Bupa
Kitchen Assistant
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Kitchen Assistant – Colonia Court Care Home
Location: St Andrew's Ave, Colchester, CO4 3AN 🏆 Ratings & Recognition:
- CQC Rating: Good
- Bupa Honours rating: 9.7/10
About the Role
Title: Kitchen Assistant Employer: Bupa – An award-winning care home provider Salary: £12.75 – £13.75 per hour (effective from 05 October 2023) Contract: Permanent Hours: 24 hours per week (rota basis, between 7am – 6:30pm, including alternate weekends)
At Bupa, we have homes with the heart of a community – facilties designed around you, where every detail has been thoughtfully crafted to help guests live their best lives. We want to make health happen. That starts with delivering the right care – but that care includes delicious meals that bring joy to every day.
The Kitchen Team at Colonia Court Care Home ensures our residents enjoy nutritious, tempting meals, while looking after each other to help us run smoothly. We’re on a mission to build and maintain the best-quality person-centred kitchen, where everyone feels valued.
As a Kitchen Assistant, you’ll play a vital role in crafting fantastic dining experiences while working alongside a reliable team. If you love hot kitchens, thrive in an energetic environment, and enjoy making our guests feel at home, this opportunity is a perfect match.
What You’ll Be Doing
You’ll help create memorable moments through food, assist reliably, and see firsthand how our services transform people’s lives. This is a hands-on role, where your creativity and tireless dedication can make a big difference.
Your key responsibilities will include:
- Assisting in food preparation by weighing, trimming, chopping, and deveining ingredients under the guidance of chef team members
- Plating meals and preparing food trolleys for fully operational servings
- Ensuring that all prep stations are clean, hygienic, and organised at all times according to COSHH and HACCP standards
- Supporting the day-to-day running of the kitchen by assisting in pre-packing, maintaining, or rotating ingredients as needed
- Working alongside the team in smooth operational flow including catering for events:
- Assisting with seasonal menu operations
- Helping with special queues during busy periods (e.g. Christmas parties, summer BBQs)
- Supporting the kitchen team in general maintenance and compliance tasks
The Ideal Candidate
Why this role is yours to have: We’re looking for someone who:
- Has a passion for food and previous experience in a busy kitchen
- Can keep your cool in a fast-paced environment while following directions
- understands the importance of detailed organisation, safety protocols, and excellent team collaboration
- values residents and home as your first priority while maintaining professionalism
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We value people with diverse backgrounds and experiences, from different industries. You may be an expert looking to explore a new career, a former kitchen helper returning to work, or someone aiming to launch a training in catering—Bupa’s programmes can help you level up your qualifications too.
Bonus points for: ✅ Experience with catering to people with specific dietary needs ✅ Interest or involvement with food hypertrophy/having a Basic Food Hygiene Certificate (required)
Requirements & Qualifications
Essential:
- Experience in a food preparation or catering environment
- Full British or Eligibility-to-work permission (no sponsorship)
- Clean and presentable appearance for Food Hygiene standards
- A welcoming and empathetic attitude towards others in a caring occupation
- Shifts between 7am–6:30pm and alternate weekends
Desirable:
- Basic Food Hygiene Certificate (required to start, take our training for assistance)
- Experience working in a collaborative kitchen or catering environment
Benefits & Rewards
Join us and receive an extensive benefits package, because at Bupa, we support our teams in being their best selves.
Health:
- My Healthcare: Enjoy free access to remote GP consultations, physiotherapy, and mental health support (24/7 advice).
- Annual health voucher (£350–raising dependence on food-related insurance to £2000 annually)
- Free on shift meals – because you’re fueling the care we’re proud of!
Financial:
- Wagestream: Earned wage access for immediate pay advances up to 40% of your due wages (most shortly).
- Interest-free annual travel loan to support public transport T-Savers
People:
- 28 days holiday entitlement (accredited for service in steps), plus additional for exceptional annual milestones.
- Sunny people bonus: Free annual Team Vouchers for experiences families love!
- Pioneer Pension: We’ll consider NEST or Bupa Life funded plans to unlock future savings.
- Long service ecards, gifts and holidays to match your stellar career development.
- Flexible working on the horizon – we aim to support our teams however we can.
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Care and Culture:
- Parental leave (Adoption, shared Parental Leave available as afforded in the UK).
- Special support: Our Menopause plan is specifically designed to help women balance their health needs.
- Parenting initiatives, like D-Thea’s coffee mornings ('supporting our team conversations about early childhood and parenthood’).
- Disability Confident Employer: For every disabled applicant, we commit to reasonable adjustment interview considerations—because our people deserve the chance.
Why Bupa Put Interior Design to Work for You
Let’s start with the first question you should expect from us:
"Where do YOU want to make care better?"
That’s why we turn people and purpose into excellence. Bupa may be a residential care service with a healthcare mission, but we’re workers who believe the experience is what matters most. When you join us, you’ll be part of over 80,000 people across the world who are constantly improving lives.
Come join us if:
✔ Residents are your first and foremost focus ✔ your belief in care is what turns good as you go into well-rounded service ✔ collaborating to innovate is what you love and learn from
At Bupa, you’ll always be fighting for your difference. Diversity is how we’re best built, and we’re always searching for more varied insights.
Fairness also extends to recruitment.
As a Level 2 Disability Confident Workplace, we guarantee fair, transparent recruitment processes and create reasonable accommodations to help you stand out whether you have an injury, condition or require computer adjustments.
Next Steps – Get Involved
We offer trainees and new staff an onboarding journey designed to ensure your confidence grows as you go, whether you’re making pancakes or supporting care planning.
Let’s talk! Apply Now » [Carehome application]
Join us at Colonia Court Care Home, where each role is an opportunity to accumulate skills for the long-term. Once volunteer registered, you can grow to learn more—bring whatever experience you have, we’ll help you reach your next goal.
Wherever you work with us, one thing is certain: with no shareholders at play, customer experience is always our top priority.
You’ve got the passion. Meet everyday and make differences. We’d love to hear from you.
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