Walking For All Officer, Fermanagh & Omagh

To develop, co-ordinate, build community capacity and sustain regular volunteer-led walks in towns, villages and rural communities throughout the Fermanagh and Omagh District Council area, by recruiting, training and supporting Volunteer Walk Leaders who will in turn, increase the number of people walking and meet the objectives of the Walking For All programme.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

• Volunteer Recruitment: Proactively engage with communities to identify potential Volunteer Walk Leaders in towns, villages and rural communities across the Fermanagh & Omagh Area. Engagement will include travelling to and meeting with a wide range of groups in the local community such as community groups, rugby and GAA clubs, groups for people with a disability, mother and toddlers groups, Age Friendly clubs, Mens Shed, church groups, asylum seekers groups. Engage with potential Volunteers to explain the responsibilities, expectations and benefits of the role of Volunteer Walk Leader and onboard them to the programme.
• Volunteer Training: Plan and coordinate a series of half-day Walking For All training courses for Volunteer Walk Leaders including venue, materials, walking route. Deliver half-day training courses to new Volunteer Walk Leaders. Organise and deliver additional training to the Volunteer Walk Leaders, as appropriate.
• Volunteer Support & Retention: Implement a strong support system for all new Volunteer Walk Leaders, including accompanying them on initial led-walks to build their confidence and ensure quality control. Put in place measures to support, motivate and retain Volunteer Walk Leaders (so that they maintain a weekly regular walk as a minimum) including regular and high levels of contact. Encourage Volunteer Walk Leaders in your area to attend Volunteer Walk Leader Celebration Events to recognise and reward Volunteer Walk Leaders for their contribution to Walking For All. Plan, coordinate and host Walking for All Celebration Events specific to the Council area for the Volunteers and walkers to celebrate their achievements and walking. Roll out the incentive programme to all qualifying Volunteer Walk Leaders.
• Twinning: For established walking groups, pair up (twin) groups based on a cross-border and/or cross-community basis. Plan, organise and host a series of events for the twinned walking groups such as a shared walking trip to an inspirational location, hosting a walk in each others local community, a walking activity day.
• Promotion: Use appropriate social media platforms and other promotion such as poster and leaflet distribution to promote Walking For All across the Fermanagh & Omagh area. Attend events or organise presentations on Walking For All to promote the opportunities for Volunteers and walkers to relevant stakeholders and organisations. Support the development of promotional content in your area such as the creation of videos. Supply photos and good news stories to the communication officer.
• Partnership Working: Attend monthly Regional Meetings and liaise ongoing with other Walking For All Officers in your region in order to share best practice and improve effectiveness. Work in partnership with the Health Trust Physical Activity Co-ordinator to ensure that there is no overlap and walk programme activities align. It is anticipated that regular meetings will be required. Where appropriate, work in partnership with other participation officers in the organisation or other organisations to share learnings and leverage activities.
• Administration: Diligently maintain records on the programme CRM, including walker and Walk Leader registration data, incident and participation reports. Conduct regular data hygiene activities as defined by Regional Managers to ensure robust data quality. Manage the programme budget associated with the project. Prepare weekly and monthly reports for Regional Managers and a quarterly report for provision to the SEUPB. Assist with the preparation of the quarterly finance reports to SEUPB. Report to the Project Working Group and Managers Group when required. Any other additional tasks as may be reasonably assigned according to the changing priorities of the Walking for All programme.

Requirements

• Essential Qualifications: Five GCSEs (Grades A C) or equivalent/comparable including Mathematics and English Language and a Level 3 qualification (such as A Level, Level 3 NVQ, Advanced Apprenticeship) in a related discipline such as health, sport, community development or an Honours Degree.
• Essential Experience: A minimum of three years experience in each of the following areas: Project Planning and Delivery; Stakeholder engagement; Event, Training and Meeting coordination; Administrative and Organisational Support.
• Desirable Experience: Some experience of working with volunteers. Some experience of delivering sport or health related participation programmes.
• Other: Excellent interpersonal skills, with the ability to build strong, positive relationships. Genuine passion for people becoming active and enjoying the benefits of being outdoors. Enthusiastic and highly self-motivated with the ability to act on own initiative as well as part of a team. Deliver against tight timelines with minimal supervision. Good written communicator with ability to prepare reports for funders and stakeholders. Proficient in Excel, Word and PowerPoint. Full current driving licence and use of a car, or access to a form of transport that allows you to meet the requirements of the role. Access NI check is required for this role.