Gardener - Horatio’s Garden, Stoke Mandeville

Salary: £18,900 (£31,500 FTE)

Closing date: Wednesday 30 April, 2025

Start date: End May/beginning June 2025

We are seeking an enthusiastic and experienced gardener a for prestigious role in our hospital garden at the National Spinal Injuries Centre at Stoke Mandeville. The garden was opened in 2018 and was designed by Joe Swift.

Horatio’s Garden is a nationwide charity creating and nurturing beautifully designed gardens in NHS’s spinal injury centres. The gardener will be responsible for managing and caring for the garden and supporting the patients who use it. You will run a thriving, vibrant sanctuary which meets the needs of the charity’s beneficiaries. 

The fully accessible garden has been beautifully designed and includes a water feature and a large garden room to give patients a warm sheltered place to enjoy the garden in all weather. There is a large glasshouse and an area of raised beds for patients where you will lead garden therapy sessions and a dedicated office space. 

Together with the Patient Experience Manager you will work with a large team of garden volunteers to nurture the beautiful space for patients and their visitors. You will be responsible for delivering a therapeutic gardening programme, running tours and assisting with events in the garden.

You will work closely with NHS staff to facilitate and maximise use of the garden by people with spinal injuries, their family and friends.

This role is a fantastic opportunity for a confident, experienced gardener with an interest in gardens and wellbeing, and a passion for people as well as plants.

Knowledge, Skills and Experience 

Essential 

• Practical experience as a gardener, at least 3 years
• RHS Level 2 or equivalent Horticultural qualification
• Very good plant knowledge and experience of propagation techniques
• Experience of working with and managing volunteers 
• Excellent IT skills, specifically proficient with Microsoft Office 365: Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint 
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• Professional and confident public speaker
• Interest in wellbeing benefits of gardens 

Desirable 

• Experience of garden management
• RHS Level 3 or equivalent Diploma in Principles and Practices of Horticulture
• Post Graduate Diploma in Social and Therapeutic Horticulture 
• Experience of volunteer recruitment and training
• Line management experience
• Experience of therapeutic activities
• Working in the voluntary sector
• NHS experience or work in a health care setting 
• Use of social media to promote activities and events

Qualities 

• Professional and confident 
• Empathetic and kind
• Calm under pressure  
• Able to meet the physical demands of the job 
• Flexible and able to adapt to changing priorities 
• Self-motivated and capable of working with the minimum of direction but understanding the limits of your knowledge and able to seek advice when required 

As a Charity we are committed to creating and promoting a culture that protects and preserves the welfare of the vulnerable people in our care. Our safer recruitment practices support this by ensuring that there is a consistent and thorough process of obtaining and evaluating information from and about candidates including criminal record checks, to ensure that all persons appointed are suitable to work for our Charity. 

APPLICATION 

Please write a one page covering letter, explaining why you would be suited to this role and send this along with your CV to kath.moss@horatiosgarden.org.uk 

Please visit our website www.horatiosgarden.org.uk for further information, including a detailed job description and person specification.

We are an equal opportunity employer and welcome applications from all sectors of society. 

NOTE: DBS, medical and reference checks will be conducted as part of the recruitment process.