The Well is a Café … and so much more!
In this role you will help us operate our Café which is a volunteer run community hub that houses the local Trussell Trust Foodbank, which supports people in food crisis in West Auckland, Bishop Auckland, Teesdale and further afield.
Our Café helps combat social isolation and loneliness in our community and our clients tell us that they love the chatter and the atmosphere in The Well. The Café also serves as an important income stream for our charitable work in the community, providing a warm welcoming space for everyone and free meeting rooms for partners who need to meet clients in the village.
Every volunteer role is customised for the individual, and full training and support will be given.
There are 2 roles within the café
Barista
This is the engine room of our café, our Baristas handle orders as they come through the system, brewing up latte’s, filling pots of tea, toasting paninis and tea cakes. Our preparation area needs to remain clean and tidy at all times to maintain food safety and health and safety. You will always be supported by a team leader who will give you all training needed.
Servers
We operate table service so servers use our Point of Sale Software to take orders on a tablet computer, and then deliver them to tables when ready. Servers engage with café customers, clean down tables and maintain a safe café environment. You will always be supported by a team leader who will give you all training needed.
Volunteers often opt to specialise as either a barista or a server but it’s possible to do both if that’s your preference.
Barista
- Ability to follow systems for safe preparation of food and drink
- High levels of personal hygiene and professional presentation.
- Ability to remain calm when things get busy.
- Ability to communicate positively and productively with collegues.
- Willingness to complete Food Safety Level 2 qualification (usually completed online)
Server
- Good sense of humour and people skills.
- Generosity.
- Ability to communicate positively and productively with collegues.
- Physical strength enough to lift and carry trays of drinks.
- Ability to observe confidentiality, GDPR and discretion.
- Ability to identify risks to maintain a safe café environment (identifying spills etc.)
The Well Coffee Shop is in the Village of West Auckland. The Café operates 9am – 3pm Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, with approximately 30 mins needed at the end of the day for clean down.
We welcome applications from volunteers who can offer a full day (6.5 hours) a week or a half day (3 hours) per week. We are also happy to work around you to design a volunteering pattern that you will find manageable.
The address is: 46 East Green, West Auckland, Bishop Auckland DL14 9HJ
You would join a small team of volunteers who are a warm community supported by a member of staff. You would enjoy a bespoke personal development and training plan based on the needs of the roles and your personal goals as an individual.
All training required for the role will be provided free of charge to you and reasonable expenses (eg. Bus fare) will be reimbursed.
We are happy to work with partners in the to offer volunteer roles to people who have additional barriers and need extra support. Please contact us about this as our capacity to offer supported roles is limited.
You would join our friendly team of volunteers, who work together and care for each other to make a real change in our community. Our volunteers tell us they enjoy their time in the Café they have fun together and feel fulfilled in their roles.
The Well is a fully volunteer led project! You can get involved as much or as little as you like and we’re happy to let you try out new ideas and approaches. Your voice will always be listened to.
We would provide all training required at no cost to you, and we would work with you to create an individual plan to help you achieve your personal development goals.
All reasonable expenses will be reimbursed.
West Auckland is to the West of Bishop Auckland, on the A68. The village is served by bus routes
X21 (Spennymoor, Durham, Chester le Street)
85 (Cockfield, Evenwood, Staindrop, Barnard Castle)
84A (Evenwood, Cockfield, Darlington)
6 (Durham, Cockfield, Barnard Castle)
And we will reimburse expenses of travelling to us by bus.
The Well is a project of West Auckland Vineyard Church. Volunteers do not have to be Christians but must understand and respect our Christian values.
We are committed to safeguarding and every role is built around the needs of the volunteer and the organisation and risk assessed, you may be asked to undergo an enhanced DBS depending on the requirements of the role.
All volunteers are required to give the contact details of 2 people who will give references as to your suitability for the role.
We are committed to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, we welcome volunteers of all backgrounds and abilities – let’s chat about how we can make this role work for you.
