Post title:           Poole Lifecentre & Foodbank manager

Hours:                30-37 hours per week (negotiable)

Salary:                £30,800 pa (if full-time), plus 6% employer contribution towards pension

Contract:            Permanent

Main location:    St James’ Church Centre, Church Street, Poole, BH15 1JP

Line Manager:    Senior Programmes Lead, Faithworks

What is this project about?

Faithworks’ Poole base is more than a foodbank: it’s a “Lifecentre” supporting
individuals and families in crisis.  It offers a safe, welcoming space for both immediate
aid and long-term solutions, helping people regain stability and confidence.

Over half of guests need just one food parcel to get through a short-term crisis, while one
in five require longer-term, “walk-alongside” support. Services include:

•  Fresh, dairy, and tinned food (centrally stored at our large warehouse in Poole town

centre), plus satellite locations moving towards “local lifecentre” status.

•  Space for conversation to explore needs and existing support.

•  On-site access to debt advice, financial resilience teams, and partner agencies (e.g.

Shelter, Citizens Advice, LiveWell Dorset).

•  Community activities such as shared meals, SMILE lone-parent groups, and links to

local church events.

As a Christian initiative, the Lifecentre operates with generosity, integrity, and grace,
upholding professionalism, safeguarding, and health & safety standards.

Overall Purpose of job:

Lead and oversee the Poole Lifecentre & Foodbank, ensuring the effective delivery and
continual growth of services that support individuals and families in crisis. Champion a
welcoming, collaborative, and empowering environment aligned with Faithworks’ values of
being Welcoming, Alongside, Trusted, Practical, and Empowering

Ultimate success in this role is 3 fold:

-  Making sure every person who walks through the door is valued and supported in the

best possible way so that they leave with new hope

-  Developing a team of staff, volunteers and partners that all share our values and thus

create a place that is safe, welcoming, affirming and hope-filled

-  Promoting the Lifecentre and foodbank so that it is seen as a trusted partner, and a

place that people want to support financially, prayerfully and practically

You’ll be someone who can relate brilliantly to not only our “guests”, but to staff and
volunteers and to partners from both churches and statutory organisations.  You will also
be someone who is “always ready to give a reason for the [Christian] hope that is within
them”.

FW JD: Poole Lifecentre & Foodbank Manager:   Updated Aug 2025

Duties and responsibilities

1.  Lead the Poole Lifecentre & Foodbank team (incl. satellites), supporting, equipping
and enabling them to be the best they can be, including recruiting new team members
where need arises and budget allows

2.  Recruit, train, and nurture volunteers to help all aspects of the work, liaising with the
FW volunteer coordinator; develop a strong team culture through celebration,
learning, listening and empowering

3.  Oversee the activities, working with team members to deliver practical help,

relational support and spiritual hope safely, with the right ethos, and according to
what we have promoted, stepping in to provide cover as required, ensuring briefings
and prayer are in place etc. This to include oversight of the warehouse operation in
Poole Dolphin Centre, and the “satellites” across Poole

4.  Promote, build and maintain “mission partnerships” with local churches, ensuring

prayer support for the Lifecentre, good regular communications, and links for guests
who want to explore faith further; lead services or prayer meetings as needed

5.  Promote our work and strengthen relationships with Partners, helping them

understand our work, ensuring clear referral routes into and out of our services, and
where required, developing new routes of help & hope for guests.

6.  Ensure the accurate and timely recording of all guest / client contacts on the relevant

systems so that all personal files are up to date and accurate.

7.  Work with the Senior Programmes Lead to report on the outcomes from the work,
updating key partners (esp. churches), and creatively communicating appropriate
stories and insights on the work

8.  Safe working: Ensure that all activities comply with Faithworks policies and training.

9.  With the Senior Programmes Lead, develop an annual strategy for this work, and agree

the budget and funding plan to deliver this; regularly review finances to ensure
sufficient funds; contribute to funding bids and campaigns as requested

10.  Develop future, innovative services in line with the needs of the “guests”, available

funding and the overall direction of Faithworks; link up with, share and learn from other
foodbanks (both FW and Trussell)

11.  Work with the FW comms team to build presence on social media and other comms

channels to encourage volunteering, funding and prayer

12.  Encourage, organise and offer prayer for guests where desired; seek ways to offer

opportunities for people to explore the Christian faith in association with local church
partners.

Common duties for all staff:

13. Reflect the servant-hood leadership of Christ in fostering and providing supportive care
for those who come to Poole Lifecentre & foodbank for help, and those who work and
volunteer there

14. Adhere to all policies and procedures;

15. Ensure budgetary compliance;

16. Undertake any other duties commensurate with the role as requested by the Senior

Progammes Lead.

FW JD: Poole Lifecentre & Foodbank Manager:   Updated Aug 2025

Skills, competences and experience shall include:

We’re looking for “character” and “chemistry”, as well as competence.

So, we’re looking for this range of skills:

1.  Managing a project: Able to “keep the main thing, the main thing”; can get things done,
keep to a timetable, produce tangible results, keep activities safe and organised, and
do it all with minimum of fuss. Able to achieve great results but with humility;

2.  Emotional Intelligence: Discerns how people (church leaders, partners, staff and

volunteers) are wired up and finds ways to bring the best out of them; understands
how to lift the mood in a meeting and what an individual needs at a given moment –
not officious or easily angered;

3.  Managing Partnerships: a facilitator; able to build coalitions and find agreed steps
forward; able to resolve issues with tact and positivity; keen to learn from others;

4.  Influencing and Networking: Inspiring; able to “cast” a vision and help people get on
board without taking over; a great communicator verbally and in writing, finding the
right way to bring people into the network; can unite people from different churches;

5.  Managing Staff: get the best out of a range of skills and temperaments; a coach,

supporter and leader; helps people do more than they thought possible;

6.  Managing Volunteers: Great with volunteers – able to see the difference with

managing staff; able to inspire, coach and encourage;

7.  Managing information: Able to create simple ways of demonstrating progress… and

communicate it; comfortable with working with financial info;

8.  Managing Risk: understands safeguarding and H&S: not afraid to raise and escalate

issues if activities are not safely run for all concerned;

9.  Prayerful: turns to prayer easily but with “gentleness and respect” to those in the team;

10. Managing self – will go the extra mile for the work, able to juggle tasks, but also

understands how to “refill the bucket” so as not to burn out.

Additional essential experience and skills:

•  Proven background in managing community or charity services, especially those

addressing food poverty, debt, housing, or social crisis.

•  Strong volunteer management experience—recruiting, developing, and motivating

volunteers.

•  Demonstrated ability to build and maintain partnerships with community, church, or

statutory organisations.

•  Sound appreciation of the needs of those in crisis, and some experience of responding

to such needs with care and sensitivity,

•  Experience of leading a team to deliver a successful outcome, including clear evidence

of prioritising and planning the work that needs to be done,

•

ICT and PC skills in relation to MS Office programs,

FW JD: Poole Lifecentre & Foodbank Manager:   Updated Aug 2025

•  Great communication skills both externally in order to inspire and develop partnerships,

and internally in order to get the best out of team members,

•  Ability to travel.

Desirable experience and skills:

•  Experience of monitoring the performance of a piece of work to ensure that it can be

seen to be meeting the given objectives

•  Evidence of Health & Safety and/or First Aid training/competence.

•  Knowledge of local voluntary and community sector

•  Experience in PR/Comms, fundraising initiatives, or new service development

Key personal characteristics required: -

•  Agreement with the values of Faithworks, FW Our Values

•  Passionate about helping those in need in the community,

•  Outgoing personality, a friendly yet efficient style and the ability to establish a rapid

rapport with people,

•  Able to model a high standard of integrity to volunteers, referrers and clients,

•  A self-starter – can take initiative; but also a willingness to learn new skills as systems

and needs develop,

•  Flexible and always thinking about ways to improve the service.

•  Willingness to work flexible hours, including occasional weekends or evenings

Faithworks is a Christian based charity. As a manager of this important project it is
expected that the post holder will share and model our core values. Therefore, an
occupational requirement exists for the post-holder to be a practising Christian in
accordance with the Equality Act 2010.

Please note that as this role will include working with vulnerable adults, anyone applying
for a role which involves a regulated activity and certain controlled activity will require a
criminal records check from the Disclosure & Barring Service.

FW JD: Poole Lifecentre & Foodbank Manager:   Updated Aug 2025