Community coordinator jobs

About us 

Housing Justice brings together communities and finds solutions to homelessness by building personal connections, a sense of belonging, and creating justice in the housing system. We train and support volunteers to offer various accommodation options while building a network of local support. This includes providing personalised assistance to help individuals access relevant local services and address their other needs. Through compassionate, courageous, and collaborative action, we implement innovative solutions to tackle housing injustice, enhance the quality of housing, and elevate the voices and experiences of groups affected by housing injustice to both local and national governments. 

About Citadel 

 
Community Connectors forms part of the Citadel programme. Citadel is a volunteer-powered homelessness prevention project that supports people experiencing, or at risk of homelessness, to find a place to live, settle into a home, and feel part of a welcoming and supportive community. Coordinators recruit and train volunteers before matching them with a person referred for support. Coordinators and volunteers work closely with people who have been referred, to establish what matters to them and how best they can support them. 

About you 

We are looking for an outgoing, confident and skilled communicator, comfortable with building relationships, including for support, influencing people, and with public speaking. You will be a self-motivated, committed person with experience of working and/or volunteering in the homelessness, housing or voluntary and community sectors.
 
About the role 

The successful candidate will be responsible for developing our London projects, continuing and growing the support we offer and relationships we’ve built. The focus of the role is volunteer management and support coordination: specifically the recruitment, training, support and supervision of volunteers; and overseeing the support volunteers offer

Benefits 

• 29 days annual leave, 3 of which are fixed between Christmas and New Year. This is in addition to bank holidays and pro-rata if part time. 

• After 3 years of service you are entitled to one additional day of holiday for each additional year of service, up to a maximum of 5 additional days, pro-rata if part time. 

• We offer flexible working. Not all posts can be made flexible, but where possible we operate core hours of 10 – 3pm, with employees able to flex their working day around these. Any flexibility is at the discretion of the line manager and relevant senior manager. 

• As this role is offered as Home Working, we will provide some financial support to get you set up with appropriate equipment. 

• We offer an employee assistance programme, which can be used by you and your family for a range of advice and support. 

• We offer a cycle-to-work scheme.  

ABOUT THE ROLE

This role covers two areas of ministry helping to fulfil the overall mission of London Riverside Church (LRC):

• To coordinate the existing Community Action ministries and projects of LRC.

• To oversee three annual events in the LRC church calendar.

RESPONSIBILITIES INCLUDE

COMMUNITY ACTION COORDINATOR

• Lead the LRC Community Action Steering Team.

• Coordinate and develop Community Action projects and events.

• Provide oversight for and develop ministry/ project leaders.

• Planning, coordination and oversight of summer & Christmas Love the Borough projects.

• Oversee the Community Action budget & purchases.

• Nurture working relationships with outside agencies.

• Link with other LRC ministries regarding additional and ongoing pastoral support.

Current Community Action ministries & projects:

Foodbank, Hostels, Care Homes, Parent & Toddler Groups, Craft & Coffee Morning, Fitness Class, Community Coffee Morning, DIY SoS and CAP Money Matters

EVENT LEAD

• Planning & oversight of three annual events in the LRC church calendar (Easter, Christmas, Party in the Park).

• Liaising with and coordinating the various ministries and teams involved (Comms, Creative, Operations, Catering, etc.).

• Point-person on day of event.

About the Job 

Sophie Hayes Foundation (SHF) is a small but mighty charity, empowering women survivors of modern slavery and exploitation. It is an important time at SHF. Our new strategy ‘Sustainable Freedom from Modern Slavery’ launched in 2024 and this role is essential for the delivery of the strategy and ensuring that survivors of modern slavery, human trafficking, and exploitation have access to the support and opportunities they need to achieve their aspirations, independence and a positive future. With soaring numbers of referral to the NRM and thousands more victims living in fear of a hostile environment, this has never been more important than now. 

At the heart of Sophie Hayes Foundation’s work will be the support to and empowerment of survivors of modern slavery and human trafficking and this role is critical to survivors’ journeys to sustainable freedom. We are increasingly aware of the precarity faced by survivors, especially during transitions moving on from support and at points of decision making from the NRM or Home Office. 

Alongside a small, friendly and dedicated team, you will build pathways of support for a range of participants who are supported by SHF through connecting them to other community organisations. Your role will include assisting them to access safe accommodation, community support, mental health support and access to finances. 

You will champion the voices of survivors through the work of the organisation, working with colleagues in CREW, our survivor network, to provide continued support to survivors’ long term.

About the Role

• Conducting initial welcome calls to participants to assess their needs and desired pathway into SHF
• Host Monthly 121 Check-ins with participants who don’t have support workers and during those sessions signpost to long-term support to widen their community support. Writing support letters when needed
• Actively engage with local, regional, and national partners and anti-slavery networks to build and maintain partnerships for survivor referral pathways to other organisations
• Work alongside the CREW Co-ordinator to run events which foster connection within our CREW network, such as a monthly coffee morning
• Support in the facilitation of in-person sessions whether CREW or part of the Programme delivery. 
• Support in the facilitation of Programmes and CREW events 
• Ensure highest levels of Safeguarding, compiling safety plans for participants and carrying out risk assessments where necessary. 
• Accurate data input to and management of internal monitoring and finance systems, working closely with the Head of Programmes to analyse trends and contribute to reporting. 
• Contribute to centring survivor perspectives in the work of Sophie Hayes Foundation by sharing and channelling learning from programme delivery to colleagues.
• Other duties which may arise under the implementation of the new strategy, as directed by the Head of Employability Programme. 

About You 

This role would suit someone who is passionate about supporting others and empowering them to take the next steps in their journey. 

You may have prior experience as a teacher, caseworker or charity coordinator. 

We are looking for a team member who is organised, efficient, reliable, empathetic and ready to get stuck in helping across our range of survivor services. 

We welcome applications from individuals with a range of skills and experience drawn from their professional and personal lives, including those who may have lived experience of modern slavery, human trafficking and exploitation.

We are looking for an experienced, proactive and creative Community Engagement Coordinator to strengthen and deepen our relationships in Lewisham. Help us 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 supporting 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.

£35,000 pro rata

0.8 FTE, 4 days per week

1 year minimum fixed term contract

Reporting to Executive Director

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!