Allotments and Volunteering Officer in London

We are looking for an experienced and enthusiastic Allotment & Volunteering Officer to join our Perks team at Enable!

About Us:

Enable is a charity dedicated to improving people's wellbeing and strengthening local communities. We work with councils, charities and other local organisations to deliver health, leisure, community services and events that enrich people’s lives and strengthen our local community.

At Enable, we value our employees and our culture, focusing on embracing diversity and fostering an inclusive, flexible and fun environment for employees to perform at their best. On top of a competitive salary and flexible working environment, employees will also receive:

• 30 days of annual leave (plus 8 bank holidays)
• Life Insurance
• Reward Schemes (RewardHub Membership, wellbeing budgets and cycle to work)
• A variety of social and wellbeing activities each month
• Mental Health & Wellbeing Perks (Monthly talks, Wellbeing Hour, etc)

Reports to: Head of Parks

Based: Wandsworth Common

Contract: Permanent with occasional evening/weekend working

Work Arrangement: 40 hours per week, Office

DBS: Basic

Role Overview:

The Parks Team is a passionate group of professionals, who work together to maintain and improve Wandsworth Council’s parks, commons, playgrounds, allotments and other greenspaces. We are keen to recognise, value, manage and enhance the biodiversity and plant heritage of our landscapes and contribute to a healthy planet and the wellbeing of our communities.

The Enable Allotments and Volunteer Officer is responsible for the day-to-day management of the Allotments Service, ensuring compliance with letting agreements and maintaining site infrastructure. The post holder will also deliver our wider aspiration to boost volunteering across local greenspaces through the development and delivery of community engagement initiatives in line with site management plans.

The ideal candidate will combine strong organisational skills with a passion for community engagement and volunteering. You will also have good knowledge and experience of food growing or community gardening alongside successful experience of working with, and for, communities including managing and supporting individuals and groups of volunteers.

You will thrive in a dynamic environment, managing multiple projects while keeping a clear focus on outcomes and long-term sustainability. Combining creativity with attention to detail, you will confidently shape projects that are both practical and visionary helping bring Wandsworth’s greenspaces to life. You will be happy to get your hands dirty from time to time but also be prepared to spend time producing proposals and reports.

Reporting to the Head of Parks, you will lead the delivery of our Allotment Service across 8 directly managed sites and at a further 2 sites where support is given to the managing body. You will also oversee the development and delivery of a programme to provide volunteering and community participation opportunities across our wider portfolio of over 40 greenspaces.

Main Duties/Responsibilities:

• Manage all aspects of the Allotments Service day-to-day to ensure appropriate implementation of, and compliance with, the Allotment Letting Agreement.
• Administer allotment tenancies, including managing waiting lists, overseeing plot allocations, conducting site inspections, and executing the 'plot of concern' process.
• Oversee the allotment budget and monthly financial reporting, including tracking expenditure, managing rent collection, and processing all financial transactions.
• Conduct regular allotment site risk assessments and infrastructure audits, reporting required repairs and liaising with contractors to ensure timely resolution.
• Manage and support volunteer allotment site managers, including hosting twice-yearly meetings to share best practice and address common concerns.
• Devise, organise, and lead community volunteering days to improve planting, enhance biodiversity, conduct litter picks, and support community science in line with greenspace management plans.
• Create, improve and maintain volunteer induction, training, health and safety and risk management protocols for all parks service volunteering.
• Act as a key point of contact for parks volunteers, ensuring they feel valued and supported and devise ways to celebrate their contribution, enhance their skills and increase their confidence.
• Collaborate with colleagues to undertake regular site visits across the greenspace portfolio, contributing directly to site management plan delivery programmes and annual implementation reports.
• Contribute to quarterly and annual service reporting by collating and submitting project summaries, service statistics and social impact assessments. Monitor and evaluate volunteer engagement and ensure this feedback informs continuous improvements.
• Lead all communication regarding allotments and parks volunteering, including managing dedicated inboxes and the allotment phone line, and co-managing general parks communications to residents.

Skills and Experience:

• Proven experience coordinating, supporting, or leading community volunteers or public groups, ideally in a greenspace, food growing or biodiversity context.
• Experience managing service administration in line with GDPR, including databases, waiting lists, and customer records.
• Good working knowledge of Health and Safety practices, including conducting risk assessments. Qualifications in any areas of health and safety or first aid would be an advantage.
• Keen interest in / knowledge about food growing, community gardening or amenity horticulture.
• Excellent communication skills and the ability to diffuse difficult situations and resolve compliance issues or disputes firmly and tactfully.
• Strong organisational skills and the ability to work independently using own initiative, as well as collaboratively within a wider greenspaces team and with contractors.
• Competency in using IT systems, including Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Outlook) and databases including to produce reports and statistics.
• Ability and willingness to work occasional evenings or weekends to host volunteer activities and for which time off in lieu will be given.
• Ability to travel efficiently across various greenspaces and allotment sites to conduct outdoor physical inspections in all weather conditions.

This is an exciting opportunity to be a part of a company that positively impacts the community around them! If you are someone that is motivated by a desire to enrich the lives of others and make a genuine difference, Enable is strongly committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace and is an equal opportunities employer. We value diversity and encourage applications from candidates from all backgrounds. We believe that the more inclusive we are, the better our work will be. To find out more on our approach to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, please visit our website.