The official purposes of Earth in Common (EiC), a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SC044220), can be summarised as to encourage and support the people and organisations of Leith to grow food vegetables, and flowers for pollinating insects, in urban spaces, in order to improve health and wellbeing, community cohesion and the environment. However, EiC brings together a diverse group of enthusiastic staff, freelancers, volunteers and members/supporters who are tackling an array of social and environmental issues at local, national and international levels, and so it has broader activities and interests than suggested by its current official purposes.

The charity was appointed by the City of Edinburgh Council to manage, with and for the local community, two acres at the northwest corner of Leith Links Park. Now known as Leith Community Croft (LCC), our pioneering and model ‘urban croft’ offers cross-cutting solutions to social and environmental problems through a suite of integrated projects. It accommodates a community growing project with >100 participants. The growing project is distinct from allotments and benefits agrobiodiversity (see tinyurl.com/croftabdiv).

LCC is also the site of our tree nursery, market garden, composting facilities, our Hingabootery (shed-based café, with a serving hatch), our Market on the Croft (to be re-launched in 2023), and our lovely new building (largely funded by the Scottish Government’s Regeneration Capital Grant Fund), with a well-equipped kitchen, flexible meeting/training/dining spaces and office space. This building constitutes a multipurpose community hub at the core of LCC.

To learn more about EiC, candidates are advised to familiarise themselves with the organisation’s history and current projects and campaigns by visiting its website (earth-in-common.org). More information is also provided in the Job Description.

Summary of the job

• Appointees will work as a team with other Croft Café Co-ordinators, with a main focus on preparing and serving simple but high quality food and drink. They will also sell fruit and vegetables (many from our market garden on Leith Community Croft) from our farm shop area of the same building. Barista and/or kitchen experience would be preferable, but we can provide training to the right candidates. An understanding of food safety standards is essential as well as a proactive attitude, a sense of urgency and ability to pinpoint priorities and act on them.
• The appointees will also perform all necessary ancillary work (food preparation, cleaning, stocktaking, till operation, ordering supplies, etc.). Opening hours are currently 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday to Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday (subject to change during spring and summer), but there will be some meeting, preparation and cleaning time outside these hours, and possibly occasional catering at events. Candidates must be able to work weekends and early mornings.
• As well as ensuring the smooth running of all aspects of Earth in Common’s café and farm shop operations, they will assist with other aspects of running Leith Community Croft, as required. This may include, for example, waste management, litter-picking and assisting with market garden work.
• Croft Café Co-ordinators are expected to be flexible, use their initiative, and help each other as necessary, turning their hands to whatever needs to be done to further Earth in Common’s services and reputation. This includes contributing ideas to the development of café and farm shop operations to make them more biosphere- and customer-friendly and to improve profitability.
• Croft Café Co-ordinators are important public-facing representatives of Leith Community Croft and Earth in Common, and are expected to abide by the charity’s Code of Conduct, offer efficient and friendly service, also engage with people who don’t necessarily use the café, and be able to inform members of the public about the charity’s history, values, long-term vision and ongoing projects and services and direct them to Earth in Common contact points and colleagues as appropriate.
• While no guarantees can be given, it is hoped that the charity’s finances will allow contracts to be extended, assuming appointees have performed well.

We are looking for a family worker to deliver sessions, clubs and activities for our children, and families. The delivery will be varied and will always be driven by the needs of the community.

You will also be responsible for working on trips and holiday programs.

There will also be the remit of devising and implementing new projects and clubs as guided by funding requirements and service user’s needs.

You will work in partnership with local organisations and schools and build up strong positive community links.

The Base is a place based project your will be expected to work alongside and supporting local volunteers.

You will work to enhance the lives of local children by ensuring activities are provided to develop their mental, emotional, physical and social well-being needs.

You will also be committed to ongoing personal development and undertake training or other professional development activities as required.

All other reasonable duties will be required to be undertaken as and when required and agreed with the Project Manager.

UTHEO is a non-profit organisation that provides a range of services within our busy Neighbourhood Centre.

We require a Bookkeeper / Administrator with experience of all aspects of financial management, PAYE, book-keeping, SAGE Accounts, knowledge of payroll and producing accounts to trial balance stage. The post holder will provide administrative support relevant to this position and have a good working knowledge of MS Office packages.

You will have excellent financial, communication, organisational and administrative skills and be educated to an HND level, however appropriate HNC or suitable experience may be given consideration. Candidates will ideally have an understanding of the voluntary sector and charity funding plus an interest in and an understanding of our work.

(Fixed term contract until 31st March 2026, subject to further funding thereafter)

The Volunteering Officer will work with the Chief Executive and the wider team to encourage and support volunteering at Green Hive, coordinating, administering and developing the current volunteer pool (numbering nearly 200 people), and leading on the recruitment, induction and deployment of new volunteers for different roles across the organisation - including at Seaman’s Hall in Nairn, our Community Workshop and in support of outdoor activities programming.

Context: Launched in 2015, Green Hive (formally Nairn River Enterprise) is a community hub and a charity that specialises in volunteer-led projects and other initiatives, helping to conserve, restore and sustainably develop the natural habitats and public amenities of Nairn and Nairnshire, while cultivating skills and employability and improving outcomes for residents and visitors. Over the last decade the organisation has developed a suite of core business operations that focus on reducing pollution and waste, recycling and re-using discarded man-made materials and promoting more positive interactions with the local environment. It has done this while gradually consolidating its own financial position in support of longer-term organisational sustainability. Recent investment from the Postcode Innovation Trust takes us to the next level, and a dedicated Volunteering Officer will be key to our plans for growth and diversification. In November 2022 Green Hive took ownership of Seaman’s Hall in the Fishertown precinct of Nairn; over the last year it has been developing public programmes aimed at re-establishing this important historic building as a community hub. We are also formulating capital development plans for the facility. The Volunteering Officer will support these activities, contributing meaningfully to the implementation and continuing evolution of our five-year strategic business plan.