About FareShare South West
FareShare South West (FSSW) joins the dots between food waste and hunger, empowering communities to turn an environmental problem into lasting social good. We rescue tonnes of quality surplus food from the industry and share it with charities and schools to bring health, dignity, and routes out of poverty for people across the south west. Our supportive volunteering and employability programmes offer local people the opportunity to thrive. FareShare South West is an independent local charity, working in partnership with FareShare UK. By being part of the national FareShare network, we can help rescue more food. By being small and independent, we can remain close to our local partners and people and continuously adapt to meet the needs of local communities. The member charities we share food with transform lives, using food to connect people with other support and routes out of poverty, including children and families, people on low incomes, homeless people, refugees, domestic abuse survivors, people in recovery, older people, and many others. You'll be part of an inclusive, friendly team in a small but fast-growing charity that helps fight the injustice of who gets to afford a healthy diet.
Purpose of the role
Volunteers are the backbone of our operation at FareShare South West (FSSW). We have over 350 volunteers from a myriad of backgrounds, who make up 90% of our team. The volunteers help with every aspect of the operation, from driving vans, picking orders, to administrative duties. FSSW has built a successful volunteer programme which supports a wide demographic of people and multiple motivations for volunteering. This role will take a lead on all aspects of recruitment, retention, and development of our volunteer programme during this exciting time in the charity as we expand.
Duties and Responsibilities:
Volunteer Recruitment
* Work with the Communications and Volunteering teams to actively promote the volunteer programme across Bristol
* Work with the wider FSSW team to support and develop volunteering opportunities for corporate supporters and food partners; taking a lead in the delivery of corporate volunteering events
* Use and improve on existing processes to manage recruitment from initial enquiry through to successful onboarding of prospective volunteers and partners
* Develop outreach activities to increase diversity, social impact, and community engagement
* Work with Head of Employability & Volunteering and the wider team to ensure sufficient dependable volunteers to meet the operational needs, working to KPIs
* Work with the Volunteer Coordinators to identify fluctuations in the volunteer rota, and action accordingly
* Work with the Head of Employability & Volunteering and Volunteer Coordinators to identify tasks/roles/needs to inform a recruitment strategy for the future
Volunteer Retention:
* Enhance the existing volunteer retention programme
* Work in collaboration with the Plymouth Volunteering Team to ensure alignment in the delivery of the organisational strategy
* Work with the Head of Employability & Volunteering and Head of Operations to ensure the delivery of high-quality volunteer induction and training
* Analyse and monitor volunteer retention, noting reasons for moving on and developing strategies to improve retention where required
* Develop volunteer roles in conjunction with the Operations Teams
* Build upon and establish new referral partners and recruitment platforms/streams
* Support the Head of Employability and Volunteering to ensure all Volunteer policies and processes are up to date, and training is given to staff to uphold them
* Work with the Employability Team to create routeways into volunteering
Administration, policies, procedures, and risk management
* Support the Head of Employability & Volunteering to develop and maintain volunteer policies, procedures, and risk assessments
* Ensure volunteers are adhering to FSSW's Code of Conduct, facilitating meetings with volunteers if necessary, conducting relevant risk assessments, and following safeguarding measures
* Ensure the Volunteer Coordinators are sufficiently trained in the CRM system (Salesforce) to keep up to date in line with GDPR
* Work with the Volunteer Coordinator/s to ensure FSSW's databases are up to date with volunteer information, including skills, availability, and contact details/preferences
Person specification – knowledge, skills, experience, and values
It is not expected that the successful candidate will have all of the following criteria. FSSW is committed to helping individuals develop professionally and personally. The following are desirable criteria:
* Experience in data informed recruitment and retention of volunteers or employees
* Experience in developing and implementing policies, procedures, programmes and strategies
* Experience of risk management and safeguarding vulnerable adults
* Experience in providing supportive, motivational, structured team leadership for people with a range of life experiences, including supervision, target setting and performance management
* A working knowledge or direct experience of the voluntary sector
* Excellent communication, presentation, and interpersonal skills to establish and develop positive relationships with volunteers, external partners and beneficiaries
* Excellent organisational, IT and time management skills to prioritise work, handle conflicting demands and meet tight deadlines in a fast-paced environment
* Ability to produce high-quality data with evaluation and strategic actions
* Commitment to and experience in supporting people of all ages and backgrounds to thrive in line with diversity, equity and inclusion policies
If you have any questions about the post, please contact Sam Robinson at
Job Types: Full-time, Permanent
Pay: £28,500.00 per year
Benefits:
* Company pension
Work authorisation:
* United Kingdom (required)
Work Location: In person
Application deadline: 14/09/2025