Employment Opportunities
Summer Holiday Playworker and Senior Playworker
This is an exciting opportunity to support the 2024 season at SOAP – a popular community led adventure playground in the heart of Oxford! We have a number of key roles to fill and are seeking sessional staff for our Summer holiday play scheme, after school and Saturday morning sessions and an evening youth club. A current DBS and first aid training is desirable but SOAP will cover the cost of these, and additional training as necessary, if you don’t currently have them.
Hours: School holidays up to 30 hours pw; after school/ evening up to 9 hours pw.
Time: School holidays 9.30am- 4.30pm; after school 2.45-5.15pm; evening 6.30-8.30pm
Senior Playworker Salary: £12.50ph (PLUS holiday pay calculated at 12.07%)
Playworker Salary: £7.54ph (Under 18s only), £10.50ph (18+) and £11.50 (21+) (PLUS holiday pay calculated at 12.07%)
Job Descriptions & Applications
To apply: please send a CV and cover letter to admin@soapoxford.org by 12 July 2024. Interviews will be held on a rolling basis.
Senior Playworkers Job Description
Volunteering at SOAP
SOAP relies on its volunteers to keep open. Their time makes a massive difference to children and young people who visit SOAP after school and through the holidays, and it makes a difference to our community. We know this from the feedback we get. We’re always on the lookout if you’d like to help out! It’s fun and can be very rewarding!
As a volunteer, you have the chance to gain new experiences, strengthen your skills, build confidence, make new friends, add something new to your CV and feel good about helping to maintain play spaces for children, young people and the wider community.
Who can volunteer?
Anyone who has spare time can volunteer. We already have volunteers of many different backgrounds, abilities and ages supporting us.
There is no upper age limit, but volunteers must be at least 13 years old. We support young people interested in volunteering as a young leader and completing their Duke of Edinburgh award. For some roles you will need to be over 18 years old.
What do volunteers do at SOAP
A whole range of things! Volunteer opportunities are endless, and we’re open to new ways to work in partnership. These are just some of the activities our volunteers do at SOAP, and we’re open to new ones!
- support a specific activity with children and young people such as making bird boxes, christmas decorations, pottery etc.
- get involved in football, table tennis, basketball, square ball, capture the flag, rounders etc.
- Share a specific skill like photography or bike maintenance
- Gardening
- Odd jobs, painting and decorating
- Becoming a Parent Champion and advocate for the benefits of play and the adventure playgrounds to other parents
- Supporting, planning and running events
- Support with admin and finance
- Support with cleaning and checking after private hires
- Grounds maintenance, chopping wood, weeding, litter picking, sweeping up leaves.
- Trips to the dump
- Fundraising and bid writing
- Web design
- Conducting surveys and getting feedback from stakeholders
- Building and maintaining play structures, painting wood preservatives, tightening fixings and making repairs.
- Turning over play bark
- Buying supplies for tuck shop and events
Young leaders
Our young leaders are volunteers aged between 14 and 18 years old who want to support play sessions, take on new responsibilities, learn new skills, build confidence and gain work experience alongside an experienced playworker. Volunteering activities for young leaders include supporting daily site checks, setting up play opportunities, supporting children when needed, gardening and site maintenance.