North Berwick Cafe Volunteer

The purpose of this role is to provide a café service for the local community and visitors to North Berwick. The café sits within our secondhand bookshop, art gallery and new gift shop on Westgate in the centre of North Berwick. Our aim is to provide a welcoming, friendly, attractive space for people to meet together with friends and family or just come in for a quiet coffee on their own. We aim to maintain a high level of professional service and cleanliness.

Our Hospice Values are: Care and Compassion, Respect, Trust and Partnership. We aim to demonstrate these values in the way we operate our café and shop in North Berwick.

What will I be doing / involved in?

Depending on your role in the café, this may involve some or all of the following:

• Providing a friendly, helpful and professional service to customers
• Taking orders, serving food, clearing tables, washing up
• Preparing and serving hot food (e.g. paninis, toasties, etc.)
• Using the till system and handling cash
• Maintaining excellent levels of hygiene in the preparation, serving and seating areas of the café, following food hygiene standards
• Being aware of food allergens and intolerances and knowing which of our products these apply to
• Taking part in any relevant training as requested by the café manager, including Food Hygiene Training and Allergens Training
• Communicating with customers and co workers to improve the service and solve problems

What experience or skills do I need?

• Friendly with excellent customer service and communication skills
• Able to establish good working relationships and work well within a team
• Numerate (able to operate till and handle cash transactions)
• Able to prioritise when the café is busy
• Willingness to undertake training in the operation of equipment within the café
• Willingness to abide by food hygiene standards and allergen training
• Good personal hygiene practices
• Some experience of volunteering or working in a café would be an advantage, but full training will be given
• Willing to keep informed and stay updated about the work of St Columba's Hospice and the services that we offer, so that this can be communicated to customers

Time commitment and duration

We are looking for volunteers able to commit to weekly or fortnightly shifts of 3-4 hours a day.

Where will I be based?

Westgate, North Berwick.

Who will be supporting me?

• Café Manager and other members of staff
• Volunteer Services team

Recruitment checks

• Interview with Volunteer Services Manager and Café Manager
• Application form
• Two references
• Volunteers must be 14 years or over

Training

• Volunteer Induction programme
• Cafe Induction Programme (including 1:1 induction with café manager and work shadowing with experienced volunteer)
• Team meetings (as necessary)
• Ad hoc volunteer training/support programme

Additional information

Volunteers may claim reasonable travelling expenses for transport to and from the café. Please speak to your manager about this. The café provides complimentary tea and coffee to all volunteers whilst you are on shift. If you volunteer for a full day at the café, you can claim a free meal from the café. Please speak to your manager about this.

You can apply online here. Alternatively, please email us at to request a paper application form, or to ask us any questions about the role.