Recreation Assistant

Job Introduction

We are Forestry England.

We live and breathe forests.

Job title – Recreation Assistant

Salary - £26,123 pro rata

Contract type – Permanent

Hours – 14.8 hours per week plus overtime opportunities.

Vacancy closes - 23:58 Wednesday, 9th July 2025

Join us. We're foresters, professionals and experts. We are a passionate team who love to share our enthusiasm and want to make a positive difference for you and the environment.

Together, we’re using our scale and expertise to grow the nation’s forests for everyone. We’re already adapting our landscapes for tomorrow, and getting stuff done today, like creating amazing places and experiences for you to enjoy. We're providing vital homes for wildlife, making our air cleaner to breathe and producing sustainable timber.

What you’ll do…

Working two days a week on a Friday and Saturday pattern you will be working within the Recreation Team to welcome visitors to Westonbirt, The National Arboretum. Contributing to proving visitors with a service that exceeds their expectation and promote a work environment that is positive, productive and practices support and respect between individuals and teams.

Please see the job description below for more information and details about what we need from you.

Where you’ll work…

As a collection of rare and beautiful trees, Westonbirt has few rivals anywhere in the temperate world. Planted in the mid-nineteenth century by wealthy landowner Robert Holford, Westonbirt is a product of the great age of Victorian plant collecting. Just as remarkable is the arboretum’s ‘Picturesque’ landscape, which continues to provide much of Westonbirt’s unique atmosphere to this day.  

Today, Robert’s legacy is open for all to enjoy – a beautiful, relaxing and unique day out amongst some of the tallest, oldest and rarest trees and shrubs in the country. The collection contains over 16,000 numbered specimens representing more than 3000 different kinds of trees and shrubs, all set within 600 acres of beautifully landscaped grounds.

Benefits…

Alongside your salary, Forestry England contributes an average of 28.97% towards your pension. You will become a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension Scheme.

• 25 days holiday a year, raising by one day every year’s service, up to 30 days (pro-rated for part time employees) plus additional days off such as bank holidays.
• STaR is our employee benefits scheme offering discounts on everyday supermarket shopping, as well as other things such as hotel stays clothes, mobile phones, other electrical items, medical and car insurance, holidays, gym discounts, household bills, Headspace wellbeing app.
• free parking at Forestry England sites and free entry to our National Arboretums at Westonbirt and Bedgebury.
• a commitment to lifelong learning through career development. Forestry England will support your career development in a variety of ways, including continual professional development, support for individual learning plans and sponsored membership of professional bodies.

Read more about the benefits on the Forestry England website.

How to apply…

You will be asked to write a 200 word statement on your relevant experience and career history, along with a personal statement of no more than 500 words. You will be assessed on both during sifting. More details about how to apply are listed on the application form. 

 The Behaviours being assessed at interview are – 

Successful candidates will undergo a criminal record check and the government baseline personnel security standard check.

If you require any reasonable adjustments, please email fcrecruitmentteam@forestryengland.uk.

Read more about our application process and working with us on the Forestry England website. 

Nationality requirements…

Read more about nationality requirements here. 

Working for the Civil Service…

Forestry England is part of the Civil Service. The Civil Service has a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS). This means candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria during the application process will be guaranteed an interview. We also offer a Redeployment Interview Scheme to current civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the role. This role is also part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans and Prison Leaver Recruitment initiative. 

Within Part 7 of the Immigration Act 2016, it is essential that applicants should have the ability to provide conversation in accurate spoken English.

Our recruitment process makes appointments based on fair and open competition and merit, as outlined in the Civil Service Commissioners’ Recruitment Principles. If you feel your application has not been treated in in line with/according to these principles and you wish to make a complaint, please email: englandhr.services@forestryengland.uk.