Grounds Maintenance Operative

Community Gateway Association; Ashton-under-Lyne; On-site; GBP 26,000 - 27,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Real Living Wage

Pension scheme

Health cash plan

26 days holiday + bank holidays

Job summary

Community Gateway Association is seeking a Grounds Maintenance Operative based in Preston to maintain our green spaces across the community. You will perform grass cutting, hedge cutting, pruning and weed control as part of the Green Care team.

We value enthusiasm, health and safety awareness, and a willingness to learn. Experience with petrol-powered machinery is welcome, with the role offering a Real Living Wage and benefits including holidays, pension, and health support.

Qualifications

• Experience with petrol-powered ground care machinery preferred.
• Good knowledge and understanding of Health and Safety.
• Willingness to learn and work across Preston and surrounding areas.

Responsibilities

• Maintain green spaces through grass cutting, hedge cutting, pruning and weed control.
• Deliver soft landscaping services and improvements to neighbourhoods in Preston and surrounding areas.
• Work as part of the Green Care team to keep community spaces well maintained.

Skills

Grounds maintenance

Health and safety knowledge

Willingness to learn

Enthusiastic work ethic

Tools

Ride-on mowers

Petrol-powered tools

Chainsaws

Trailer towing

Job description

Grounds Maintenance Operative

37 hours per week, based in Preston

£25,948.89 per annum (£13.45 per hour)

This is a Real Living Wage job

Our busy, high-performing Green Care team are responsible for maintaining CGA's green spaces and communal grounds through grass cutting, hedge cutting, pruning and weed control in our communities.

What you will be doing in this role?

You'll be joining our fantastic, friendly grounds maintenance team, helping to make sure our community green spaces are well kept, as well as delivering soft landscaping services and improvements to our neighbourhoods in Preston and surrounding areas.

What we are looking for in you:

Ideally, we're looking for people with experience in using a range of petrol powered ground care machinery, (including ride-on mowers), but it's more important that you are enthusiastic, hard-working and willing to learn. You'll also have a good knowledge and understanding of Health and Safety.

It would be great if you also had:

• Experience of using ride on mowers, petrol-powered hand held machinery (including strimmers, mowers and hedge trimmers)
• Experience of carrying out landscaping tasks such as using chainsaws, turfing etc
• Trailer towing experience
• Spraying licences (PA1 / PA6)

Why work at Community Gateway?

We are a values-based organisation who truly care about our employees, their health, safety and wellbeing. We aim for a great employee experience and that includes offering a range of benefits - have a look at the attached leaflet for more information. Our holiday entitlement starts at 26 days plus bank holidays (including your birthday off and Christmas closure!). We also offer a great pension scheme where CGA will pay in contributions up to 10%, a company-paid health cash plan for you and your dependents (including 24/7 GP), enhanced sick pay and parental leave, reward and recognition scheme, wellbeing support, training and development and much more.

Inclusion is key for us. We would love to hear from people from diverse backgrounds for this role, those who may be underrepresented in our organisation. We aim to be reflective of the communities in which we operate and if you speak a second language this can come in handy!

Real Living Wage

This is a Real Living Wage role. The Real Living Wage is the only UK wage rate based on the cost of living. It is voluntarily paid by over 13,000 UK businesses who believe their staff deserve a wage which meets everyday needs. Find out more at www.livingwage.org.uk.

A bit more about us:

Community Gateway own and manage around 7000 homes across the city of Preston, but we are so much more than just a landlord. We aim to offer great customer service, providing safe, well-maintained and affordable homes, and making a positive difference to the communities in which we work. We make sure that we manage our business to the highest of standards and are working to create a sustainable future.

Dates for your diary:

The closing date for this role is Thursday 1st October 2026 at midnight with interviews held on Wednesday 14th October 2026.