Aberdeenshire North Foodbank is a crisis intervention service with a vision to end hunger and poverty in our local communities. In the last year we have fed over 8000 people and received just over 87 tonnes of donated food. The service operates across the north of Aberdeenshire in Banff and Buchan, Buchan, Garioch, Formartine and Upper Marr.

The foodbank involves around 80 volunteers and has distribution centres in Inverurie, Ellon, Huntly, Peterhead and Fraserburgh. The food bank enjoys widespread community support from churches and school, as well as from the local authority, statutory agencies and frontline support agencies. Since opening there’s been a growing and sustained use of the Foodbank service with geographical expansion into new areas.

We are also involved in a range of ‘more than emergency food’ projects including an active role in the Fair Food Aberdeenshire Partnership and development work which includes a community market garden and a food hub project in the Huntly and surrounding areas.

The foodbank is an independent Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation operating as part of the Trussell trust food bank. The Trussell trust is a charity founded on Christian principles. We follow the Trust’s operating model working with compassion, honesty integrity openness kindness and care for all people regardless of religious belief or non-belief.

We are working closely with the Trussell Trust on a Pathfinder programme, which allows us to develop and deliver on strategic objectives that align with the Trussell Trust’s strategy for ending the need for emergency food and poverty. This work includes further developing our Financial Inclusion Services, embedding Participation into our organisation and raising awareness and making calls to action in our local communities about understanding and challenging the root causes of poverty.

ROLE OUTLINE AND PURPOSE

This is a new role for our Foodbank and we are seeking a creative and self-motivated individual to support us in our ‘Changing Minds’ and ‘Participation’ agenda. In order to deliver support and services that really make a difference and also influence thinking and policy around poverty, we can only do this if we listen to those of us in our communities who have direct lived experience of poverty and inequalities. We also need to engage with the wider community about drivers of poverty and how they can be involved in influencing change.

This role will focus on engaging and collaborating with individuals, families and groups who have recent, direct lived experience of poverty in order to influence and shape practices and processes within our own foodbank, any projects we are involved in, as well as ensuring greater or more effective actions to influence attitudes are undertaken by people with lived experience of poverty.

You will also be responsible for building and leading a volunteer team to develop and deliver local influencing strategies in our foodbank, organising in our communities to campaign for change. You will take the lead in setting up a new social media management tool and develop a media/ social media strategy focussed on ‘Changing Minds’ content. You will be the link between your food bank and the Organising and Local Mobilisation team at Trussell Trust, as we build a movement to end the need for food banks.

Responsible to: Foodbank Manager

Please see the role responsibilities and person specification attached below.

To apply please send CV and covering letter to workwithus@aberdeenshirenorth.foodbank.org.uk, any informal enquiries can also be sent to this address.

Closing date: 9th May 2022