Cooking Project Leader - Clacton

As a volunteer Cooking Project Leader you’ll induct volunteers into the kitchen, facilitate the team, create recipe ideas, and lead on the preparation and cooking of the meal.

Responsibilities include:

• Running cooking sessions, leading a team of volunteers to create a three-course meal in a limited timeframe.

• Ensuring the team are following the food safety procedures set out in our kitchen handbook.

• Inducting new volunteers into the kitchen.

• Encouraging the whole team to have input into planning a tasty, healthy, and nutritionally balanced menu.

• Communicating with other Cooking Project Leaders and your Project’s Surplus Food Coordinator(s) to ensure the store of dry/tinned goods is kept tidy and well stocked.

• Completing the weekly checklist in the kitchen handbook, and the weekly session report via the Project Leader portal.

You don’t need to have any previous cooking experience – you just need to love food and motivating people! 

What skills do I need?

Skills you'll learn:

• Teamwork: you’ll work as part of a team to prepare a delicious meal and serve it to our guests.
• Leadership and delegation: we'll train you up to lead cooking sessions and induct new volunteers.
• Cooking: you’ll learn how to cater for large numbers of guests and how to make nutritionally balanced meals.
• Problem solving: you won’t always know your ingredients ahead of time, so you will need to get creative to produce delicious 3 course meals.
• Relationship building: you'll be building lasting relationships with your guests and volunteers, ensuring they come back each week.

What’s expected from me:

We hope that Project Leaders stay with us for a minimum of 6 months, to enable them to get the most out of the role.

As Cooking Project Leader, you will be expected to:

• Attend regular Project Leader meetings to discuss as a team how things are going.
• Lead a minimum of one session per month.
• Follow all FoodCycle policies and procedures, including reporting any accidents and incidents.
• Complete Level 2 Food Safety, Food Allergens, and safeguarding training.
• Complete an enhanced DBS check (required for all roles involving ‘regulated activity’).
• Recognise, respond to, and report any safeguarding issues or concerns. Note: you must not be barred from working with children and adults who may be vulnerable and at risk of abuse or neglect.
• Complete the session Project report on our website after leading a session.

Time commitment The suggested minimum time commitment for the Cooking Project Leader role is 8 hours a month

Interests

• Black and Minority Ethnic Communities
• Families and Parenting
• Health and Social Care
• Homeless and Housing
• Older People

Activities

• Cooking and Catering
• General Helping
• Practical Skills