Horton WHC - Holidays for Women and Children

JOB DESCRIPTION

This post is open to women only. Accommodation for workers is in a first floor bed-sitting room and the coach house. Kitchen, bathroom and all other facilities are shared with visitors. No pets are allowed.

Potential applicants with dependents and/or disabilities -

As an organisation we are striving to make this job accessible for all women, however at present we are aware that our facilities/accommodation for workers may present some difficulties for women with dependents and/or disabilities. Please contact us if you need to discuss any issues relevant to this.

Purpose of the job

Workers co-ordinate the day to day running of the Women's Holiday Centre (W.H.C.) including administration, house keeping and maintenance and dealing with all aspects of visitors' stays.

Responsibilities

• To develop and maintain good communication in all aspects of the organisation, especially with your co-worker, the Management Committee(M.C.) and visitors.
• Ensuring that the WHC maintains a positive image with the visitors and in the village.
• Ensuring the financial security of the WHC in conjunction with the M.C.
• Attending and reporting to monthly M.C. meetings. These meetings are to discuss administration, policy, finance, maintenance and any problems or difficulties.
• Liasing with the M.C. and the Co-op, to whom the workers are responsible.
• To abide by the W.H.C. procedures and policy. To ensure visitors comply with policy too.

Duties

Administrative and Financial

• Book keeping and financial systems: pay bills, keep all receipts, record all transactions, maintain a petty cash system, etc.
• Taking bookings: keeping a bookings diary, chasing up deposits, taking, recording and paying in to the bank visitors' payments, donations and other monies.
• Answering letters and sending out information, posters, leaflets, etc.
• Maintaining the filing system in an accessible way.
• Keeping up-to-date lists of women interested in house-sitting; work weeks; fund-raising; special activity weeks etc.
• Keeping a work diary of things happening in the house e.g. fire appliances service date etc.

Domestic Work

• Ensuring the house is clean, tidy and welcoming to visitors. Making sure this is maintained through joint worker and visitor effort!
• Maintaining the playroom and play equipment in a safe and inviting state.
• Laundry of all bedding, towels etc.
• Ensuring the house is adequately stocked with essentials such as food, fuel, etc. within a tight budget.

Maintenance

• Identifying and reporting to M.C. on structural needs of the buildings.
• Maintaining the general fabric of the house and organising repairs.
• Organising volunteer work weeks as necessary; usually 2 per year.
• Arranging servicing and repairs of the car, including MOT, tax and insurance.
• Garden maintenance; e.g. hedges, lawn mowing, safe state of trees, general tidying. There is also a space for growing vegetables if you want to.

Health and Safety

• Conducting regular checks
• Improvements - taking immediate action as needed plus making recommendations to M.C.
• Making sure visitors are aware of and comply with health and safety regulations.

Visitors

• Ensuring visitors are made welcome and shown how the house works. Answering their enquiries and providing information e.g. bus time-tables, up-to-date information on things to do in the local area.
• Encouraging women to cook together and ensuring women do chores routinely so that the house is kept in a reasonable state.
• Ensuring women with disabilities can use the house as fully as possible.
• Setting appropriate boundaries with visitors who often have unrealistic expectation of workers availability e.g. to offer support, party all night, etc
• Operating bookings policies e.g. limiting closed house weekends; organising special activity weeks / weekends such as older boys weeks.

Development Work

This work is done jointly with the M.C.

• Proposing and planning improvements to the general facilities, especially to increase access for women and children with disabilities.
• Fund-raising initiatives including inviting visitors to make a donation or covenant in addition to their visitor payment; organising sponsored events, applying to funding bodies for grants, etc.
• Actively promoting the W.H.C. wherever possible.
• Producing routine and new publicity and developing ideas for attracting new visitors to the centre and to maximise its use mid-week and in the winter.

Hours of Work

This is a living in job with usually about 35hrs basic per week, but as you might imagine, living and working in the same place, with guests almost constantly staying, is very demanding. Workers negotiate between themselves their time off work so that reasonable cover of the house is maintained. This flexible approach has proven to be satisfactory to all. The workers are on call outside of these basic hours. It is the responsibility of the workers to arrange house sitters to cover holidays or illness, from an approved list.

Holidays

30 days per year as per contract. No overtime payments are available; however, in certain circumstances, time off in lieu may be negotiated with the M.C.

Wages

Wages are £706.77 gross per month. There is a deduction of £215.00 from this to cover accommodation, food, bills, a phone allowance and use of a vehicle. (It needs to be taken into account that there will be no bills to pay, which does make the wage more reasonable than first appears). Most workers will also be able to claim Working Tax Credit. The wage is increased annually in line with inflation if funds are available.

Contract

In accordance with our constitution, posts are offered for a minimum of 12 months, subject to a satisfactory 3 month probationary and training period. After each year there is a review and the contract can be extended up to a total of 3 years.

Responsibility

The workers are responsible in the first instance to the M.C. of the Women's Holiday Centre and ultimately to the W.H.C. Co-operative. There is no direct supervision or line management: the workers have to take a lot of responsibility. It is the intention of M.C. to provide regular, monthly supervision sessions. The workers should not hesitate in contacting M.C. or their personal supervisor for support or advice.

Essential Personal Qualities

1. Ability to see the lighter side of things
2. Non judgemental attitude
3. Ability to work on your own initiative
4. Assertive
5. Ability to deal with conflict
6. Ability to get on with a wide range of people
7. Ability to work in an isolated environment
8. Ability to cope with personal and emotional challenges
9. Ability to set clear personal boundaries and develop own support systems.

Essential Skills

1. Ability to liase with other agencies, Management Committee and the Co-op
2. Ability to work unsupervised
3. Ability to prioritise workload and structure own work
4. Ability to work within a low budget
5. Ability to work with a wide range of people from different backgrounds, cultures and needs
6. Ability to implement the policies of the house
7. Understanding of and commitment to Equal Opportunities
8. Good written and spoken communication skills
9. Experience of and a positive approach to children
10. Willingness to uptake training where applicable
11. Ability to maintain administration systems efficiently

Desirable Skills

(these are not essential, but would be useful)

1. Experience within a voluntary sector setting
2. Experience of producing publicity materials
3. Book-keeping experience
4. Ordering and shopping for large numbers
5. Ability to participate in meetings
6. Computer/IT skills
7. Goods public relations skills
8. Experience of fund raising
9. Experience of shared living
10. Basic Car Maintenance
11. First Aid knowledge
12. DIY skills
13. Driving Licence (Driving has previously proved essential, however this may be negotiable)

Page last updated : 16^th November 2008

Women's Holiday Centre
The Old Vicarage
Horton-In-Ribblesdale
Settle
North Yorkshire
BD24 0HD
Tel: 01729 860207