We are looking for new members to join the London Freedom Seed Bank Steering Group!
The London Freedom Seed Bank (LFSB) is a grassroots, volunteer-led network of food growers and gardeners dedicated to saving, storing and distributing open-pollinated seed in London. Together we are building and stewarding a collection of over 170 London-grown primarily vegetable varieties. Our interest is in building local seed sovereignty, unlinking from the violent (neocolonial) corporate seed regime, sharing the practical skills of saving seed, making locally grown seed accessible and growing crops that best meet our cultural and environmental needs. We are a network of over 120 growers and trainers spread across the city, facilitated by a small steering group, all on a volunteer basis.
We are looking for new members to join our steering group and support the work of the LFSB. Ideally you would be based in London and able to commit to approximately 8-10h per month. As a steering group member you would be able to contribute to the general development and management of the LFSB, attending monthly steering group meetings (currently online) and participating in LFSB events.
In particular we are looking for two new positions to be filled:
- Social Media Lead – for someone who is excited by the potential of social media to help meet the aims of social and environmental justice movements and organisations.
- Network Engagement – for someone with skills to connect people and build relationships
These are two areas of work which we have identified as gaps in our current service, but if there are other areas you’d like to be involved in or you’re keen to be involved but aren’t sure of the contribution you can make then please feel free to get in touch. An interest in urban growing and seed sovereignty is important for any member of our team, though these roles would not require ample seed saving experience.
Social Media Lead
We’d like to welcome someone to the team who knows how to maximise the potential of social media to broaden our reach, support and celebrate our network of growers, promote our events and connect with new growers, partners and allies. Ideally, you will have experience using social media for such ends and find such platforms easy and inspiring.
Some examples of the work you’d be doing would be:
– Work with the steering group to shape a strategy and approach.
– Work with network members and steering group to produce content.
– Setup, close or revive appropriate channels.
– Review existing photography and content, for stock / scheduled posts.
– Engage with audience via live channels & where appropriate distribute ongoing maintenance of channels among steering group.
Network Engagement
Ideal for someone who likes people! We are looking for someone with skills to connect groups, build relationships and maintain a community feeling. Someone who feels confident to reach out to our network members, connect with them and think about how best to represent their interests or needs. An understanding of the different platforms at our disposal for engaging with our network would be important, for example, our network Whatsapp group, our email, our social media channels as well as online and in-person events.
Some examples of the work you’d be doing:
- Support and facilitate engagement with our network members.
- Visit network members to strengthen links with LFSB
- Seek feedback from network members about LFSB that would help to shape priorities. Feed these reflections/ findings back to the steering group so they can be best incorporated.
- Propose and organise occasional network meet-ups or events (in collaboration with steering group members)
This is not a formal position or a formal organisation. We’d love someone who feels at ease in a non-hierarchical group. We are more friends than colleagues and all get stuck into different parts of the organisation. Accordingly, we’re looking for someone who is self-motivated and feels encouraged to come up with ideas freely.
If you are interested we’d love to hear from you! Send us a little bit about yourself (max 250 words) to our email freedomseedbank@gmail.com by Friday 28th October 2022.
We aim to be accountable to the communities we serve and whose seeds we steward. We particularly welcome new members who are underrepresented and marginalised in the growing world and food sovereignty movements. If you feel like you want to talk through the positionalities and political grounding of the steering group and your potential place in it, please let us know in your message and we are happy to chat through any questions or concerns you may have.
Featured image credit: Andy Pilsbury