Current Vacancies

Tuppenny Barn Centre Manager & Deputy to the CEO

Job Description

Salary: Up to £32k, dependent on experience

Hours:  40 hours per week. Monday – Friday 8.30am – 5pm with some flexibility for occasional evening and weekend commitments

Location: Southbourne, West Sussex

Contract: Permanent position. Office based

Reports to: CEO

Closing Date: Midday 21^st November 2025

Interviews

Interviews for short listed candidates will be held at Tuppenny Barn.

Tuppenny Barn

Tuppenny Barn is located on an award winning organic smallholding and its key charitable objective is to provide children with the experience of growing, cooking and eating healthy food, particularly with disadvantaged children. The charity introduces the concepts of sustainability, biodiversity and conservation to the next generation responsible for protecting the environment.  Horticulture Therapy for vulnerable adults within the community is a secondary charitable activity we facilitate with outcomes that can be life changing.

Tuppenny Barn was founded in 2005 and has subsequently grown from a hectare of pastureland into a thriving smallholding. The fully accessible education centre is built with environmentally friendly materials and is an instantly recognisable and outstanding icon for the project. It contains a large kitchen where the home-grown produce is cooked during some school visits. The site where fruit and vegetables are grown organically is fully accredited by the Soil Association. It works as an outdoor classroom enabling hands-on experience for young people on our programmes. The charity currently reaches out to around 2000 young people each year and is committed to expanding its services.  This includes running 6 green therapy programmes using gardening as a focus for those considered vulnerable within the community. There is a twice weekly produce shop, and the centre is available for private hire.

Main Purpose of the Role

• Actively lead and collaborate with the wider team in delivering the day-to-day operations of the Tuppenny Barn Charity to promote its aims and activities and supporting all staff, volunteers and beneficiaries.

Key Responsibilities

• Oversee the busy daily activities and duties of the Centre and charity, providing efficient management and administration to support effective day-to-day running of all operational matters.
• Support the CEO and Board of Trustees and deputise as required.
• Be adaptable and able to balance everyday operational demands with medium term planning and administration, informing the strategic direction of the charity.
• Co-ordination and administration of all Tuppenny Barn events.
• Undertake reception duties and diary management.
• Data processing and inputting and management of records.
• Maintain Tuppenny Barn website

Activities and Duties

• Provide day to day leadership and decision making for the smooth operation of Tuppenny Barn activities.  Deputise for the CEO and Board of Trustees in executive decisions in their absence.
• Co-ordination of facilities management for all centre users including security, health and safety, cleaning, servicing, maintenance and repairs. This includes ensuring keeping up to date on all subject areas and inform on where the charity policy needs to be updated.
• Co-ordination and administration of the education centre private hire from initial enquiry through to delivery. This requires occasionally to be on call, a duty shared with the CEO if it is an evening or weekend hire.
• Responsible for the coordination and facilitation of wakes for the duration of the event, or to ensure a suitably trained person undertakes this role.
• Instigate and facilitate the annual events programme with assistance from the CEO.
• For Tuppenny Barn fundraising events tasks can include liaising with suppliers, managing staff and volunteer rosters, instigating event ticketing and overseeing all ticket sales using the Events Calendar software, writing risk assessments, assessing parking requirements, arranging pop up café and associated volunteer staff. This will include attending some of the events as required, which can include evening or weekend work.
• Coordinate with other managers and staff to ensure a team approach for continuity of business of all charitable activities and functions.
• Deputising for the CEO’s annual leave and other staff leave when required to ensure continuity of business. This could include assisting the cropping team.
• Liaising with the IT contractor to ensure the smooth running of the charity IT system.
• Maintain the charity website with assistance from the external IT company as and when required.
• Liaising with the Social Media Manager for all Tuppenny Barn marketing.
• Co-ordination of marketing event posters and fliers. Liaison with the printer or graphic designer for production of all marketing materials.
• Responsible for Tuppenny Barn volunteer administration including contact details/medical information in conjunction with the Volunteer Co-ordinator.
• Key holder. Maintain up to data records of all Tuppenny Barn key holders.
• Set-up, manage and pack up the shop on occasions when the Shop Manager is on leave or where additional support is required. This can include physical tasks that require some heavy lifting.
• Responsible for Tuppenny Barn personnel administration, including record keeping and holiday records
• Undertake day to day management of finances including maintaining records, raising and paying invoices and reporting on budgets and expenditure.
• Liaison with external collaborative partners for some of the horticulture therapy activities, including producing reports and record keeping.
• Act as Safeguarding Lead or Deputy.
• Attending occasional events representing Tuppenny Barn with an aim of informing the wider community on the work of the charity.
• Support to the Board of Trustees when requested.

Tuppenny Barn Centre Manager & Deputy to the CEO

Person Specification

Essential and Desirable criteria will be assessed through application and interview.

Essential Criteria are the qualifications, skills, experience and knowledge needed to be considered for this role.

Desirable criteria are used to help decide between candidates who meet all the essential criteria.

Parklandshs and West Sussex County Council are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. We will ensure that all our recruitment and selection practices reflect this commitment. All successful candidates will be subject to an appropriate Disclosure and Barring Service check along with other relevant employment checks, including satisfactory references as well as evidence of the right to live and work in the United Kingdom.