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Farmyard Assistant

Farmyard Assistant

Love animals and want to work in an environment that gives back to the community?

Job Title: Farmyard Assistant
Salary: £22,300 per annum
Contract Type: Permanent. Hours 35 hours per week (Wednesday – Sunday with some flexibility)
Responsible to: Farmyard Manager

About Vauxhall City Farm

Vauxhall City Farm is a registered charity governed by a board of Trustees and regulated by the Charity Commission for England and Wales.

We deliver our mission through a range of educational, horticultural and recreational workshops, volunteering, tours and many visitor experiences of an urban farm.

Our aims are to:

Support children and disadvantaged people to boost their confidence and aspirations via the development of personal, social, life and practical skills
Promote emotional, mental, social and physical health and well-being
Develop environmental awareness and action
Strengthen community cohesion
Create enjoyment and recreational opportunities for those from our local and wider communities

About the role

This is an important role that supports our wider aims to develop the educational and environmental offerings of the Farm and supports the visitor experience as well as the personal and social development of children and young people and the wider community.
We are looking for candidates who are passionate about animals who have suitable animal management experience as well as being able to motivate sessional staff and volunteers in supporting the care and welfare of our animals. This role will be to support the Farm Manager across the whole site and oversee the care of all our small animals at Vauxhall City Farm.

Job Description

Animal Management:

To lead on overseeing the health and welfare of all Small Animals i.e. Guinea Pigs, Rabbits, Chickens, Aviary, Ferrets & Ducks.
To lead on overseeing the health and welfare of all boarding Animals on site.
To cover the Farmyard Manager on cross over days looking after the Livestock i.e. Sheep, Goats, Alpacas, Pigs etc.
To assist in the planning and implementing the redevelopment of existing flocks and herds with approval from the Head of Programmes & Farmyard Manager.
To administer injections/medication where relevant and call a vet if there are any health concerns.
To be proactive in implementing an incubation scheme.
To work with the Head of Programmes & Farmyard Manager to develop, improve and maintain the farm site.
To ensure the health and wellbeing of all animals at Vauxhall City Farm, meeting all Animal Welfare criteria under DEFRA guidance, requirements of the local authority and ‘Five Welfare Needs’.
To ensure routine health checks are carried out on a regular basis & logged on to the system.
To monitor the rehoming and retirement process for all small animals, ensuring actions are taken with the approval of the Farmyard Manager.
To maintain a high standard of cleanliness of whole site including stables, hutches and coops, feed room, and muck skip areas to limit disease and illness.
To carry out all routine treatments in line with the annual veterinary calendar
To assist the Farmyard Manager on our yearly Lambing and Kidding breeding program.

Administrative responsibilities

To be responsible for overseeing the check-in and boarding process for customers, ensuring all relevant information is accurately recorded in the Animal Activity Tracker system and log all forms on the share drive.
To maintain accurate knowledge and compliance regarding the completion and recording of all animal movement documentation (Livestock)
To regularly maintain and update the annual veterinary calendar
To ensure all animals records cards and the online veterinary medicine log are accurately maintained and kept up to date as well as the ‘Animal Medicine book’.
To provide any additional administrative support to the Farmyard Manager as and when required.
Staff & volunteer management
To support the training and supervision of volunteers and work experience students in animal husbandry tasks, ensuring a safe and educational working environment.
To provide a morning briefing for all volunteers and sessional staff, to communicate the days’ activities and important information
To ensure high levels of safeguarding of children and young people in accordance with our safeguarding policy.
To work closely with the Farmyard Manager to maximize volunteering opportunities.
To assist the staff team with the planning and provision of educational workshops and events, including the annual Lambeth Country Show.

Health & Safety:

To assist with daily health and safety checks of the farm, highlighting any potential hazards to people or animals and recording this in the maintenance log and reporting it to line management.
To ensure the health and safety of Vauxhall City Farm site, is compliant with regulations.
To ensure hand washing facilities are working, with soap and hand towels always available.
To assist with stock keeping and ordering of cleaning resources for the Farmyard during the absence of the Farmyard Manager.
To be accountable for stocking the animal medical first aid box and safely disposing of out-of-date medicines.

Customer Service:

To deal with customer enquiries & queries in person and over the phone
To proactively engage with visitors, making them feel welcomed and have a safe experience
To populate the welcome desk with volunteers, who greet all those who enter the site.
To facilitate ‘Meet & Greet’ experiences and ‘Farmer for a day’ experiences.

Other Responsibilities:

To assist across teams as and when required, with reasonable request
To follow all Vauxhall City Farm policies and procedures

Role Requirements
The successful candidate must have:

Essential:

Minimum NVQ Level 3 or equivalent qualification in Animal Management/Agriculture
Demonstrable practical experience of working with Livestock & Small Animals.
Good numeracy, literacy & IT skills with ability to keep accurate records
Experience of adhering to health and safety including risk assessments
Excellent organisational and time management skills
Excellent communication skills
A positive team player
Able to meet the physical requirements of the role
Desirable:
Experience working with young people
Experience of managing/motivating volunteers
Previous Lambing experience
Qualified first aider
Previous experience with leading an incubation scheme.
Experience of working in a community/urban farm

How to apply
To apply for the Farmyard Coordinator position please submit:

CV Maximum 2 sides of A4
Covering letter Please include the following…
o What do you love about your current job?
o What would working at the Farm mean to you?
o What skills and experience will you bring that align with the job description?
o What is your super strength?

Email the above to: recruitment@vauxhallcityfarm.org with the subject: Farmyard Assistant Application