Project Assistant

Marmalade Trust; West of England; Hybrid; GBP 16,000 - 23,000; Part time

Job summary

Marmalade Trust is seeking a Project Assistant (Christmas Cheer) on a part-time self-employed contract. The role covers handling enquiries, processing referrals, and coordinating all logistics for Christmas Cheer events from Bristol to home-based settings.

Ideal candidates will bring experience in VCSE or related sectors, strong communication skills, and solid IT/data handling capabilities. Some remote work on Christmas Day is required; the role involves flexible hours and occasional

Qualifications

• Experience in VCSE, health or social care sectors.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills.
• Excellent attention to detail and accuracy in data handling.
• Proficient IT skills (Excel, Word, G-Suite, databases).
• Understanding of GDPR and confidentiality regulations.
• Commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion.

Responsibilities

• Respond to enquiries from project members.
• Process referrals from professionals and partners.
• Complete data administration and manage databases/spreadsheets.
• Review referrals against criteria; perform outreach via phone.
• Maintain contact with project members and provide updates.
• Coordinate logistics for Christmas Cheer events (venues, vendors, gifts).
• Attend networking events to promote Marmalade Trust projects.
• Identify safeguarding or welfare concerns and escalate as needed.
• Undertake other duties and occasional out-of-hours work.

Skills

Experience in VCSE/health or social-?

Interpersonal skills

Attention to detail

IT skills (Excel, Word, G-Suite)

Data management

GDPR knowledge

Equality Diversity Inclusion

Flexible / out-of-hours

Empathy and communication

Tools

Lamplight

Job description

Role - Project Assistant (Christmas Cheer)

Role type - Part Time Self Employed Contractor - immediate start available, contract end date w/e 15 th January 2027

Salary - £14p/h

Location - Hybrid: St. Paul’s Learning Centre, Bristol and home-based

Closing Date & Interviews - Closing Date 2/9/26, Interviews 7, 9, 10 September 2026

Overview

Marmalade Trust is a small but ambitious charity; raising awareness of loneliness nationally and supporting people experiencing loneliness to feel more connected. Since 2013 we have run projects (supported by our incredible volunteers) across Bristol, North Somerset, and South Gloucestershire. We do not receive statutory funding but are very well supported by members of the public, regional grant givers and corporate organisations.

You’ll work across our flagship project Christmas Cheer. Due to the nature of our Christmas Cheer project, this role requires some remote working on Christmas Day.

In 2026, we aim to reach even more of those experiencing persistent loneliness through our Christmas Cheer project. Almost half of these will take the form of adoorstep visit for project members who feel unable to leave their homes.

Bring your enthusiasm for making things happen, your passion for supporting people experiencing loneliness and your brilliant organisational skills to Marmalade Trust and help to make Christmas Cheer 2026 an enjoyable and connecting experience for our project members and volunteers.

About the Role

Main responsibilities:

• Respond to incoming enquiries from new and existing project members
• Process referrals from professionals and community contacts ensuring accuracy
• Complete data administration efficiently and on time, managing databases and spreadsheets accurately
• Review referrals using the agreed referral criteria and through telephone calls to project members and referring partners
• Maintain telephone contact with current project members to ensure they are up to date and informed about the service
• Identify and obtain potential case studies and assist with the evaluation of projects
• Plan and coordinate all logistics for Christmas Cheer meal experiences from start to finish including: venues, risk assessments, vendors, suppliers, gifts, packing, transport & delivery, communications
• Attend network events to promote our projects amongst relevant VCSEs
• Identify and elevate any safeguarding or welfare concerns that may arise
• Complete any other reasonable duties that may be requested and be willing to work reasonable out of office hours on occasions as required

Note: The above list is not exhaustive, and you may be required to undertake other tasks and responsibilities as requested by your line manager.

About You

Essential skills, knowledge and experience required for this role

• Experience in a related sector (e.g. VCSE, health or social care)
• Manage competing priorities and responsibilities when working in a high-pressure environment, planning, organising and managing workflow to meet demanding deadlines
• Able to have challenging conversations with vulnerable individuals
• Adept at building professional relationships over the telephone
• Strong interpersonal skills - able to communicate empathetically and effectively with a diverse range of people
• Excellent attention to detail, with an ability to spot errors
• High standard of general IT skills, including Excel, Word, G-Suite, Databases
• Creative problem solving, adopting a solutions-focused 'can do' approach
• Working understanding of GDPR, data protection and confidentiality legislation and regulation
• Good understanding of, and a commitment to promoting Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
• A commitment to Marmalade Trust and its vision
• Passion for working with the target audience
• Empathetic, fair and flexible
• A willingness to undertake reasonable work outside of core working hours when this is necessary

Desirable skills, knowledge and experience for this role

• Experience of using Lamplight or other charity/service sector databases
• Knowledge of the charity sector
• Knowledge of professional boundaries in the context of adults at risk
• Knowledge of safeguarding in the context of adults at risk
• Compassion and an understanding of the additional challenges faced by vulnerable and/or older adults

At Marmalade Trust, we want to create a genuinely inclusive workplace, where we embrace the differences of all our colleagues and celebrate diversity. To help ensure all candidates are assessed only against the job description, our selection process uses anonymised candidate applications.