Community Engagement Coordinator

The role opens Monday 8th December 2026

About us:

Street Trees for Living is a community tree-planting charity with our roots in the London Borough of Lewisham. We work collaboratively with local residents, schools and community groups to plan, plant and care for trees in urban neighbourhoods. Through our work, we aim to increase climate resilience and improve health and wellbeing for all communities.

Our people-focused approach to street tree planting and care delivers one of the highest survival rates for street trees of over 95%.

Role description:

We are looking for an experienced, proactive and creative Community Engagement Officer to help us strengthen and deepen our relationships with communities in Lewisham to advance community stewardship, raise awareness about the benefits of street trees and increase tree canopy cover equitably. The Coordinator will manage our volunteer programmes, including recruitment, retention and bringing new ideas for engagement. Responsibilities include
promoting and coordinating our tree planting initiatives, as well as identifying new opportunities for community involvement. The role involves collaborating with team members and stakeholders to help achieve STfL's mission of creating a greener and healthier urban environment.

Responsibilities:

• Volunteer management including recruiting, developing and retaining volunteers
• Be the 'go to' person to provide support for our Area Reps and Street Reps and develop a peer-to-peer network to share best practice across volunteer
• Raise awareness around trees, particularly in areas of low tree canopy cover and where we are currently underrepresented
• Work closely with the tree care team to support volunteering and training opportunities including watering, formative tree care, auditing
• Building networks and developing meaningful relationships with community groups and individuals, working at a hyperlocal, neighbourhood level
• Spend time listening to groups and gathering feedback to understand their emotional responses and perceptions to trees
• Work with communities and partner charities to map formal and informal networks within local neighborhoods
• Use creative approaches to evaluation, collecting and analysing impact data including volunteer surveys, 121 conversations and case studies to measure outcomes, particularly related to health and wellbeing
• Reaching new audiences: building relationships with diverse communities and work in partnership with community groups to co-design tree planting schemes in public realm
• Community stakeholder engagement - engaging and cultivating relationships including community groups, Parks groups, local charities, tenants and residents' associations
• Organising in-person community engagement activities and training sessions for local residents including tree walks, citizen science sessions, workshops, networking opportunities and the sharing of resources
• Integrate equality, diversity and inclusion principles into all aspects of our work
• Maximising our communications impact: promote our work, raise awareness and increase our reach. Communicate regularly with our guardians and volunteers
• Create content to contribute to our social media, newsletter and website, for example: develop inspiring case studies about our work and beneficiaries. Help gather content at in-person events to support storytelling

Experience:

• Experience in the charity sector in community engagement or development
• Practical experience in successfully planning, coordinating, and delivering community-based events, workshops and activities
• Experience engaging with communities in London
• Experience in recruiting, training, supervising, and motivating groups of volunteers
• Experience in building and maintaining strong, collaborative relationships with diverse stakeholders, such as resident groups, schools, local authorities and charities
• Experience using co-design principles to facilitate workshops with a diverse range of communities
• Knowledge of tree planting/environmental sector is desirable but not essential

Skills and qualities:

• Empathetic, with good listening skills
• Able to build and maintain strong and meaningful relationships
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills - ability to adapt to different audiences
• A strong commitment to environmental and social justice
• Passionate about our cause and able to inspire others
• Understanding of lived experience and community needs
• Excellent time management and organisational skills
• Creative problem solver
• Strong degree of flexibility is desirable - due to the nature of community work, some evening and weekend work will be required. You will be given plenty of notice

Please note, if you don't have all the skills or experience, we still encourage you to apply