Catering Assistant (Part-Time)

Pilgrims Hospices recognises the importance of high quality, healthy food.

Each of our three hospices provides freshly prepared hot meals,  sandwiches, salads and a range of snacks to our patients, staff and visitors, all via our inhouse Catering Team.

At our Ashford hospice site, the opportunity has arisen for the appointment of a Catering Assistant who will join the busy catering team, helping to prepare and provide patient, staff and visitor meals whist working under the supervision of the Head Chef.

The Role

As the Catering Assistant you will work as part of a team to ensure our hospice can consistently cater a 365 day organisation.  Your main responsibilities will include:

• The preparation of ingredients
• To prepare and serve meal for patients, staff and visitors
• The production of salads, sandwiches and other meals not requiring the expertise of a cook
• Ensuring all cutlery, crockery, flatware and equipment are cleaned to appropriate standards, either by hand or through use of a dishwasher
• Ensuring the required standards of cleanliness and hygiene are maintained at all times within the department
• Maintaining records as instructed by the catering manager

The post holder must ensure that food preparation is produced to a high standard, in line with standards expected within a healthcare and catering environment.

Working Arrangements

This Catering Assistant role is  part-time (21 hrs per week)  and is based at Pilgrims Hospices, Ashford, Kent. Working days will be between Monday to Sunday, with the expectation that you will work 3 shifts a week.  Our Catering Assistants work consistent hours and are not required to work split shifts.  The successful candidate will be required to work early and/or late shifts, between the hours of 6.30am – 8pm.

For more information about this role, please refer to the job description. 

Our Benefits

As an Employer of Choice we are committed supporting our employees and volunteers through both a holistic benefits package, but also through wellbeing and work/life balance.

Our hospices offer:

• Friendly and highly professional working environments
• Opportunities for professional development through a range of extensive learning
• A workplace pension scheme. Those joining us from the NHS may retain eligibility to membership of the NHS pension scheme
• Subsidised meals
• Free on-site parking
• The provision of workwear
• A good work-life balance and realistic working hours (we do not work split-shifts)
• Financial discounts, provided through the Blue Light Card scheme
• A sense of achievement in supporting a worthwhile cause
• A sense of wellbeing
• Cycle to Work Schemes

We invest in our employees, which is one of the key things that makes us an award-winning employer of choice!

About You

To be successful as a Catering Assistant with Pilgrims Hospices you should:

• Be able to work well as part of a team or on your own
• Have a basic food hygiene certificate
• Have good interpersonal and communication skills and able to exercise judgment and confidence when working alone
• Approach tasks quickly and efficiently
• Have a flexible attitude to participate in a team rota, sometimes changing days as service requires

About Us

As an award-winning employer, Pilgrims provides end of life care services to patients and their families across east Kent.

Our commitment is to provide open, compassionate care and expertise for patients and their families – both in the community and in-patient units.

Our Vision

“Of a community where people with a terminal illness and their family and friends are supported and empowered to live well in mind and body until the very last moment of their life”.

We recognise that our workforce is integral to the delivery of our Vision and our organisational and charitable aims. Pilgrims Hospices continues to create a highly skilled, motivated, engaged and healthy workforce by providing an environment where staff and volunteers feel highly motivated to perform their roles to a consistently high standard, and actively role model our organisational behaviours and values.

To achieve our Vision, we have a shared set of values and behaviours that enable us to be the people and the charity that patients and their loved ones need us to be. They form our CODE, which guides us in our daily working and decision making:

Compassionate We treat everyone with compassion and care

Open We communicate openly, honestly and effectively

Dynamic We are dynamic, improving and developing our service

Empowered We empower people to achieve their outcomes

How to Apply

To learn more about this Catering Assistant role, please download the full job description.

If you are interested in applying for the role and wish to join our passionate team, please complete the attached application form.