbandry to a high standard.
• To work in the shop as required.
• To supervise and support volunteers and staff from other agencies.
• Work with individual co-workers to promote their equality, dignity, mental and physical well-being.
• Assist in preparation of person-centred support plans and objective setting.
• Attend co-worker reviews.
• Act as a named support worker.
• Maintain excellent working relationships with outside agencies and key people in the lives of the co-worker.
• Respond appropriately to challenging needs, offering agreed support and graduated responses.
• Maintain accurate records, report and refer as appropriate.
• Strictly observe the principles of confidentiality.
• Promote and develop positive links with the local community.
• Assume the lead responsibility for delegated tasks as determined by the line manager, such as infection control, risk assessing, and greenhouse watering systems.
• Take responsibility for specific areas of work, such as permaculture area, animals, café.

This advert closes on Wednesday 12 Nov 2025.