Community Nutrition Worker
In recent years WVA has played a pivotal role in co-producing, developing and delivering projects and partnerships to meet local need, in particular where gaps in service have been identified. Over the past 3 years WVA has led on the successful Food Network Project as a trusted and impartial
coordinator of the many food providing services across Warrington, bringing them together to share resources and food supplies, and take up good practice support, with a mission that everyone in Warrington has equal access to affordable, nutritious food. In line with the Food Network’s mission, this project will focus on improving food literacy, and developing opportunities for social eating, recognising that food is a tool to improving social connections and creating strong communities. The project will work to ensure residents experiencing food insecurity have the knowledge and skills to eat well on a budget, working alongside community food providers and wider community settings.
Duties and Responsibilities
Role Specific
• Working directly with residents, facilitate practical initiatives to enable people to eat a healthier diet
• Plan, develop and evaluate practical initiatives to address food and health needs
• Work alongside community partners to identify opportunities to complement existing food support with activities such as cooking demonstrations, classes, shopping visits, etc. to improve knowledge, develop skills and opportunities for the community to access nutritious food
• Identify, plan and implement social eating/ community meals alongside existing community organisations, taking a flexible approach to meet the needs of the community
• Work with volunteers and community organisations to implement activities within the community in line with local needs
• Promote good health by encouraging and facilitating the development of healthier eating habits by using a community development approach which fosters self-help rather than dependence
• Develop and produce resources to support the role as required (for example, recipe or fact sheets)
• To keep accurate records and monitor outcomes of all activity in line with funding requirements
• To monitor project expenditure and keep within the project budget when sourcing food/equipment/etc.
• Work with partners to maximise opportunities to access food and equipment to utilise within the project and minimise food waste where appropriate
• Work with Environmental Health to ensure all food hygiene requirements are met and support community partners to access appropriate training and information around food safety
• To be able to travel to support duties and occasionally working evenings and weekends, as needed
General
• Attend WVA team meetings, as part of a smaller Food Network team and the wider WVA team.
• You will reflect on practice and participate in team meetings, practice development forums and peer supervision.
• Identify your own training and development needs together with your line manager and participate in training opportunities
• Develop an awareness of local and national developments and best practice in this area of work
• Adhere to organisational policies and procedures relating to risk and personal safety. You will refer all safeguarding issues in line with local policy
• You will identify issues relating to systemic challenges and disconnects, and report these to the Line Manager, developing an eye for service improvement opportunities
Person Specification
You should demonstrate within your application how you meet all of the following criteria. All are essential for the job and will be scored depending on your answers. Where experience is required, this could have been in a paid OR unpaid role.
• Good level of knowledge around food, nutrition, cooking and healthy eating
• Ability to engage people through face-to-face training/ demonstrations/ classes
• Experience of coordinating activities working with multiple partners
• Ability to present information in a clear and engaging way, bespoke for your audience
• Strong organisational skills and the ability to manage multiple streams of work at once
• Experience in managing developing budgets for meal planning
• Experience of working with and coordinating a team
• Experience of partnership/collaborative working and of building relationships across a variety of organisations
• Ability to acknowledge when a beneficiary needs to be referred to access specialist support
• Experience in data collection and monitoring
• Willingness to complete L3 Food Hygiene plus additional training as appropriate for the role
• A DBS check will be required, relevant to the post
At interview, you will also be required to demonstrate that you have the following essential qualities:
• Commitment to reducing health inequalities and proactively working to reach people from all communities
• Able to work from an asset-based approach, building on existing community and personal assets
• Able to get along with people from all backgrounds and communities, respecting lifestyles and diversity
• Is motivated towards excellence and improvement of personal performance with a ‘can do’ attitude
• Demonstrates a desire for continuous professional development