ACTION PORTY & PORTY COMMUNITY FRIDGE

FESTIVE FOOD BOXES PROJECT COORDINATOR

TEMPORARY CONTRACT (November and December 2025)

Freelance Job Opportunity - We offer 100 hours to be worked flexibly through Nov/Dec 2025 to deliver the smooth running of the project.

SALARY: £20/hour (contractor responsible for own taxes and NI)

Porty Community Fridge is a volunteer-led community organisation which collects close to end-of-life food from local supermarkets and distributes it, to anyone who comes to the Fridge on a Saturday morning. Our main aim is to reduce food waste in the local area (Portobello). This comes from a desire to respond to the Climate Emergency in a practical, urgent way. We want to increase awareness in the community about the environmental impact of food waste and inspire positive changes to behaviour. We also hope to address issues of food poverty as part of this project and reach those in our community who are most in need of food.

Porty Community Fridge is a working group of Action Porty, a community charity based in Portobello. As well as owning and running Bellfield as a community hub, Action Porty has been involved in community activities and local service delivery since its creation.

For the past three years, Porty Community Fridge has tackled festive food waste by delivering free food boxes to selected local residents. Over 200 boxes were delivered on Christmas and Hogmanay Eve by a fleet of committed volunteers.

This year, thanks to a small grant from Neighbourly Community Grant: Sainsbury’s Good Food for All of Us, we are in a position to hire a Project Coordinator to run the Christmas Eve and New Year Boxes Project. The grant will fund the post, the printing of leaflets and few other necessary expenses.

We are looking to hire a Project Coordinator with good planning and organisational skills, and the ability to manage competing priorities effectively. Strong communication skills are essential, along with the ability to quickly build and maintain positive, collaborative relationships with a wide range of people. The post holder will be supported and helped by volunteers. We offer 100 hours to be worked flexibly through Nov/Dec 2025 to deliver the smooth running of the project. The Project Coordinator will report directly to the coordinating group (who are all volunteers) and will be line-managed by a volunteer.

The successful coordinator will need to have a good understanding of the Handbook and must sign the Fridge’s Volunteer Agreement before starting the job.  They will report directly to the Coordinator Group and will be line-managed by a volunteer.

Project Coordinator responsibilities will include (not full list of tasks):

· The project manager is expected to work collaboratively with the coordinating group of the project.

· Recruit and manage volunteers, create and manage rota for Xmas Eve and Hogmanay.

· Support those volunteers to have a safe, fun, and fulfilling experience of helping out.

· Hold a briefing meeting for Xmas/Hogmanay volunteers.

· Liaise with community contacts to offer box deliveries, ensuring everyone understands what we’re offering. Gather lists of recipients for Xmas Eve and Hogmanay with addresses and phone numbers, number in household and dietary preferences, being mindful of GDPR requirements.

· Contact recipients before delivery days to confirm delivery and be explicit that recipient must be home to receive the box (that boxes cannot and will not be left outside).

· Liaise with stores and other food collection organisers (we have existing contacts)

· Create routes for the collections and communicate these to relevant collectors.

·    Set up whatsapps to communicate on the night.

·    Share a thank you or two on social media to everyone.

·    Make it fun.

Christmas Eve and Hogmanay are likely to be 10-12 hour working days each – approx. midday to around midnight, depending on planning and organising prior to those days. The contractor should expect to work these full shifts, fully supporting the volunteers on the project. The remaining hours are to be worked in November/December, with a potential wrap-up in early January 2025.

A likely work pattern would roughly be:

· 7 hours in week 1 (from end of November).

· 10/12 hours per week (from early December), including attendance at the Saturday distribution to explain the project and gather names of interested residents. Briefing meeting with Fridge volunteers.

· 20/25 hours to cover the weeks starting 22nd and 29th December.

· 7 hours in January 2026 to wrap up the project.

Project Coordinator could ideally demonstrate most of the following skills:

· Volunteer Management - experience of recruiting and managing volunteers

· Ability to work independently without supervision on a daily basis

·  Planning organising skills - excellent planning and organisation skills with the ability to manage priorities, good communicator.

· Interpersonal skills - proven ability to create and maintain collaborative working relationships with a range people.

· Team working - ability to work well within a team, providing support and coaching to volunteers. IT skills - proficient in the use of email, word processing and spreadsheet IT packages, Competent in Facebook, ideally with skills in designing eye catching leaflets.

·  Data Management - ability to collate and analyse data to produce reports.

·  Data Management – Strong understanding of data protection considerations of the project.

·  Health and Safety qualification or experience would be beneficial.

We welcome job share applications and we encourage applications from our volunteers. We recognise that not all applicants will have formal experience or qualifications, we are keen to support such applications.

Interested applicants should send a CV with a covering letter of no more than one page of A4 explaining why they would make a good Festive Food Boxes Project Coordinator to portyfridge@gmail.com by midnight on Friday 31st October.

Interviews will take place during the weekend of 8th/9th November and appointment will be made by Friday 14th November at the latest. Applicant must be able to start Monday 24th November.