Reception & Café Assistant – Full Time – Weldon Wellbeing Pavilion Full Time NEW

Join the Energy at Freedom Leisure – Do Good Feel Good!

At Freedom Leisure, we’re all about positive vibes, great people and making a real impact. Yes, we run leisure and cultural facilities, gyms, and swimming pools – but at the heart of it all, it’s our people who make the difference.

As one of the UK’s leading charitable leisure trusts, we’re proud of our mission of Improving Lives Through Leisure. We’re here to help communities live healthier, happier lives by making our centres welcoming, inclusive and accessible to everyone – because everyone deserves to feel good. We’re all about delivering amazing customer service with a smile – every single day. We create spaces where people feel at home, supported and inspired.

If you’re passionate about helping others and love creating great experiences, you’ll feel right at home with us. You don’t need to be an expert to get started – we’ll give you all the training and support you need. With over 130 centres across England and Wales, there’s loads of room to grow. Many of our team have built amazing careers doing what they love, helping customers day-to-day and making people feel good.

We’re proud to be a workplace where everyone is welcome, valued and supported to thrive – because when our team reflects the communities we serve, we all grow stronger together.

About the Weldon Wellbeing Pavilion

The Weldon Wellbeing Pavilion is a brand new purpose built community leisure and wellbeing hub opening in early 2026. The Pavilion aims to improve lives through leisure by providing inclusive, affordable and sustainable activity spaces for the entire community.

Developed in partnership with Ebbsfleet Garden City Trust, the Pavilion will be a vibrant local centre supporting health, fitness, sport and community events.

Facilities You’ll Be Part Of

• Our team will operate a wide range of brand new facilities including:
• A fully equipped gym
• Multi use fitness studio for classes and group exercise
• Community hall (capacity up to 200 people) for sports & private hire
• 3G football pitch and tennis court
• Changing rooms and a fully accessible Changing Places facility
• On site café, breakout spaces & reception area

This is an exciting opportunity to help shape a new community hub from the ground up.

About the Role

We are looking for an enthusiastic, approachable, and customer-focused Reception & Café Assistant to join our front-of-house team. In this dual role, you’ll be the first point of contact for our customers – providing a warm welcome at Reception and delivering excellent service in our Café. If you enjoy working with people and thrive in a fast-paced environment, we’d love to hear from you.

Key Responsibilities:

Customer Service & Reception

• Welcome all visitors with a smile in a friendly and professional manner.
• Handle enquiries, bookings and memberships face-to-face, online and by phone.
• Accurately operate booking, till and membership systems.
• Provide up-to-date information on centre facilities, classes and promotions.
• Maintain a tidy, inviting reception area and ensure high standards of presentation.

Café & Retail Service

• Prepare and serve hot and cold drinks, including barista-style coffee.
• Offer a range of light snacks and pre-packaged food items.
• Always ensure compliance with food hygiene and health & safety standards.
• Replenish café stock and vending machines as required.
• Keep café spaces clean, well-organised and customer friendly.

Teamwork & Operational Support

• Work as part of a collaborative, multi-skilled team.
• Support the delivery of events and activities within the centre.
• Follow Freedom Leisure’s policies on safeguarding, health & safety and customer care.
• Participate in relevant training and ongoing professional development.

Please note: If a high volume of suitable applications is received, we may close this vacancy earlier than advertised. Early applications are encouraged.

Hours: 37 hours per week, Monday – Sunday (Rota basis)

Requirements

We’re looking for someone who is:

• Passionate about delivering outstanding customer service.
• Comfortable using till systems and handling cash/card payments.
• Barista experience is desirable but training can be provided.
• Able to multitask and remain calm in a busy environment.
• A proactive, flexible and reliable team player.

Desirable Skills & Experience:

• Previous experience in a customer-facing role in leisure, fitness or community service settings.
• Hospitality or Retail experience delivering customer excellence.

Benefits

We want you to love coming to work, feeling healthy, happy and valued. That’s why we’ve developed a benefits package with you in mind, so what can we offer you?

• My Staff Shop, our very own staff benefit scheme, gives employees access to a great range of benefits. Get discounts on cinema tickets, travel bookings, high street e-vouchers, gift cards, days out, leisure activities and your day to day spending.
• Discounted Staff membership (including family members)
• Incremental holidays
• Employee Assistance Programme – 24/7 confidential, independent and professional counselling.
• Company pension
• Various insurance and saving schemes
• Financial advice
• Cycle-to-work and Car Leasing tax-efficient schemes (salaried staff only, depending on earnings).
• All this as well as fully funded training and career progression opportunities in a team working environment supporting your local community to improve lives through leisure.

Closing Date: 8th May 2026

Salary: up to £24,519 per annum

Freedom Leisure is proud to be an equal opportunities employer.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people, and vulnerable adults, and we expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.