Eco-Therapy Group Facilitator

Contract: 7.5hrs/week for 12 months
Salary: £35,000.00 pro rata
Working hours: Monday daytime, starting in February 2022
Application deadline: 6pm, 3 January 2022

We are looking for a person of colour to be a co-facilitator for the ‘Common Earth Group’, an eco-therapy group for people of colour. We are interested in hearing from people with experience in eco-therapy who enjoy getting their hands dirty. An essential part of the role will be planning and facilitating outdoor activities.

The successful candidate could be a gardener, herbalist, ecological artist or psychotherapist rooted in eco-therapy. You will work alongside a psychotherapist who has been co-facilitating the group for the past year.

Hackney City Farm

Hackney City Farm was established as a charity in 1984 as a place for people to come together, learn about food and farming and experience nature. We have grown into a valued community resource delivering a broad range of activities and services.

The Common Earth Eco-Therapy Group

The group was borne out of a collaboration between the Gaia Therapy Collective, a newly formed collective of politically engaged eco-therapists located at Hackney City Farm, and the Farm itself.

It has been running for the past year and is for people of colour who are feeling lonely or isolated to develop healthy relationships with themselves, each other and the wider natural world.

The group has become a nourishing space for members to explore woundings and find healing around legacies of slavery, colonialism and the ruptures in belonging that can come through migration.

Creativity has been a significant part of the life of the group, and many members have been exploring writing songs, poems and drawings about their deepening relationship with the natural world.

Main activities and tasks

You will co-facilitate the weekly eco-therapy group, this will include:

• Helping to prepare and deliver eco-therapy activities, this may be based on gardening, herbalism, or ecological arts.
• Supporting and participating in therapeutic group discussion.
• Take part in monthly supervision sessions. This will be a supportive space to reflect on the emotional and relational dynamics within the group.
• Work with the other co-ordinator to set up and clean the space before and after the group
• Work with the other co-ordinator on the administrative tasks of the group.

Essential requirements

• Experience in facilitating and leading ecological activities.
• Experience of supporting people who might be going through profound difficulty in life.
• Sensitivity to therapeutic process, including a mature level of self-awareness and ability to form therapeutic relationships with a wide range of people.
• A deep understanding of the different ways race, gender, class and migration can impact people's lives.
• A willingness to share something of your own personal journey and connection with the wider natural world.

We do not necessarily expect all applicants to have experience of every aspect of the role. What is important is that you have a meaningful personal connection with the ecological world, and that you have some experience of facilitating therapeutic spaces.

How to Apply

Please send your CV and cover letter to jobs@hackneycityfarm.co.uk and complete a Diversity and Inclusion Monitoring Form by 6pm on 3 January 2022. If you would prefer to submit your application in an alternative format, please let us know.

We will be holding interviews on the 6 and 10 January 2022. Please keep those dates available. If you are interested in the post and unable to make those dates please notify us on your application.

If you would like to have an informal chat about the role before applying, email jobs@hackneycityfarm.co.uk to arrange a time.