New volunteers are always welcome
The John Bunyan Community Boat is entirely run by volunteers who are central to the success of the overall project by raising our profile with the public in Bedford and providing The Trust’s source of income. To keep our cruises running and delivering an outstanding experience to over 7,000 guests throughout the season is a fantastic team achievement involving many volunteers both onboard and onshore, as well as within our Operations Management Team.
We’re recruiting NOW for volunteers to support John Bunyan Boat cruising. Join our warm and welcoming, group of volunteers who make the John Bunyan Boat possible.
We are recruiting the following roles:
Onboard:
Cabin Crew
Volunteer cabin crew fulfil an important role; they are the ambassadors of the Trust, who attend to the needs of our passengers, ensuring that their experience on the John Bunyan is comfortable, enjoyable and safe.
Key tasks include setting up the cabin before the trip, welcoming customers on board, serving drinks and snacks, giving information about the boat and the BMK Waterway Trust, and ensuring the galley and cabin are clean and ready for the next cruise.
Ideally cabin crew volunteers should be able to commit to at least 2 shifts of 4-6 hours per month from April until October. Full training, including boat safety procedures, will be given.
Deck Crew
Deck crew are important members of the John Bunyan crew. They have responsibility for the safety of passengers boarding or alighting from the boat, securing the boat at moorings, operating locks and providing a look-out at the front of the boat, warning the helm via radio communication of any dangers, or other craft.
Key tasks include setting up the safety and operating equipment at the start of the cruise, taking lines ashore and securing the boat, operating the locks and maintaining a forward look-out whilst the boat is in motion. At the end of the cruise they are responsible for stowing all equipment safely, and securing the boat.
Ideally deck crew volunteers should be able to commit to at least 2 shifts of 4-6 hours per month from April until October. Full training, including boat safety procedures, will be given.
Qualified Boatmaster
The Boatmaster is a volunteer who is licenced by the Maritime & Coastguard Agency, who has overall responsibility for all legal and safety aspects of the boat whilst passengers are on board. It is a key safety role, and a position of responsibility.
Most of our boatmasters have started as cabin or deck crew, and undertaken MCA training during their time as a volunteer. We also seek volunteers who have qualified elsewhere and hold a Boatmasters Licence issued by the MCA.
Volunteers Boatmasters should be able to commit to at least 3 shifts of 4-6 hours per month from April until October. Full familiarisation of the boat, and the BMK Waterway Trust, will be part of the induction process.
Operations Management Team:
Chair
The John Bunyan Community Boat is seeking to fill a vacancy for the Chair. This is a leadership role; whilst some experience of handling boats on inland waterways would be useful, this is not essential
The Chair leads business planning and review, risk management, management team recruitment and support, organisational development, business reporting and Trust liaison. The Chair needs to be able to lead with confidence, use management data to inform business decisions, and communicate well with all stakeholders.
As the business is led and almost entirely delivered by volunteers, with minimal support from contract administrators and other suppliers, people-management skills are important and experience of working with volunteers is an advantage.
The role can be combined with a crew role on the boat, or as a separate, land-based role. The role takes about 5-6 hours per week.
Marketing Manager
Marketing the cruises on the John Bunyan Community Boat is important to maintain high levels of public ticket sales, and increase the number and range of organisations chartering the boat for their own events. The Marketing Manager is critical to developing and implementing cost-effective marketing campaigns to support the John Bunyan’s sales plan.
The Marketing Manager is responsible for leading the development of the brand identity and marketing guidelines, overseeing the production and distribution of marketing material, and the use of social media by the John Bunyan team. There is also an opportunity to market the boat at various events in Bedford, including the River Festival and the Kite festival
The Marketing Manager is supported by a marketing assistant.
The role can be combined with a crew role on the boat, or as a separate, land-based role. The role takes about 5-6 hours per week, with more when events are being managed.
Commercial Manager
The Commercial Manager is responsible for developing the annual Sales Plans for the operation of the John Bunyan Community Boat, and setting the cruise plan, pricing and booking conditions for the cruise activity. The role is also responsible for developing and maintaining relationships with local organisation who may partner with the boat, and for liaison with the press, media and PR agencies.
The Commercial Manager is supported by the Bookings Administrator, who handles all aspects of charter and public cruise bookings. We also plan to recruit a support manager responsible for liaison with Community groups and schools.
The role can be combined with a crew role on the boat, or as a separate, land-based role. The role takes about 5-6 hours per week.
Cabin Operations Manager
The Cabin Operations Manager has overall responsibility for customer care and refreshment services in the cabin, leading the Purser team who crew on cruises and assist with stock control etc.
The role covers the selection, training and management of the Purser team, oversight of the stock control and purchasing activity of the deep cleaning team. The Cabin Operations Manager is responsible for decisions about the catering offer on cruises, merchandising and pricing.
The Cabin Operations Manager is supported by up to 10 Pursers, some of whom are responsible for deep cleaning and stock purchasing. The Bookings Administrator also supports the Cabin Operations Manager in managing liaison with external caterers and managing the stock control system.
The role can be combined with a crew role on the boat, or as a separate, land-based role. The role takes about 5-6 hours per week.
Shore-based:
Event volunteers
We are always looking for volunteers to help us at events to help sell tickets, promote the John Bunyan Boat or recruit volunteers.
If you are interested and are willing to offer some of your time to our community enterprise then we would love to hear from you, so please get in touch to find out more.
The John Bunyan Community Boat is crewed by five or six volunteers on each trip and we are always looking for enthusiastic individuals to join our team both on and off the water.
If you are interested in finding out more about volunteering roles please get in touch by emailing Janet Goodland at volunteering@johnbunyanboat.org