OzHarvest, Australia's leading food rescue organisation, is looking for fresh faces to help nourish the Greater Sydney community!

Every day across the country, our teams collect tonnes of quality excess food that would otherwise go to waste from supermarkets, bakeries, wholesalers and caterers. This food is then redistributed to a number of local charities providing assistance to vulnerable people in our communities. Our food rescue and relief services are completely free of charge to both donors and recipient charities. Our regular and free food deliveries to charities enable them to provide crucial food relief services while reducing their food spending and redirecting vital funding into education, rehabilitation and other services.

Each week, we prevent tonnes of good food from going to landfill - which in turn prevents tonnes of warming gases entering our atmosphere. By preventing quality food from being wasted, we're valuing this essential resource, we're nourishing our planet and fighting climate change, and we're nourishing our community with nutritious, quality, surplus food.

About OzHarvest’s NEST program

NEST (Nutrition Education Skills Training) is a six-week, hands-on program teaching adults about healthy eating and easy, affordable cooking in a friendly and fun environment. NEST is aligned with the Australian Dietary Guidelines and works with everyone to set realistic goals around healthy eating on a budget.

Our NEST teams host small community groups (often the charities we support with food rescue deliveries) in their kitchens to help participants set personal goals, learn how to cook easy, low-cost recipes and share a meal together. The evidence-based public health program has been formally evaluated to promote cooking confidence, healthy eating, and food security.

We're looking to find Volunteer NEST Workshop Assistants to assist our NEST Coordinators in facilitating NEST workshops at community groups in Greater Sydney.

About the NEST Workshop Assistant role

Our NEST Workshop Assistant role is a hands-on, high-energy and rewarding experience. You’ll be assisting our NEST Coordinator in a kitchen environment to guide community groups through theoretical and practical activities to learn nutrition skills and cook and prepare meals.

The NEST program runs for a period of 6 weeks, one lesson per week, usually on the same day and time each week. We ask NEST volunteers to ideally commit to 6 consecutive weekly shifts (1 day a week for approx. 3-4 hours) to cover the full program at a community group. This allows your relationship with the participants to develop which helps their learning and connection, and also makes it easier for you to be comfortable in your environment.

Each session involves cooking a meal that is shared at the end of the session. As a volunteer, your role in the workshop will be to assist the facilitator to:

• Assist in the workshop set up
• Help participants complete relevant forms or paperwork
• Supervise and assist a group of participants when preparing recipes
• Assist participants and facilitator with clean up at the end of the session
• Be an ambassador for OzHarvest and represent us in a positive manner with participant charity staff and participants, fellow OzHarvest team mates, and the general public
• Other volunteering roles may arise from time to time, including community events/market stalls, fundraising, and food rescue roles

SUITABLE APPLICANTS WILL HAVE:

• Strong communication skills
• A reasonable level of physical fitness for moving about a teaching kitchen at each community group
• Reliability and ability to commit to a regular shift
• Ability to complete online training modules as part of onboarding
• A Working With Children Check (or ability to gain one)
• A team-oriented approach
• A positive, flexible, can-do attitude
• Strong interpersonal skills
• Understanding the sensitive issues faced by vulnerable people connected to the charities we service
• Availability for a 3-4 hour shift on weekdays during business hours, at various locations throughout Greater Sydney

BENEFITS OF VOLUNTEERING WITH OZHARVEST:

• A sense of contribution by helping us to protect our planet and meet our national goal of halving food waste by 2030, and by supporting your local community
• Personal fulfilment through helping provide skills and knowledge to those experiencing food insecurity, about how to eat healthy, nourishing food on a budget
• Being part of a dynamic supportive team of staff and volunteers working toward a common goal