Community development jobs in barking and dagenham, lancashire

Sense has a fantastic opportunity for someone to join our Brand and Content team as our Video Content Creator. This is a permanent, hybrid, full-time position working 37.5 hours per week, based between home and our office either in Kings Cross, London or Selly Oak, Birmingham.

The Brand and Content Team nurture and develop the Sense brand, putting it at the heart of everything we do and ensuring it is consistently represented throughout every touchpoint.  We are also responsible for creating engaging and stand out content for departments across the organisation, whilst also creating content to meet our own strategic goals. 

The successful candidate will join our fast-paced and motivated team to deliver highly engaging short form video content for social media, digital adverts, website and events. Your content will build and push the Sense brand, increase understanding of the challenges faced by disabled people with complex needs, help those affected to live full and meaningful lives, inspire people to fundraise and take action, and communicate the impact of Sense’s work through engaging and compelling storytelling. In this hands-on role you will be responsible for all aspects of video production, including creative development, logistics and planning, directing, filming, conducting interviews and all elements of post-production, requiring strong organisation and project management skills with the ability to juggle multiple projects at the same time. 

You’ll spend a lot of time out on location capturing authentic moments and voices, translating them into compelling and engaging video content.  One day you might be at our services meeting the people we support, and another you might be at a fundraising or campaigning event. 

Please supply a link to your video content portfolio (that you have shot and edited yourself) as part of your application.

Key Responsibilities

• Deliver a consistent pipeline of engaging short form video in platform-native formats and related assets.
• Interview storytellers on camera, who may have sensitive stories, to create compelling and engaging storytelling video content.   
• Attend events and activities with the people we support to capture video content. 
• Act as a representative of Sense’s workforce in campaigning or information videos when appropriate.
• Work with internal teams to identify and plan the role that video plays in the wider communications mix.
• Ensure videos are optimized for different platforms, including using trending sounds, adding engaging text overlays, and incorporating relevant hashtags.
• Develop creative concepts and present ideas to internal stakeholders.
• Proactively identify opportunities, contribute ideas, share skills and help drive quality by working closely with teammates and services, collaborating on projects where required.
• Run and deliver all areas of video production, including planning, organising and running video shoots (including responsibility for filming), and all elements of post-production from social media editing, to grading, captioning, exporting for social platforms, creating accessible transcripts and publishing on Sense's YouTube channels. .
• Help to maintain our asset library, ensuring assets are uploaded, described and tagged correctly, and helping colleagues to use it when required.
• Manage agencies, freelancers, volunteers and beneficiaries to produce video content as required.

Key skills and experience

• Experience in all aspects of shooting and producing a high standard of digital first short form video content for external audiences either in an agency or in-house.
• Strong experience in creating video edits for social media (including TikTok), with demonstrable understanding and knowledge of optimal formats and tactics for different channels and platforms.
• Experience in fast-paced short (and medium-length) content, aiming for a fast turnaround.
• Experience in developing strong creative content ideas to deliver against content strategies.
• A strong understanding of and experience in crafting engaging and impactful storytelling video content.
• Working with case studies or interviewees with experience in planning and conducting interviews and drawing out compelling stories.
• Skilled experience in producing, directing, lighting, audio recording and shooting short form digital first video.
• Editing (Adobe Premiere Pro), including colour grading, audio, and exporting to required formats.
• Familiarity working with imagery and graphics as part of video projects (Adobe Photoshop).
• Mobile videography and editing skills (as well professional camera and editing skills).
• Originating and storyboarding video content with skilled use of visual storytelling techniques.
• Strong organisation and project management skills, including an ability to plan work effectively and juggle multiple projects at the same time.
• Proactivity in seeking out content opportunities and making things happen.
• Strong communication skills and the ability to present engagingly about creative concepts and ideas. 

For a full job description and person specification, please see the link below

About Sense

At Sense we believe that every disabled person should have the opportunity to connect with others and be included in the world. We use our knowledge and expertise to deliver personalised, creative and flexible support at every stage of life.

Sense is proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. Working at Sense can be incredibly rewarding; we offer the opportunity to work in a large, diverse and successful charity where people can develop their skills, knowledge and careers in a supportive and flexible environment. In addition, we have excellent training and development, the opportunity for you to join our Group Personal Pension scheme and a generous annual leave entitlement. 

To apply

Please use the link below to complete your application. Managers will use your application to shortlist candidates for interview; in relation to the Personal Specification. Therefore, it is very important you complete this section thoroughly.  We would recommend that you read the job description and person specification before applying.

Please note to avoid disappointment, we advise you to submit your application as soon as possible as we reserve the right to close posts at any time.

No agency submissions please: any submissions without prior authorisation from the Sense Recruitment Team will be treated as our own and as such no fee will be payable.

Sense is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of vulnerable children and adults and expects all employees to share this commitment. Therefore, all offers of employment, where appropriate, are subject to a DBS check; level dependent on the nature of the role.

For this role we particularly welcome applications from candidates from underrepresented ethnic minority backgrounds and candidates with disabilities. Sense is committed to equality of opportunity, and to promoting and celebrating the diversity of staff, volunteers and the people we work with. Everyone's contribution is valued and we ensure they're given the opportunity to realise their potential. We welcome applications from talented people from all sections of the community who share our values and belief that no one, no matter how complex their disabilities, should be isolated, left out, or unable to fulfil their potential. 

Seeking an enthusiastic, proactive Communications Assistant to play a vital role in our organisation's mission to advance higher education in London. With guidance and support from the Head of Communications, responsibilities will include developing and maintaining social media channels, creating engaging digital content, and supporting communications activities across multiple platforms.

The Youth Endowment Fund 

Senior Research Manager (Toolkit)

Reports to: Head of Toolkit

Salary: £52,700

Contract: 2-year fixed term contract

Location: Central London, Hybrid* 

Closing date: 27th June 2025

About the Youth Endowment Fund

We’re here to prevent children and young people becoming involved in violence. We do this by finding out what works and building a movement to put this knowledge into practice.

 Last year, 244 people in England and Wales tragically died after being assaulted with a knife. Of these, 32 were children. Every child captured in these numbers is an important member of our community and society has a duty to protect them. Even beyond knife crime, we know that the fear of violence has a terrible effect on children’s daily lives.

The Youth Endowment Fund exists to try and permanently change things. To succeed, we must build an exceptional body of knowledge about violence affecting young people and how we reduce it. This knowledge has to be both rigorous and highly relevant to those making decisions about how to support vulnerable young people. We need to find out what works and what doesn’t through evidence synthesis, data analysis and qualitative research into children’s lives. We then need to convert this into highly accessible content on what works, how delivery organisations need to change their practice and how the systems they operate in need to be reformed.

About the Toolkit Team

The Toolkit team is at the heart of our work to spread knowledge of what works to prevent children becoming involved in violence. We want research to lead actual changes in outcomes for children.

Our flagship resource, the Toolkit, is a free, online resource that summarises the best available evidence about the effectiveness of various approaches to preventing children becoming involved in violence. It explains the evidence, how confident we can be about the findings, and provides actionable guidance to help policy makers, commissioners, and practitioners to turn evidence into action. The Toolkit is influencing real world policy and practice: the Home Office requires Violence Reductions Units to allocate at least 30% of their funding to interventions that have an impact rating of ‘high’ or ‘moderate’ in the Toolkit. Over half of Youth Justice Services use the Toolkit to align their work with the latest available evidence. Our Change team use the Toolkit to influence systems, policy and practice across children’s services, education, health, neighbourhoods, policing, youth services and youth justice.

The Toolkit is a live resource that currently contains 35 approaches to violence prevention, and we will add at least ten updates to the content this year. New research is published every day around the world. We collate relevant studies in our YEF programmes evidence and gap map and YEF systems evidence and gap map, and we collate study results in our Effect Size Database. We are working in partnership with the National Children’s Bureau and the EPPI Centre to implement new technology and to use machine learning to create a ‘living platform’, that contains relevant studies and their results in one place. This is an exciting development that will significantly speed up our production of systematic reviews and meta-analyses to keep the Toolkit up to date.

Key Responsibilities

The Senior Research Manager will be an essential part of the YEF Toolkit Team and will develop a portfolio of impactful projects. The core of your role will be leading the commissioning of evidence synthesis, using our new methodology, across a range of topics and producing Toolkit content.

You will:

Commission new systematic reviews.

• You will lead the commissioning and management of systematic reviews of the evidence through our Toolkit and Evidence Synthesis Partners: the National Children’s Bureau, the EPPI Centre, and the Race Equality Foundation. This will involve scoping and prioritising violence prevention approaches, convening expert advisory groups, reviewing research protocols and technical reports, and ensuring that research products produce actionable insights.

Write accurate and actionable summaries of evidence for the Toolkit.

· You will use findings from evidence synthesis to write new summaries for the Toolkit, and to inform YEF’s guidance and implementation resources.

· You will ensure that Toolkit content is only ever easy-to-understand and written in plain English with incredible clarity.

·You will collaborate with our Research team and our Change team to feed insights from the evidence into systems, sector and practice guidance. 

Lead Toolkit communications.

· Collaborating with the YEF Communications and Public Affairs team, you will produce accurate social media content, blogs, and briefings on new Toolkit content to facilitate accurate journalism and press coverage.

Become an expert on the Toolkit.

· You will be an advocate for Toolkit evidence, and you will ensure insights from this evidence are accurately communicated to policy makers and practitioners. You will do this by delivering presentations on Toolkit evidence and providing briefings.

· You will also ensure YEF colleagues are up to date on the topics and content in the Toolkit by providing training and updates internally and sharing guidance about how to accurately explain the evidence.

About You

You are this sort of person:

· You want to play a significant part in reducing children and young people’s involvement in violence. You care about having an impact.

· You share our belief that an evidence-based approach is our best hope of preventing violence. You are fascinated by research, but you’re not just interested in research for its own sake. You want to achieve actual changes in outcomes for children.

·You’re a confident reader of research and have strong critical appraisal skills. You know when research can be trusted and when it can’t and can confidently articulate your views on the strength of research. You might have gained this expertise through your academic studies, research, or professional experience.

· You have a proven track record of commissioning or conducting high-quality evidence synthesis. You have a good understanding of these methods and can discuss the pros and cons of them. You might have gained this expertise through your academic studies, training, research or professional experience. You can scrutinise a budget to ensure it provides value for money.

· You have at least three years’ experience working in a role that required you to think about research. This could include a range of roles in policy, academia, funding, and practice.

· You write in a way that people easily understand. You have that rare skill of writing in plain English. You have experience of translating complex research findings into plain writing that everyone can understand.

· You have excellent project and time management skills. You can work independently, quickly, and to a high standard.

·You are good with people. You are comfortable working with a wide range of people, including senior academics and other research experts, children and their families, practitioners, and policy makers. You’re able to provide constructive challenges when required.

·You learn fast but remain humble. You like learning. You are very good at synthesising information. You know how much you don't know and that you can always learn more.

·You work well in a team. You care more that good things happen than who gets the credit. You support your colleagues to produce excellent work.

·You’re committed to equality, diversity and inclusion. You believe and act in a way that celebrates and encourages a range of experiences, views and values.

You may have:

·A good level of knowledge and understanding of crime or violence. You know the facts, understand the issues, know the key people, and can discuss the theories. You’re knowledgeable on this topic and very at ease discussing it with experts. Alternatively, you might have a strong understanding of a relevant area such as education, youth work or social care.

·Confident public speaking skills. You’re an excellent verbal communicator. You’ve delivered dozens of talks on complex topics. You’re calm and confident when answering challenging questions.

 While it’s not a criterion, we’re especially interested to hear from applicants who have lived experience of violence.

It’s also important to us that the people we hire do not discriminate. We believe in being inclusive and giving everyone an equal chance to succeed. Applications are welcome from all regardless of age, sex, gender identity, disability, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, religion or belief, race, sexual orientation, transgender status or socioeconomic background.

Hybrid Working

The office is based in Central London. Those living in and around London are expected to be in the office for a minimum of 2 days per week. If you live outside of London and work remotely, you’ll be expected to work from the London office 2 days per month.

To Apply

To apply, please send a CV and cover letter, and complete the monitoring form click on "Apply for this" button by 27th June 2025.

When applying for this role, please ensure that your cover letter can answer, within a maximum of 1000 words, the following questions:

1. Briefly describe the key evidence synthesis projects that you have undertaken or commissioned and be clear about the role you played in the work.

2. Provide some clear examples of products, presentations, events, or other materials that you have produced to help explain complex research evidence to policymakers, commissioners, and practitioners.

You will also be required to provide proof of your eligibility to work in the UK. As part of our commitment to flexible working, we will consider a range of options for the successful applicant. All options can be discussed at interview stage.

Interview Process

Interviews will take place in the week commencing the weeks commencing 7th and 14th July.

If you are invited to interview, we will send you a systematic review ahead of the interview and we will ask you to prepare a 10-minute presentation to explain the main strengths and weaknesses of the review and its conclusions.  

Benefits Include

• £1,000 professional development budget annually
• 28 days holiday plus Bank Holidays
• Four half days for volunteering activities
• Employee Assistance Programme – 24hr phone line for free confidential support
• Volunteering days - 4 half days per year
• Death in service - 4 times annual salary
• Flexible hours. Core office hours 10am – 4pm
• Financial support including travel and hardship loans
• Employer contributed pension of 5%

Personal Data

Your personal data will be shared for the purposes of the recruitment exercise. This includes our HR team, interviewers (who may include other partners in the project and independent advisors), relevant team managers and our IT service provider if access to the data is necessary for performance of their roles. We do not share your data with other third parties, unless your application for employment is successful and we make you an offer of employment. We will then share your data with former employers to obtain references for you. We do not transfer your data outside the European Economic Area.

Core Job Purpose:

The Production Coordinator is responsible for maintaining, overseeing and coordinating all of FCW’s in-cell production. This is an exciting and varied role which helps contribute to the smooth running of the charity.

The duties of the role include:

· Administration of sending and receiving kits stitched in prison.

· Supporting volunteers teaching in prison by dealing with materials requests and orders.

· Ensuring our stitchers are paid for their work accurately and efficiently.

· Providing feedback on the stitching by our in-prison workforce.

· Assisting the extended production team with the ordering of materials, special commissions, donations requests and our tapestry finishing service.

· Gathering, logging and reporting on information related to production and prisoner pay using FCW’s custom database.

· Visiting our stitching groups in prison to get an better understanding of the challenges with production that both our volunteer teachers and our stitchers might face in delivering FCW production

You should have excellent interpersonal skills, be accurate in your attention to detail, be flexible and have the ability to take initiative. We expect you to work independently, prioritising your own workload, as well as working as part of a small, lively team.

Principal Accountabilities for the Core Job:

1. Support our volunteers and stitchers by sending our pre-prepared kits to volunteers around the country ahead of the stitching classes and receiving kits back from volunteers.

1. Administer the production process on FCW’s custom database: logging items as they are sent to prisons and volunteers around the country, tracking items as they are returned from prison, providing feedback to prisoners on the work completed and maintaining standards through rigorous quality control.
2. Process payments to prisoners on a weekly basis. 
3. Support Fine Cell Work volunteers by dealing with requests for threads and troubleshooting problems with kits. 
4. Log data, collate and report on production, prisoner pay and stitcher statistics as required for the senior management and the fundraising teams, to include monthly reports and annual reports.
5. Supporting the use of FCW’s custom database to include testing and feedback on new features and uploading and maintaining relevant information.
6. Order materials in advance for production activities in prison workshops as well as at the FCW office, liaising with commercial suppliers as well as materials donors. Supporting the production manager with the production of all kits in prison workshops as well as by volunteers in the office.
7. Work with the Programmes and Impact Officer to enable Open College Network accredited training to be delivered in prisons by making up and sending out starter kits and materials to stitchers.
8. With the Programmes and Impact Officer, provide technical support for our lone stitchers by sending out work, talking to them on the phone or replying to letters.
9. Where appropriate, working with the Design and Commissions team to assist with the preparation of specialist kit and sample products, ordering materials and collecting stitcher feedback to assist with future production.
10. Coordinate FCW’s tapestry finishing and making up service.
11. Support the production manager to ensure that all ability and pay levels are appropriate to FCW’s stitcher population ensuring these are made and assigned with a view to developing prisoners’ skills and self-responsibility.
12. With the Programmes team, co-facilitate production training for volunteers both online and in person.
13. Assist with bi-annual stock counts involving staff, volunteers, prison leavers and prison staff to include finished items, work in progress and raw materials in all the prisons where FCW operates, as well as at FCW’s London office.
14. Coordinate Fine Cell Work volunteers with their weekly tasks as provided by the production manager.
15. First point of contact for phone calls to the office, assisting callers with enquiries and diverting calls to relevant members of staff.
16. On occasion, visit cell groups in prison around the country to support volunteers and stitchers in FCW production.
17. Assist with Fine Cell Work events as and when required.
18. Ad hoc duties to support the work of the charity as required including back-up support to production with apprentices and volunteers in the Clothworkers Studio.

Core Job Context:

Fine Cell Work is a UK based rehabilitation charity and social enterprise which makes beautiful handmade products in British prisons. For 28 years we’ve been transforming the lives of people in prison and prison leavers, one stitch at a time. Our unique process boosts our stitcher’s self-worth, instils accountability, and fosters hope.

We support people in prison and prison leavers to finish their sentences with work skills, money earned and saved, and the self-belief to rebuild meaningful, independent, crime-free lives. 

Set up in 1997 by Lady Anne Tree following years of lobbying the government to change prison rules about prisoners earning money from work done in their cells, Fine Cell Work operates in 38 British prisons engaging with over 600 people in prison in 2024. Our stitchers are supported by our skilled and valued volunteers who visit prison fortnightly to teach needlework.

By providing, paid, purposeful activity to prepare people in prison to successfully reintegrate into the community post-release, we are teaching key soft employment skills, supporting the development of self-discipline and self-belief,  and working to improve prisoner well-being, all key in reducing recidivism.

Core Requirements for the Role

Essential:

• Organised and process driven with strong administrative skills.
•  The ability to prioritise and meet deadlines and take initiative.
• Proven track record of delivering on targets and outcome.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• High standard of numeracy skills.
• Excellent team working skills.
• Accurate attention to detail for logging information and quality checking work.
• Proficient in MS Office particularly in Excel
•  A flexible approach to managing workload.
• An enthusiastic and positive attitude and strong interpersonal skills.
•  A non-judgemental approach to supporting prisoners.

Desirable:

• Experience of and/or knowledge of textiles and embroidery/needlework.
• Experience of working with volunteers.
• Experience of using complex databases.

This role is full time and based in our offices in Battersea, South London.

Reports to: Production Manager

Salary: £27,000

Fine Cell Work offer the following benefits to all our team members:

• A supportive learning culture and opportunities to develop in your role
• 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays (pro-rata) increasing after 2 years of service
• Employer pension contribution after 3 month probationary period
• Season ticket loan
• Cycle to work scheme

Fine Cell Work is committed to the principle of equality. No job applicant, employee, volunteer or worker is discriminated against either directly or indirectly on the grounds of race, colour, ethnic or national origin, religious belief, sex, marital or civil partnership status, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, pregnancy status, age or disability and we will maintain a neutral working environment in which no employee or worker feels under threat or intimidated.

To apply for this role please send a cover letter, outlining how you meet the person specification, and CV by 10pm on 13th July. Please note your application will not be considered if a cover letter is not included.

If successful in your application, interviews will be held week commencing 14th July.

We are looking for a Finance Officer to join our team to administer the financial affairs of the District. This role will include working closely with the District Secretary and Treasurer to implement financial policies and controls, assisting with preparing budgets and accounts, managing payroll, processing receipts and payments and maintaining appropriate accounting records. 

Role Purpose and Objectives

To administer the financial affairs of the District including preparing budgets and accounts, managing payroll, processing receipts and payments and maintaining appropriate accounting records. 

Responsibilities

Financial Controls and Policies

• Support the District Treasurer to implement proper financial policies and controls, ensuring appropriate accounting codes for churches and charities are complied with.

Budgets and Accounts

• Assist the District Secretary, Treasurer and Resourcing Mission Committee to prepare budget and circuit assessments for the District with reference to the District Mission Plan.
• Work with the District Secretary and Treasurer to prepare annual accounts for the District, including liaising with the auditors and helping to draft the Trustees’ Annual Report, particularly with regard to accounting practice and policies.
• Support the District Secretary as needed to ensure compliance with the Methodist Church and Charity Commission requirements, including supplying the information for HMRC P11D forms.

Payroll

• Ensure District employees’ and ministers’ payroll information is correct and liaise with the central Methodist payroll bureau so that staff are paid on time.

Administration of Bank Accounts

• Monitor cash flow and administer transfers between bank accounts.
• Set up approved payments in online banking and liaise with signatories to authorise these for payment.
• Liaise with the Treasurer and/or District Secretary on transactions with the Central Finance Board and Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes, preparing paperwork to facilitate drawdown of funds.
• Administer changes to banking mandates.
• Administer changes to Direct Debits and Standing Order instructions.

Receipts and Payments/Book-keeping

• Check invoices and expenses claims for accuracy, before sending to authorised persons for approval.
• Record all bank transactions for all bank accounts on a monthly basis.
• Produce monthly fund summaries, with detailed analyses.
• Provide monthly ‘sub-accounts’, where required, for specific projects

Other key tasks

• Manage the District’s Financial Record systems, including archiving information as necessary
• With the District Secretary, review and renew the District’s Insurance Policies. 
• Maintain the District’s Asset Register.
• Other duties commensurate with the role as agreed with the District Secretary.

For an informal conversation about the role please contact Lisa Murphy, District Secretary. To apply, please complete the application form and submit by the closing date and time. CVs will not be accepted. 

Interviews to take place during the week beginning 7th July 2025.