Job summary
- Main area
- Volunteer
- Grade
- Volunteer
- Contract
- Voluntary
- Hours
- Flexible working
- Job ref
- 277-8171095-VOL
- Employer
- Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Queen Marys Hospital
- Town
- Sidcup
- Salary
- Voluntary Role
- Closing
- 04/08/2026 23:59
Employer heading
Volunteer Gardener MSK Queen Marys Hospital
Volunteer
Job overview
We have a medium size courtyard and are in the process of developing this into a therapeutic space so that service users with long term conditions can use the space to access peer support, and as part of their rehabilitation. We are looking for a volunteer gardener to help with the general upkeep of the Therapy Garden. This could include independent gardening as well as working with service users to support them in the space i.e. seed sowing for summer with a group of service users.
We are really hoping that the garden can be a lovely therapeutic space for service users living with long term pain and that we can support them to live happier and healthier lives by accessing a green space.
Main duties of the job
A volunteer would provide invaluable support:
· Help maintain planted areas and internal courtyards, with regular planting, weeding, and mulching.
· Create wildlife habitats, such as insect hotels, bird boxes.
· Help plant seeds and bulbs and provide aftercare.
· Monitor butterflies, pollinators, plants and other wildlife
· Encourage and inspire others to use the garden space
· Report any concerns, issues to the service manager
Working for our organisation
Oxleas offers a wide range of NHS healthcare services to people in community and secure environment settings. Our services include community health care such as district nursing and speech and language therapy, care for people with learning disabilities and mental health care such as psychiatry, nursing and therapies. Our multidisciplinary teams look after people of all ages and we work in close partnership with other parts of the NHS, local councils and the voluntary sector and through our new provider collaboratives. Our 4,300 members of staff work in many different settings including hospitals, clinics, prisons, secure hospitals, children’s centres, schools and people’s homes.
We have over 125 sites in a variety of locations in the South of England. In London we operate within the Boroughs of Bexley, Bromley Greenwich and into Kent. We manage hospital sites including Queen Mary’s Hospital, Sidcup and Memorial Hospital, Woolwich, as well as the Bracton Centre, our medium secure unit for people with mental health needs. We are the largest NHS provider of prison health services providing healthcare to prisons within Devon, Dorset, Bristol, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, Kent and South London. We are proud of the care we provide and our people.
Our purpose is to improve lives by providing the best possible care to our patients and their families. This is strengthened by our new values:
- We’re Kind
- We’re
- We Listen
- We Care
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
We have a medium size courtyard and are in the process of developing this into a therapeutic space so that service users with long term conditions can use the space to access peer support, and as part of their rehabilitation. We are looking for a volunteer gardener to help with the general upkeep of the Therapy Garden. This could include independent gardening as well as working with service users to support them in the space i.e. seed sowing for summer with a group of service users.
We are really hoping that the garden can be a lovely therapeutic space for service users living with long term pain and that we can support them to live happier and healthier lives by accessing a green space.
A volunteer would provide invaluable support:
· Help maintain planted areas and internal courtyards, with regular planting, weeding, and mulching.
· Create wildlife habitats, such as insect hotels, bird boxes.
· Help plant seeds and bulbs and provide aftercare.
· Monitor butterflies, pollinators, plants and other wildlife
· Encourage and inspire others to use the garden space
· Report any concerns, issues to the service manager
Person specification
Knowledge
Essential criteria
- A knowledge of plants and wildlife is required
Experience
Essential criteria
- Experience of gardening and general upkeep of gardens is required
Skills
Essential criteria
- A calm and patient nature is required due to the nature of the therapy groups
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Applicant requirements
The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Julie Langford
- Job title
- Voluntary Services Development Manager
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 02088368511
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