Children and families worker jobs

At Ambitious about Autism, we're currently looking for an Online Communities Manager to join our National Services team.

We work together with autistic children and young people, their parents and carers, and our partners to create a world where every autistic child and young person can thrive. Our online communities play a vital role in this vision, helping autistic young people explore their autistic identity, connect with others, and take part in meaningful projects and campaigns. We also provide parents and carers with a safe, supportive space to share experiences, access information, and find solidarity with others.

We're looking for a passionate and creative individual to join us at an exciting time of growth. You'll help us expand our reach, increase diversity, and develop engaging digital content that speaks to the experiences and ambitions of autistic young people and their families.

In this role, you will:

• Lead and develop our online communities to ensure they are safe, inclusive, and empowering spaces
• Create and curate digital content that informs, inspires, and engages our audiences
• Develop partnerships to drive the growth, diversity and reach of our online communities
• Work closely with our participation team to elevate the voices of autistic young people
• Collaborate with marketing and communications to deliver our National Services strategy

We'd love to hear from you if you're committed to inclusion, excited by digital engagement, and motivated to make a difference.

In return, we offer great benefits including a generous holiday allowance and commitment to continued professional development (CPD) and more!

This is a fantastic opportunity for an ambitious individual who would like to work for a forward-thinking, open and honest organisation and make a real impact to the young people we work with. Please find our full recruitment pack on the link below.

If you have any questions about the role or would like to have a confidential chat, please contact James Axford, Recruitment Officer.

Ambitious about Autism is committed to fostering equity, diversity, and inclusion at every level of our organisation. We warmly welcome applications from all qualified candidates, valuing the diverse backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives they bring. We encourage applications from individuals regardless of race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origins, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital or civil partnership status, pregnancy or parental status, disability, or age.

Our recruitment process promotes equal opportunities, and we are committed to providing reasonable adjustments for candidates with disabilities or additional needs throughout the recruitment process. Please contact our Recruitment Team for accommodations. We recognise disability as a physical or mental impairment that significantly and long-term affects a person's ability to perform day-to-day activities, as defined by the UK Equality Act 2010. All applications will be considered solely on merit, aligned with our mission to support autistic children and young people.

Ambitious about Autism is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and successful candidates will be subject to an Enhanced DBS check. As part of our Safer Recruitment checks, an online search maybe carried out in line with Keeping Children Safe in Education.

The Safeguarding responsibilities of the post as per the job description and personal specification.
Whether the post is exempt from the rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and the amendment to the Exceptions Order 1975, 2013 and 2021. This means that when applying for certain jobs and activities certain spent convictions and cautions are ‘protected', so they do not need to be disclosed to employers, and if they are disclosed, employers cannot take them into account. Further information about filtering offences can be found in the DBS Filter Guidance.

Family Support Foster Carer

Overview

The family support foster carers (FSFCs) mentor their families and offer short breaks for children, offering stability and giving parents time to address their challenges with support. They provide feedback on their involvement with the families during review meetings.

The FSFCs could be experienced foster carers within the service who want to develop their skills and explore a new opportunity within fostering. Alternatively, they can be recruited specifically to this role in SUSD but must gain approval prior to commencing in the role. Is it imperative that the FSFCs have the skills and commitment to working with both parents and children as part of the SUSD programme. A role description for the FSFC is included in this pack.

Role and Responsibilities

The key aspects of the role are to

• provide weekly mentoring support for parents who are referred to SUSD. There is maximum caseload of 4 families at any one time.
• support the family to set and review goals, using our Person Centred Planning app.
• provide one planned short break each month for each referred child.
• offer crisis response support to families in the form of phone calls, visits or crisis short breaks.
• attend training provided by The Fostering Network & the Local Authority, enabling the FSFC to provide training and support to families.
• help with family activities, such as outings, family activities, summer schemes and residentials

The Family Support Foster Carer will be required to record details of the support provided, sharing with the supervising social worker as appropriate. During weeks that the FSFC has attend a review or support meeting for a family, they will not be required to complete another mentoring session with that family.

Working with parents and families

Families are referred to Step Up Step Down by their social worker. The scheme is voluntary, and families are empowered to decide whether they want the support. SUSD support has 4 primary aspects:

• mentoring for parents
• short breaks for children
• family activities
• community supports.

SUSD Mentoring Sessions are based upon areas of identified need. These are decided through the referral process and the initial planning meeting and are reviewed every three months throughout the duration of SUSD support. The key areas of support are: Routines, Budgeting, Healthy Living, Mental and Physical Wellbeing, Behaviour Management, Access to supports, Family Relationships, Dealing with Crisis Situations, Play and Stimulation.

The FSFC will also be required to give updates and share progress at review meetings. Information required will be:

• number of parent mentoring sessions since the previous SUSD review (including cancelations), and details of the work covered with the parent;
• number of short breaks since the previous review, and details of activities;
• any and all other support given to the family.

Support for the Family Support Foster Carer

Personal development and self-care is important, as we know that the best supporters are well supported themselves. There are several ways that SUSD will support the FSFCs.

• There will be regular supervision where they can discuss complex cases or raise any issues.
• FSFCs will be encouraged to attend training that will support them in the role, and to take an active role in identifying what this training should be.
• Quarterly carer support sessions are organised to enable the FSFCs & other SUSD team members to meet and learn from each other.
• FSFCs are also encouraged to form informal peer support networks.

Service: Children's Services

Salary: To receive a minimum allowance of £19,700, up to a maximum of £32,700 per annum

Please note, this is a self employed role and you will receive a weekly allowance. As a registered foster carer you will qualify for Qualifiying Care Relief and can earn up to £18,000 before paying tax.

Job Title: Family Support Worker (12 months FTC)

Salary: £30,944 - £31,004 per annum

Team: Family Support Team     

Hours: 37.5 hours per annum

Location: Christopher’s

About Shooting Star Children’s Hospices

We have an exciting opportunity for a family support to join our Family Support Team at Shooting Star Children’s Hospices.

Shooting Star Children’s Hospices provides specialist care and support to families who have a baby, child or young person with a life-limiting condition, or whose child has died. Rated ‘Outstanding’ by the Care Quality Commission, we support families across Surrey, north-west London and south-west London from diagnosis to end of life and throughout bereavement with a range of nursing, practical, emotional and medical care.

About the role

Family Support Workers (FSW) are the frontline of our psychosocial care. Each FSW holds a caseload of end-of-life and bereaved families. They get to know their families, and check-in regularly with phone calls and home visits and can provide enhanced emotional support where required through more regular contact and interventions. Our FSWs inform families about the different psychosocial care and many services they can access at Shooting Star, assess their needs and make recommendations to our specialist psychosocial MDT. They work hard to support families of different ethnicities and families living in poverty, so that our service is as equitable as possible.

Our FSWs work closely with our Therapists, Counsellors, Social Workers, Transition Team and our Care Events Team. Weekly specialist psychosocial MDT meetings bring the team together to think of ways to help families in crisis. The work is varied and creative, taking place at the hospices, in family homes and hospitals, allowing the support to be where the families need it. Our Family Support Workers are hugely appreciated by the families we support.

The ambition of our strategy is to ensure every family affected by a life-limiting condition, or the sudden death of a child, has access to the specialist care that they need. Day to day duties are:

• Being part of the duty rota over both sites monitoring 3 email inboxes and answering the Family Support Line.
• Supporting the events team with admin tasks and attending various events
• Providing on the spot emotional support, sometimes in a crisis where a calm and empathic response is required.
• Support the in-house team with families staying at Christopher’s for assessed nights and end of life care.
• Attend various sites over the course of a week, hospice, hospital, family homes. Planning your own diary effectively.
• Building connections with families from different backgrounds, delivering culturally competent care.
• Acting as an ambassador for Shooting Star’s Specialist Bereavement Service, supporting other care team members with their learning and delivery of the bereavement pathway, and continually seeking ways to improve quality.

About you

This role requires experience of working with children and families who have experienced hardship, presenting with complex needs. You should have a calm positive manner, be consistent in your approach, and convey empathy whilst maintaining professional boundaries.

Please see the attached job description for more information about this opportunity at Shooting Star Children’s Hospices.

What we offer

In return you will receive a competitive salary along with a range of benefits, which include: 

Pension scheme

• NHS Pension Scheme (for eligible employees) or our stakeholder pension scheme, with up to 7% employer contributions
  
  Annual leave

• 27 days plus Bank Holidays rising with length of service
• 2 weeks paid sabbatical leave after 5, 10 and 15 years’ service
  
  Contractual benefits

• Generous sick pay scheme
• Enhanced maternity, adoption, and paternity leave pay
• Flexible working arrangements
• Death in service benefits
• Reimbursed professional membership fees
• Eye care
• Employee referral scheme
• Blue Light discount card
  
  Health and wellbeing

• Employee Assistance Programme
• Occupational Health
• Mindfulness sessions
• Cycle to work scheme
• Mental Health First Aiders
• Nutritionally balanced meals at Christopher’s (free for employees) and free fruit at our Hampton site

Safeguarding

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expect all our staff to share this commitment. Also, we are committed to equal opportunities and consider all applicants to be in line with the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. Employment is subject to receipt of satisfactory references and an ehanced DBS check.

Equality, diversity and inclusion

Shooting Star Children’s Hospice is committed to inclusion and diversity in everything we do. We know that getting things right is critical for us to live our organisation’s values: Professionalism, Respect, Integrity, Diversity and Excellence.

We are always trying to improve our way of working to be more inclusive and equal. Our vision is for Shooting Star Children’s Hospice to be a place where people of all backgrounds, groups and communities feel welcomed to work and volunteer.

Closing Date: 15/05/2025

Interview Date: TBC

Our amazing team at Alana House - PACT are looking for Key Workers to join our Womens Community project.  Full time or part time applicants are welcomed to apply.

Could you make a lasting difference to women facing multiple disadvantages? Our award winning trauma recovery service empowers and enables women to access the support they need.  Our service covers Reading, Berkshire, Oxford City and South Oxfordshire.

Position: Womens Community Project Key Worker

Location: Based in central Reading.  The role requires travel across Berkshire, Oxford City and South Oxfordshire, the post holder must hold a full UK drivers license with access to own transport

Contract: Permanent full time – 37 hours per week Monday to Friday.  Part time hours will also be considered

Salary: Starting salary in the range of £25,734 to £31,453 per annum, depending on skills and experience (pro rata if part time)

Having regard to the nature and context of the work, there is a genuine occupational requirement permitted under the Equality Act 2010 that this post is only available to female applicants.

About the role:

As a Key Worker at Alana House, you will hold a case load of women and be involved in one to one work support work and group based sessions.  Your Key Worker responsibilities will include:

· regularly meet with women to provide dedicated emotional and practical support

· complete initial assessments of risk and need, and provide one-to-one support across rehabilitative pathways

· create and review support plans in collaboration with the woman, and other agencies

· facilitate and deliver group-based support

About you:

As a Key Worker, you’ll bring an in depth knowledge of issues facing women with multiple disadvantages, including those with convictions and those at risk of offending.  You’ll also have significant experience of supporting women with issues such as homelessness, substance misuse, domestic abuse and mental health, preferably within a criminal justice setting.

If this sounds like you then visit our website to apply today to join a collaborative and dedicated team who are part of something truly meaningful. Contact details for an informal discussion about the role can also be found on our website.

Early applications are encouraged as we may close this vacancy on an earlier basis if a successful candidate is found.

Closing date: Midday, Wednesday 14 May 2025

Interview dates: Wednesday 07 and Friday 23 May 2025

Other roles you may have experience of could include: Family Support Worker, Family Key Worker, Womens Support Worker, Womens Key Worker, Domestic Abuse Support Worker, Domestic Abuse Key Worker, Recovery Worker, Assistant Support Worker, Assistant Key Worker, IDVA Independent Domestic Violence Advocate, ISVA Independent Sexual Violence Advocate, Probation Services Officer, etc.

Safeguarding is at the heart of everything we do at PACT. We have robust measures and best practices in place to safeguard and protect the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and we take pride in maintaining outstanding safeguarding standards.

Anyone joining our team is subject to PACT’s safer recruitment pre-appointment enquiries, including a Disclosure Barring Service (DBS). The role description provides information on what our safer recruitment enquiries include and the level of DBS required to work in the role.

All opportunities with PACT are based in the UK.

Location: Sheffield

Salary: £31,133 per annum pro rata plus £802 per annum pro rata essential car user allowance

Contract: Fixed term ending March 2027

Hours: Part time - 26.25 hours per week.

Closing date: Monday 12th May 2025 at 11.30 pm

Do you have a good understanding of child development and the needs of homeless families and children plus proven experience of supporting parents and children with complex needs? Then join Shelter as a Children & Families Support Worker and you could soon be playing a vital role aimed at minimising the impact of bad housing, homelessness and exclusion in the Sheffield area.

About the role

With your own caseload of families, you will act as their key worker and support them to either resettle or prevent homelessness. Your primary focus will be on households where some tailored interventions are required around the needs of the children in order to stabilise their housing situation and enable the family to thrive.

Accordingly, you will provide intensive, tailored support as part of a whole family approach in a 1-2-1 setting and through group work. You will also need to regularly visit clients’ homes, schools and community venues across the city and liaise with other agencies in the community in order to provide a co-ordinated service.

We are happy to talk about flexible working, personal growth, and to promote a workplace where you can be yourself and achieve success based only on your merit.

About you

You have knowledge of child development and a strong understanding of homeless children and families, with experience of supporting parents, children and young people who have complex needs.  You also have knowledge of housing, homelessness and ASB legislation and welfare benefits that affect families and the skills to network and gather information as well as advocacy, negotiation and problem-solving skills.

You will need to be able to demonstrate that you have worked within, or understand, a safeguarding framework, are IT literate and have experience of managing a caseload and can prioritise, organise and set boundaries. With a full driving licence, you will have access to a vehicle for work purposes, an allowance and mileage will be paid.

Benefits

We offer a wide range of benefits, including 30 days of annual leave, enhanced family friendly policies, pension and interest free travel loans. Our employees also have access to a tenancy deposit loan, payroll giving, cycle to work scheme and an employee assistance programme.

Shelter helps millions of people every year struggling with bad housing or homelessness through our advice, support and legal services. And we campaign to make sure that, one day, no one will have to turn to us for help. We’re here so no one has to fight bad housing or homelessness on their own.

Apply to be part of our team and be the change you want to see in society.

About the team

Shelter Sheffield provide housing advice and support to people across the city, with a focus on emergency homelessness, intensive support for children and families, people experiencing domestic abuse and people with multiple and complex needs. We take a holistic approach to help people deal with interrelated issues that can impact their ability to keep a home and work for systemic changes to prevent homelessness and support over 5000 people every year.

About Shelter

Home is a human right. It’s our foundation and where we thrive. Yet everyday millions of people are being devastated by the housing emergency.

We exist to defend the right to a safe home. Because home is everything.

We need ambitious, passionate people to join us. This is your chance to play a part in the fundamental change we are striving to achieve.

Our enemy is the social injustice at the core of the escalating housing emergency. To win this fight, we must be representative of the people we are here to help and those who support our movement. In all our people decisions, we take pride in being inclusive, equitable and transparent. We are committed to combating racism both within and outside Shelter. We welcome you on our journey to becoming truly anti-racist.

How to apply:

Please click ‘Apply for Job’ below. You are required to submit a CV and a separate supporting statement to the following points of the ‘About You’ section of the job description of no more than 350 words each.

Please provide specific examples following the STAR format and ensure you demonstrate you address the following behaviours throughout your responses:

• We work together to achieve our shared purpose
• We prioritise diversity and have an inclusive mindset

Safeguarding is everyone's business. Shelter is committed to protecting the health, wellbeing and human rights of those we support, and enabling them to live free from harm, abuse and neglect. All our staff will be expected to observe professional standards of behaviour and conduct their work in line with our Safeguarding Policies.

Shelter does not accept unsolicited CVs from external recruitment agencies nor accept the fees associated with them.

Children's Worker 

South Derbyshire 

£26,737 per annum

This post is exempt under Sch 9 Pt 1 of the Equality Act 2010 and is only open to female applicants

Do you have demonstrable experience of working with children and young people who have experienced domestic abuse or trauma?

Have you got a Level 3 qualification in Childhood Studies, Youth Work or similar?

If yes we want to hear from you!

Our client has an exciting opportunity for you to broaden your current skills, knowledge and experience as a Children’s Worker

Project Information

Our client provides refuge and community based (outreach) support to adults and children who are experiencing domestic abuse. Their services include:

• Refuge (including both communal refuge and dispersed (Individual safe accommodation) which is offered to both women and men (dispersed only) with or without children who are fleeing domestic abuse.
• Community based outreach support working with women and men living in the local community who are living with the impact of domestic abuse.
• Specialist support for children who are of have experienced domestic abuse (both refuge and community based support are available).
   

The Role

No two days will be the same, so if you like variety this may be the ideal role for you!

As a Children’s worker, you will provide structured support to children, young people and their families who have experienced domestic abuse. You will be confident liaising with stakeholders eg. schools, social care. You will also be responsible for completing a healthy relationship programme of work, Safety Planning, and Signposting children and families to appropriate support.

You will be able to demonstrate working knowledge of safeguarding procedures for adults, children and responsibilities, in relation to information sharing including multi-agency working. In addition, you will be expected to effectively communicate sensitive and complex issues with a range of people and have the ability to manage your own case-load.

Requirements

You will recognise the impact domestic abuse can have on children, young people and their families, also have an understanding of risk assessing. In addition, the ideal candidates will:

• Be friendly, approachable, and flexible.
• Have great communication skills
• Relevant numeracy and literacy qualification and knowledge of basic IT skills (e.g. Microsoft Office packages)
• Hard-working and a team player
• Experience in Domestic Abuse preferred, but not essential.
• Due to the nature of the role it is essential that you hold a full valid driving license with unrestricted access to a vehicle and business insurance.

Why work with them?

For all the care you give, our client's benefits will help you to maximise your own well-being. In addition to generous annual leave, development opportunities and company pension, they also have many more amazing benefits.

As an Equal Opportunities and Disability Confident Employer, our client welcomes applications from all suitably qualified candidates including those from Black, Asian and minority ethnic groups and disabled candidates. As part of their LGBT + Allies Programme, they also welcome applications from members of the LGBT + community and encourage inclusivity in the workplace. 

Please note, they may close the advert before the closing date if they receive sufficient interest.

Please note that they are not currently offering visa sponsorship.

Our family support workers really focus on what we do at a grass roots level. Providing support to families on a daily basis as well as supporting and coordinating volunteers. Prior work with children and families is advantageous as is some knowledge of bereavement. However, full training and support will be given to the successful candidate.

Bereavement support is a challenging area of work, but also extremely fulfilling whether as a long-term career, or to develop experience and knowledge that can be transfered into other roles within the education, health and social care sectors. Attitude and aptitude are as important as prior skills and experience.

The ability to communicate through the medium of Welsh would also be an advantage to this position or the willingness to learn.

This post is to support existing staff. As such it could be based anywhere within South Wales.

This post is offered on a full or part-time basis (Minimum three days per week)

The NVR practitioner will work with the parent/care giver predominantly, other members of the family who are impacted or experiencing the abuse from their sibling or grandchild, and if willing, with the young person causing harm.

RISE specialises in designing and delivering behavioural change and pyscho-educational programmes. We strive for a world where harmful behaviour is marginalised and fewer people are victims of abuse and crime; a world where people can lead safe, purposeful lives as a result of better relationships within families and communities.

Benefits of working for RISE
You will work for an award-winning organisation (featured in the Sunday Times Best Places to Work 2024) that celebrates diversity, culture and individual differences, and that will help you to grow and thrive in your career. As a learning organisation, RISE has created a culture of continuous professional development. Employees are the heart of our business – we have an Employee Council that gives employees a way to channel their voice to improve their employee experience. As an employee, you will be invited to regular staff meet-ups and can connect with others in different ways.

Specialist Child to Parent Violence delivery:

• Advocate for the rights of children to be respected, heard and protected.
•  Deliver sessions for parents using Non Violent Resistance (NVR) techniques and child and family members, applying a systematic family approach to managing violence and abuse in the home.
• Adhere to the relevant programme manuals for parents as well as for the children and young people.
• Use motivational interviewing techniques and strength based approaches to engage with families.
• Support parents and young people to learn skills and knowledge to deal with behaviour in a non-violenct way, using NVR and trauma informed CBT methods.
•  Work closely with other statutory and voluntary professionals to ensure appropriate steps are taken to protect where there is an imminent risk to another person. Apply RISE’s escalation procedures.
• Be responsible and accountable for working with Team leader and/or Service Manager and Advanced practitioner to ensure risk is reviewed on a weekly basis.
•  Attend monthly risk review and practice development meetings with Team leader or Advanced practitioner to ensure effective risk management procedures are applied at all times.
• Attend training sessions to enhance their delivery and understanding of NVR.
• Be personally accountable for the completion of assessments, pre and post questionnaires, and End of Intervention reports, and ensure they are to a high standard.
• Provide support and consultancy to other professionals to ensure appropriateness of referrals  and improve understanding on NVR and CBT techniques and working with families (parents and children and young people.
•  Ensure effective planning for the delivery of each intervention in advance of the session.
• Partake and pass all relevant NVR and other child, young people  and parent centred training to undertake this specialist work.
• Deliver community training as required.

Our Adventure Playground Manager plays an integral role within our Children, Young People and Families team, supporting our Head of Service to create inspiring, high quality and child focused youth and play services. The work of the Children, Young People and Families team is diverse, and service includes after-school and weekend adventure play, school play sessions, mentoring, holiday activities and youth leadership programmes.

Tulse Hill Adventure Playground is at the centre of our Children, Young People and Families service, and you will have solid experience working in an Adventure Playground, or similar outdoor setting, as you will hold managerial responsibility of the site and resources ensuring that the environment meets the needs of all the children who use it and to enable children to obtain the full benefit of the playground and its facilities.

As a strong and inspiring manager you will lead a team of play practitioners to deliver a range of dynamic, exciting, and meaningful services, ensuring the children who need them most are supported to play, develop, and thrive. You will take both an ambitious, organised, yet hands on approach to your management of the service - we are a small but dynamic team and truly believe services are best when all are involved, from management to practitioners. You will bring enthusiasm and passion to ensure an exceptional service for the children and young people we work with.

You will champion the role that adventure play services play in supporting children and young people to thrive and be an advocate for partnership working, building relationships with parents, schools and other local organisations, to maximise use of the Adventure Playground and the range of services we provide. A strong understanding of how the service sits within the wider work of the organisation and building strong relationships internally and externally is essential to the role.

You will be joining the organisation at a very exciting time as we are just about to undertake a large scale rebuild of the outdoor adventure play structures which will be completed this summer - creating a new and exciting environment for children and young people to play. This will include a range of challenging play structures, a wildlife garden, growing area and outdoor kitchen, along with a small animal enclosure.

Employee Benefits
• 35 days annual leave (inclusive of bank holidays and 3 Christmas days) rising by 1 day each year
after 2 years’ service (capped at an additional 8 days)
• Enhanced maternity/paternity/adoption leave after 2 years’ service
• Save money off a new bike with the Cycle to Work scheme
• Up to 7% contribution to the staff pension scheme
• 24/7 Employee Support Line
• Clear pay structure with yearly increments (based on performance)
• Annual Staff away day
• Premium eye-care vouchers through Specsavers and season ticket loans

Are you looking for a new opportunity?

Are you passionate about working with children and young people?

Are you enthusiastic about developing excellent and inclusive services with young people to enhance their, wellbeing, happiness and opportunities?

If so, we want you to join our team!

The Co-op Partnership is an innovative project where you will be working alongside young people and empowering them to continually develop their co-designed service, Magic Minds.

The service facilitates regular spaces and opportunities where young people can come together to:

• Learn to cook
• Play sports and games
• Try new outdoor activities
• Undertake digital creation activities
• Plan and prepare regular events and activities (such as silent discos on the beach, bbq's)
• Take part in confidence building activities

If you are:

• Confident and creative in engaging and working alongside young people aged between 10-25 years.
• Skilled in designing and delivering groupwork sessions for young people.
• Able to provide emotional and practical support to young people, in line with safeguarding policies and procedures.
• Able to work evenings and weekends to meet the needs of young people.
• Able to work in partnership with Co-op, Children's Services and the community, whilst keeping young people at the centre

Then please apply for the youth support worker role!

When completing your application please refer to your skills knowledge and experience in relation to the Person Specification, Job Description and Additional Information document (if applicable). This should be done with an understanding of the context of the service described.

Although this contract has a permanent status, please be aware that this post is subject to funding currently to 31 March 2026 and therefore should this funding not be extended further, you may be subject to a redundancy consultation or a TUPE arrangement. This contract is due to expire on 31 March 2026.

For an information chat about the role, please call, text or email Jess Hanson, Children's Service Manager (email addresse and phone number available on our website via the link).

Please note that shortlisting of candidates will take place on 12/05/25. Therefore if shortlisted, you will receive your invite to the young person's panel on this date. The panel is taking place on Friday 16th May in the afternoon/evening. 

Pay & Reward Framework

We know that our colleagues go above and beyond in delivering our vital work, driven by their passion and commitment to Barnardo's values.  We also know that we can only realise our ambitions and achieve better outcomes for more children, thanks to the talent, hard work and creativity of our people. 

For all these reasons, we are committed to a new approach to pay and reward, to ensure it is fair, attractive and progressive, which was rolled out in April 2023. This is a positive change for the charity, and a part of our People & Culture Strategy. It will assist us in supporting colleagues to belong, thrive and grow in their colleague journey at Barnardo's and in time will offer clear routes of progression for colleagues in both their career and their pay. 

Whilst the full pay band and salary range is advertised, our approach to starting salaries is to appoint between the minimum to mid-point of the pay band – this ensures that pay steps are available to reward our colleagues annually based on their contribution to excellence and alignment to our values and behaviours.  More details on Barnardo's pay framework can be found upon application. 

About UP

Unlocking Potential deliver high performing therapeutic programmes and education provision for children and young people with SEMH needs. We work in collaboration with families, communities, and other partners to ensure that children and young people access the interventions they need to thrive.

Mission

We work collaboratively with communities to enable children and young people with social, emotional, and mental health needs to unlock their full potential

Values

Trust

We build trust by being honest, transparent, and accountable in the way we work with children and young people, staff, and partners and by providing services and programmes whose outcomes are measurable and evidenced based.

Collaborative

Relationships are at the heart of our work. We prioritise communication and collaboration with partners, families, and communities, believing that by working together we create more effective and holistic outcomes for children and young people.

Empowering

We co-create opportunities for our children, young people, parents/carers and staff to actively participate in decision-making that influences change. We promote the voices of children and young people in our organisation and the wider community.

Nurturing

We provide a nurturing approach based on safety and space for creativity, exploration, and growth. We support and care for our children, young people, and staff to realise their potential.

Impact

We are committed to measuring our impact through a data driven method to develop our programmes and make a greater difference to the lives of children, young people, and their parents and carers.

Overview

We will be launching our new programme from September 2025, initially as a pilot working with families across Wandsworth, with aims to be able to expand and continue beyond this.

We are seeking an experienced and passionate Family Support Manager to play a pivotal role in establishing our new Family Support programme. Your initial focus will be leading on the development of the service, implementing policies and procedures, building referral pathways, and recruiting a team of skilled Family Support Workers.

Once the service is established, you will manage a high-quality programme providing support and guidance to families facing complex challenges. Your role will involve overseeing a team of Family Support Workers, case management, fostering effective collaboration with internal and external multidisciplinary teams, and leading the service under a shared vision to ensure the well-being of children and their families.

Using a restorative approach, you will develop strong relationships to support families and empower them to take an active role in their own support plans and interventions, helping them build resilience and make informed decisions. A commitment to safeguarding excellence will be at the heart of everything you do.

This role would be an exciting opportunity for a qualified Social Worker or an experienced professional with a background in setting up and developing family support services. It offers a genuine opportunity to shape a new service and build an impactful team to make a real difference in the lives of children, young people, and their families.

The Youth Sector in Gloucestershire is a diverse landscape made-up of a rich and varied range of youth and community organisations. The Youth Support Worker will play a key role in delivering a high standard of youth work supporting young people across a range of needs and interests, ensuring that they have a voice in decisions that affect their lives. 

You will have experience of developing, coordinating and delivering impactful youth activities, and you will be skilled in working with young people from a range of backgrounds who have experienced challenges and barriers to progression in education, family and communities. We are seeking applicants who are positive, empowering, resilient and can work with others to create positive outcomes.  

Family Support Worker

£23,000 pa + benefits (including 25 days annual leave, company car and pension)

Liverpool and the surrounding areas

Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity is going through an exciting time where we are growing, with the aim of reaching more families in need.

About the role:

We are is looking to appoint a Family Support Worker to deliver a high-quality family support service as part of our Liverpool Team.

Reporting to the Family Support Manager and working in partnership with health, education and social care professionals, you will take responsibility for providing needs-led emotional, social and practical support to families where a child/young person has a life threatening or terminal illness.

Having worked in a stressful and emotional environment you will have a genuine interest in building supportive relationships and helping people; and having provided bereavement support to families, you understand processes of grief, loss, and change - and how best to help others deal with its impact.

Location:

This role covers Liverpool and surrounding areas. 

What we’re looking for:

· An experienced child health, education or social care professional - applications will be particularly welcome from those who have worked in a community environment and those with a recognised qualification in education, health or social care.

· A warm, inclusive approach to achieving goals quickly and correctly.

· Practiced in child protection, information sharing and the rules around data protection - you lead by example, drawing on your own professional experience and working within established guidelines.

· Practical and people-oriented - you will thrive working at a fast pace whilst maintaining accuracy and be a confident user of IT (including MSOffice)

· A persuasive and open communicator, you will work collaboratively with your team and volunteers to ensure delivery of a high-quality service and support fundraising colleagues by writing case studies and family updates

· A practical knowledge of diversity issues affecting children, young people, and their families – aware that being responsive to others needs and concerns, is essential.

What we offer:

We have a range of fantastic benefits that we offer our employees, this includes.

· Flexible working hours to balance home and working life

· 25 days of annual leave plus public holidays – rising to 26 days after 1 year, 27 days after 5 years and 30 days after 11 years, with an additional 5 years to use in your 10th or 20th year of service (pro rata for part time)

· Employee Assistance Programme with access to remote GP, counselling, physiotherapy, resources to support your mental health and financial wellbeing, as well as a 24/7 helpline via Help@Hand

· Company car for front line care posts

· Access to the Blue Light Card Scheme, and other rewards and discounts

· Bike to work, season ticket loan and payroll giving schemes, as well as a recommend a friend recruitment bonus

· Family friendly policies, focused on employee wellbeing, and an active cross-organisational wellbeing group running a number of initiatives throughout the year

· Pension scheme where we contribute 5% of your salary and you contribute at least 3%

· The option to buy/sell annual leave, as well as additional leave for your birthday, wedding/civil ceremony and an extra half day off for Christmas shopping

· Robust training and development programmes to support your learning and growth

We have a range of fantastic benefits that we offer our employees. If you’d like to find out more about these benefits and working with us, please visit our website.

We also have a fantastic learning and development programme - the Anne Harris skills development programme - in which we aim to provide a high level of training and development opportunities for all staff, so you are able to perform to the best of your ability, achieve individual and team objectives aligned to Rainbow Trusts strategic plan, supporting staff to be the best they can be, and feel a valued member of a high performing organisation.

Our Family Support Workers are given the opportunity to complete a number of diverse training courses in their first 12 months, including but not limited to: Mental Health First Aid, Makaton, counselling skills, and Introduction to Play.

The programme aims to provide a building block for you to individually tailor your own learning and development needs, with all family support workers having a foundation level of skills within their first year.

About us:

Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity enables families who have a child with a life-threatening or terminal illness to make the most of their time together, providing expert practical and emotional support where they need, it for as long as it is needed. For families living with childhood illness, time is everything. Right now, there are too many families coping alone with no support, no time to think, no time to make memories and no time for each other. We believe that no family should go through this alone, so we are here to change that.

How to apply:

To apply please visit our website via the link and apply online.

Interviews will take place via Teams or in person with a date to be confirmed. We will only contact those applicants who have been successful.

There will be a requirement for flexible working and a full current driver’s licence to accommodate the team and family need. An enhanced DBS disclosure will be required for this post.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and we expect all employees to share this commitment.

Rainbow Trust is an equal opportunities employer and we welcome applications from all backgrounds. We are a Best Companies One-Star rated organisation.