Join The Team: Kitchen Garden Educator, HMP Stoke Heath
We’re really excited to start a brand new 1-year project with HMP Stoke Heath, a men’s Category C prison in Shropshire - and we’re looking for some fantastic people to come on board. The project is in collaboration with the NHS, who provide the healthcare services at HMP Stoke Heath. We are partnering with the healthcare department to deliver a programme of food-based education and initiatives to support the wellbeing of the men at Stoke Heath.
We’ll be helping cultivate an outdoor wellbeing hub on the prison grounds, where groups can come and learn how to grow food, keep bees and understand the food system on a deeper level. We’ll be supporting the catering team with new, healthy recipes to roll out on the prison menu. And we’ll be delivering our Food 360 programme - a holistic cooking course designed to promote people’s wellbeing through food - to groups of prisoners in Stoke Heath’s staff cafe.
This project will directly engage some of the prison’s most ‘hard-to-reach’ individuals - those suffering from mental health issues and those who might not regularly be attending work or education. We are on the hunt for an amazing Kitchen Garden Educator to lead the delivery of our food growing programme and develop a new kitchen garden in the prison that can be enjoyed for years to come.
Scroll down to read the full job description. To apply, please email your CV and cover letter to info@foodbehindbars.co.uk.
Job Title: Kitchen Garden Educator
Location: HMP/YOI Stoke Heath, Market Drayton, Shropshire, TF9 2JL
Hours: 2 x days per week
Contract Type: Permanent
Contract Length: 12 months
Remuneration: £32,000 pro rata (approximately £12,800 annually)
Start Date: January 2024 (subject to vetting)
About us
Food Behind Bars is the leading charity dedicated to transforming the food served in British prisons. We deliver a variety of services and projects at men’s and women’s prisons across the UK, including cookery classes, menu development, food growing, baking and butchery. Our activities cover every aspect of food, cooking, eating and hospitality. We work with prisons on a bespoke basis, co-designing original initiatives that enable prisons to champion wholesome, tasty and exciting food. Our work is shaped around each unique establishment and united by our philosophy of wholesome food for everyone in society.
Job purpose
We are looking for a Kitchen Garden Educator to help lead the creation of a small kitchen garden as part of a new pioneering project at HMP Stoke Heath, a men’s Category C prison in Shropshire. We’ll be working collaboratively across the grounds and kitchens to provide meaningful opportunities around food, cooking and growing. This includes a cooking course and food growing and beekeeping education.
The kitchen garden would be built, maintained and enjoyed by the prisoners and led by the Kitchen Garden Educator. You will be responsible for running engaging, practical sessions on the prison grounds, helping equip individuals with valuable skills and knowledge to promote their wellbeing. We’ll be utilising a currently unused area of the garden that includes three raised beds and a small greenhouse.
This role will be based in HMP Stoke Heath near Market Drayton in Shropshire. We are looking for someone dynamic and inspiring to deliver this programme, inspire the participants and help create something that can be enjoyed for years to come.
We are looking for someone who truly wants to make a difference. This is an opportunity to make your mark, by helping design and deliver a programme of education that supports some of society’s most vulnerable individuals.
Responsibilities
Lead a team of prisoners who will form a Growing Group and will be responsible for the formation, maintenance and harvesting of the prison kitchen garden.
Work with groups of men to produce homegrown fruit and vegetables to be used in the prison kitchen, as well as the accompanying cooking course, delivered by FBB.
Lead a practical and engaging programme of content that is designed to support the rehabilitation and wellbeing of the Growing Group.
The sessions would involve the prisoners in the kitchen garden from start to finish: installing planters, sowing seeds, fertilising crops, maintaining and harvesting them.
Support the often challenging and unique needs of the prisoners through practical skills-based work and education that promotes gardening, growing and outdoor activity.
Oversee the cycle and growth of the kitchen garden, ensuring it is utilised to its fullest potential.
Oversee the supply of fresh, homegrown ingredients to the various outlets in the prison (the main kitchen and education kitchen).
Help create an outdoor wellbeing hub at Stoke Heath, providing a sustainable space for people to enjoy for years to come.
Requirements
A passionate and experienced grower and gardener who is looking to use their skills and knowledge as part of a meaningful project.
A true advocate for healthy eating and positive food practices, particularly in challenging environments.
A positive can-do attitude and a desire to be part of a pioneering project.
Experience in delivering similar community garden projects is preferred.
Extensive knowledge of growing, harvesting and maintaining similar outdoor spaces.
A passionate believer in the power of food, community and the environment and an understanding of how to utilise each to impact wellbeing and personal growth.
Additional information
This is a permanent employed position working part time.
All working hours will be based at HMP Stoke Heath.
The successful candidate will have to go through the Ministry of Justice security clearance before commencing employment.
Subject to successful security clearance, the successful candidate will also have to attend an induction training course at HMP Stoke Heath.