Granton Castle Walled Garden Development Officer (one year)
N.B. REVISED CLOSING DATE 8/1/2021
Are you interested in working with local volunteers and community groups to help protect and develop a late medieval walled garden in North West Edinburgh?
The Friends of Granton Castle Walled Garden are looking for a Development Officer to coordinate plans for work in the garden and in the community over the coming year, a time when we will all hope to see a different world emerging.
£15 ph for an average of 24hpw on a self-employed basis.
Under the oversight of the Trustees, duties would include:
Developing our website, communications and social media with regular updates and monthly newsletters;
Reorganising our database to update our contacts, volunteers, members/friends and associates while ensuring GDPR compliance;
Fundraising for our strategic plan including future funding for administrator, gardener, green gym, Victorian greenhouse re-build, workshops and events, utilities etc.;
Coordinating volunteers, special interest groups and working parties, especially for gardening, workshops and events;
Strengthening links with educational and community groups and increase participation of local residents;Updating policies: eg H & S, Safeguarding, Volunteer Induction;
Exploring feasibility of installation of electricity and water.
Hours of work will vary due to garden seasonality, events, workshops, meetings and when volunteers are available and will include some weekend working.
Formal qualifications are not essential, but experience of communicating and networking with Council and community groups, good MS Office and fund-raising skills and expertise in social media and database development, preferably within an historic, horticultural environment, required.
Interviews will be held in January 2021 to start in March 2021.
Are you interested in working with local volunteers and community groups to help protect and develop a late medieval walled garden in North West Edinburgh?
The Friends of Granton Castle Walled Garden are looking for a Development Officer to coordinate plans for work in the garden and in the community over the coming year, a time when we will all hope to see a different world emerging.
£15 ph for an average of 24hpw on a self-employed basis.
Under the oversight of the Trustees, duties would include:
Developing our website, communications and social media with regular updates and monthly newsletters;
Reorganising our database to update our contacts, volunteers, members/friends and associates while ensuring GDPR compliance;
Fundraising for our strategic plan including future funding for administrator, gardener, green gym, Victorian greenhouse re-build, workshops and events, utilities etc.;
Coordinating volunteers, special interest groups and working parties, especially for gardening, workshops and events;
Strengthening links with educational and community groups and increase participation of local residents;
Updating policies: eg H & S, Safeguarding, Volunteer Induction;
Exploring feasibility of installation of electricity and water.
Hours of work will vary due to garden seasonality, events, workshops, meetings and when volunteers are available and will include some weekend working.
Formal qualifications are not essential, but experience of communicating and networking with Council and community groups, good MS Office and fund-raising skills and expertise in social media and database development, preferably within an historic, horticultural environment, required.
The efforts of 14 Edinburgh groups have been acknowledged by environmental charity Keep Scotland Beautiful at an online seminar yesterday.
North Edinburgh is well represented among these green-fingered groups, with awards for Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre, Fresh Start Growers, Friends of Granton Castle Walled Garden, Friends of Lauriston Castle Estate, Friends of Starbank Park and North Edinburgh Arts Gardening Group.
The other capital groups to receive awards are Balerno Village Gardeners, Craigentinny Community Gardening Project, Craigentinny Primary Parent Council, Friends of Morningside Cemetery, Friends of Saughton Park, Inch View Care Home, Inspiring Hillside and Northfield Community Growing Group.
Annually Keep Scotland Beautiful runs two community environmental improvement programmes in partnership with the Royal Horticultural Society; the competitive Beautiful Scotland campaign and the It’s Your Neighbourhood initiative.
Faced with the challenges of 2020, there has never been a more important time to recognise and celebrate the achievements of communities and individuals across Edinburgh.
Throughout lockdown and the following months, groups have worked tirelessly to improve their communities through horticulture, environmental responsibility and working in partnership for the benefit of residents, visitors and our natural environment.
Despite circumstances this year, 47 new entrants were welcomed to the network, and although judging and mentoring visits were not able to take place due to restrictions across Scotland, groups were still supported with online seminars, networking events, question and answer sessions and a weekly e-newsletter.
Barry Fisher, CEO of Keep Scotland Beautifulsaid, “We know that lockdown resulted in many people reconnecting with green and blue spaces local to them. Yet, it has also been a particularly challenging year for the communities who strive every year to protect and enhance the places they live and work in.
“I’d like to thank all the groups in Edinburgh for the efforts they have made to keep Scotland beautiful this year.”
Although many of the groups had to stop or curtail their planned activities for the year, we have been blown away by what they have managed to achieve – whether that be setting up a food bank, encouraging and supporting others to grow their own, creating virtual garden tours, connecting their members through online catch ups and keeping their neighbourhoods bright and cheerful.
30 groups in Edinburgh are today sharing in £635,368 of National Lottery funding.Stepping Stones North Edinburgh is among those celebrating this morning – the project based on Pilton Drive North has received over £163,000.
Stepping Stones North Edinburgh will use their lottery grant to provide support to families experiencing challenging circumstances. It’s expected that up to 230 local people will benefit over the three years of funding and the funding will also provide volunteering opportunities.
Upward Mobility today receives £37,767 of funding, raised by National Lottery players, to provide a range of support and learning opportunities to adults with learning disabilities and autism.
Welcoming the funding, Andrew Thomson, Chief Executive, Upward Mobility Ltd, said: “The team at Upward Mobility are very grateful to have been awarded National Lottery Community Funding to enable us to support our students within their homes during this period of lock down and restrictions on group activities.
“Being able to take support services to our students enables us to maintain contact and help to reduce the feeling of isolation and anxiety experienced during these challenging times. We would wish to thank the National Lottery players for their donations enabling us to carry on this vital work.”
Street Fit Scotlandreceives £9,584 to provide a range of support for homeless and vulnerably housed people across the city.
Michelle Reilly, Founder/Chief Executive, Street Fit Scotland, said: “We are very grateful to receive this National Lottery funding which has enabled us to support the homeless community in Edinburgh to start to recover from lockdown.
“We are now actively providing a variety of outdoor socially distanced fitness sessions again at the meadows. It’s great to see the community connecting again whilst getting fitter and having fun together after experiencing such a tough time.”
And Sikh Sanjog receives £8,400 to conduct research through to December 2020 which will investigate the impact of COVID-19 on the Sikh communities across Scotland.
Trishna Singh OBE, Director, Sikh Sanjog, said: “Sikh Sanjog is the only Family Sikh Support charity in Scotland.
“Although being the gateway to the Sikh community in Scotland, resources have meant that research on the Sikh community has often had to take a step back to ensure focus on front line services. However, the funding awarded from the National Lottery will allow us to create a vital research project which will provide a starting point to assess the impact that COVID-19 has had on Sikhs living in Scotland during the time of the pandemic.
“The funding will enable us to extend the research project to cover not only the early effects the pandemic has had on the Sikh community, but also the current and future impact as we learn to adapt to this new normal.”
Edinburgh based youth mental health charity, U-Evolve, have received a National Lottery award from The National Lottery Community Fund to ensure that young people, parents and front line professionals can access the resources they need to build good mental health, through their new online service – TALK hub.
U-Evolve, which was established in 2015, works with young people age 11-18 years old, providing 1:1 therapeutic coaching, youth mental health awareness workshops and training for frontline professionals, such as teachers and youth workers. This person centred, holistic support ensures that young people have the resources and environments they need to thrive.
The TALK hub will be a virtual one stop shop for trusted resources and tools to support good mental health and wellbeing. These resources for young people, their parents and teachers will include a series of videos and podcasts responding to the questions and concerns U-Evolve hear most.
John*, one of the young people U-Evolve support said: “I am much more positive and happier with myself and how I look at the lockdown. I’m now back at work and felt rejuvenated coming back into work.
“My family and friends all noted drastic changes in my mood. To quote one of them, “You looked different than usual.”, when I question what was different, they said “You’re just radiating positivity.”
“This was when I realised that the help from U-evolve had affected more than just my thoughts and feelings towards being isolated, but that I felt more confident as myself and that I was able to get through a difficult time (albeit with some help) and that I could feel proud of myself for persevering and reflecting on myself as a whole.”
Becky Duff, U-Evolve’s CEO said: “We are delighted to receive this award from the National Lottery Community Fund. This support means that we can create our TALK hub and reach more young people and families than ever before.
“We’re seeing first- hand the impact the Covid-19 pandemic continues to have on young people and their families, and it’s more important than ever that these people can access the support they need, when they need it.”
*name changed for anonymity
Other Edinburgh and Leith projects to receive good news this morning include the Friends of Granton Castle Walled Garden, Pilmeny Youth Centre, The Junction and the Men of Leith & District Men’s Shed group.
Announcing today’s funding of £5.5m to 257 projects across Scotland, The National Lottery Community Fund’s Scotland Chair, Kate Still, said: “In these uncertain times our priority is to ensure that National Lottery money continues to flow to charities, voluntary sector organisations and grassroots groups.
“I would like to congratulate Upward Mobility, Street Fit Scotland and Sikh Sanjog on their awards. Each are important projects which will support people now and in the future when they can physically come back together to make great things happen in their community.”
“National Lottery players can be proud to know that money they raise by buying tickets is continuing to make such a difference.”
National Lottery players raise £30 million every week for good causes in the UK.
The National Lottery Community Fund in Scotland is currently focusing its funding on those projects that supporting organisations and communities to respond to the challenge of COVID-19.
Lottery boost for Friends of Granton Castle Walled Garden
The Friends’ group’s Gillean Paterson explained: “We received £10,000 from the National Lottery to match fund the grant from The Robertson Trust.
“The money is specifically to employ a Community Project Development Officer for one year to put in place plans for the garden.
“These include more community veg growing, a green gym, planting a miniforest to increase biodiversity, longer opening times – and that’s just to begin with!”
We are pleased to let you know that from Monday (22nd June) we will hold volunteer gardening sessions from 2-4pm every day except Thursday.
We will continue to work at a safe distance of 2 metres and request that you bring your own gloves and hand sanitisers/wipes.
Please avoid attending the garden if you feel unwell, if you have been in contact with another person who is unwell, or if you have an underlying health condition that would make you vulnerable to infection.
We look forward to seeing you. There is a great deal to do!
