Growing Together Levenshulme is a volunteer-led gardening project aimed at providing a therapeutic environment for asylum seekers, refugees and others in a similar situation. It provides a place to learn about growing food, engage with nature, socialise, exercise, and get involved in the community. The project attracts many regular participants.
The Session Support Facilitator is a role alongside our other volunteer roles (Activity Facilitator and People Support), with the aim to support the smooth running of the session by providing general floating support to the People Support team and Activities team at the project and as a member of the wider caretakers team, to contribute to the general running of the project.
 
Our sessions currently run on:
Tuesdays 09:30 – 12:30 and 12:30 - 15:00
Fridays 09:00 – 12:00
We generally expect volunteers to commit to at least one session per week on a regular basis but obviously people are welcome to have breaks, take time off and sign up whenever suits them.
We have monthly ‘Caretakers’ meetings outside of these sessions on Zoom.   
Roles and responsibilities

Being at the main site gates before the start of the session to open the gates to our participants and welcome them to the Garden.
Assisting with setting up the drinks station (tea, coffee, water, etc) by fetching water and boiling the kettle and helping participants make themselves a drink and feel comfortable. 
Helping other volunteers to set up for the session as needed, for example setting up tables and chairs, setting out craft materials or writing planned activities on the whiteboard.
Assisting the team with serving hot food at lunchtimes and encouraging participants to help with washing up of plates, cutlery, etc (*Tuesday sessions)
Making up ‘snack packs’ for our participants (*Friday sessions)
Giving new participants a tour of the Garden, helping them to feel safe and comfortable and showing them key areas such as the location of the toilet, the handwashing station, our suncream and face mask station, etc.
Provide floating support by checking in on any people not engaged in gardening or other activities or those who seem to be isolating themselves.
Helping to divide any harvest between the participants
Assisting the People Support team with the provision of bus fares to our participants.


Raising any safeguarding or support concerns with the People Support Team.
Attending monthly volunteer meetings (currently on Zoom).
Attending training sessions as needed.     
Ensuring confidentiality is respected     

This role would suit somebody who:

Works well with people from a variety of backgrounds
Has a reasonable level of spoken English
Has a commitment to working in an empowering way
Has good people skills and an ability to listen to and support people who are under considerable stress. 
Has a good level of emotional resilience
Is able to work under their own initiative whilst also being able to work as part of a team. 
Enjoys working outdoors (in all weathers!)
Is comfortable using Zoom and WhatsApp, or is willing to learn
Has a willingness to learn

Expenses

We can reimburse reasonable volunteer travel expenses as needed.   

Support 
We have an induction process, training available and a friendly supportive team. 
Team debriefs are held at the end of each session.
We are happy to offer support for people to grow into the role. 
We are particularly interested in applications from people with lived experience of the asylum system
If you would like to hear more about this voluntary role, please chat to a member of the team or contact us at: