Development worker jobs in Battersea, greater london

Role overview 

Shine supports a community of over 15,000 members living with spina bifida and/or hydrocephalus, including 10,000 adults (25+).

You will be delivering high-quality support and creating opportunities for adults living with spina bifida and/or hydrocephalus and their carers, supporting Shine members to lead healthy, independent, and fulfilling lives by improving condition management and fostering connections within the Shine community. 

This role will focus on adults (25+), you will be primarily working within the Adult Services Team. However, there will be occasions when you will work across age groups to ensure the best outcomes for our members. 

The role is home-based and ideally you will live within an hour commute of London, within Essex, Kent or Sussex as you will be attending clinics in London and the Southeast as required. There would be occasional travel required across wider areas and nationally including attendance at events, conferences and meetings at our head office in Peterborough. 

The role is full time 35 hours per week, Monday - Friday with working core hours 9am-5pm with some flexibility to cover events evenings/weekends.

Key Responsibilities 

• Deliver innovative support across your region to improve health, social, and emotional outcomes for members. 

• Attend specialist clinics to engage with members and professionals. 

• Provide information, advice, and guidance to our adult members and carers, including hard-to-reach communities. 

• Support members to access benefits, services, and resources that promote financial stability, health, and independence. 

• Refer members to Shine’s Health team, internal specialists, or external agencies as appropriate. 

• Develop age-specific groups and peer support networks to reduce isolation and encourage social interaction. 

• Recruit and support Shine volunteers. 

• Contribute to regional and national events (face-to-face and virtual) based on member needs and interests. 

• Represent Shine at conferences, provide information, raise awareness among professionals, external organisations, and the public through presentations and training. 

• Promote Shine membership to individuals with relevant conditions. 

• Maintain accurate records using Shine’s CRM (Salesforce database). 

• Collaborate with colleagues across services, fundraising, marketing to identify opportunities for sustainability. 

• Maintain an up-to-date directory of contacts and share relevant information internally. 

• Undertake administrative tasks and other duties as required.

Other Core Requirements of Working for Shine 

• Ability to travel across designated areas. 

• Demonstrate flexibility and willingness to work outside core hours when required. 

• Ability to work from home and manage lone working effectively. 

• Self-motivated, with strong initiative and ability to work independently and as part of a dispersed team. 

• Full Enhanced DBS check, UK Right to Work and satisfactory references required. 

Benefits to working at Shine:

• Competitive salary: Review due April 2027 

• Regular working hours, and no shift work (some very occasional weekends or evenings) 

• 3% pension contribution 

• 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays, with additional discretionary leave between Christmas and New Year 

• Additional annual leave awarded for ‘long service’ 

• Opportunity to purchase additional annual leave 

• Broadband allowance for home-based roles 

• Life insurance after 12 months’ employment 

• Access to our Employee Support Programmeand Mental Health First Aiders 

• Support to learn and develop 

Role: You will work with local residents to bring about positive change for North Leatherhead, by supporting community-led activities, growing local leaders, and facilitating residents’ engagement in decisions affecting this community.

Pay: £32,136 a year (pro rata).

Contract: permanent contract, subject to a 4-month probationary period.  

Hours: 4 or 5 days a week, including occasional evening and weekend working, to be agreed with the successful applicant.

Location: LCH, Kingston Road, Leatherhead. KT22 7PX. Not suitable for remote working.

Background

Leatherhead Community Hub (LCH) has employed a Community Development/Engagement Worker since 2022, building relationships with local residents and listening to people’s concerns and hopes for North Leatherhead. This has led to the development of a number of successful community-led activities, including our weekly non-contact boxing and football training sessions for children and young people. More recently, we set up a Residents’ Panel and carried out a large-scale Community Survey, to help ensure that LCH is always listening to local residents and guided by local priorities.

This role is a vital element of LCH’s strategic vision for the next three years and beyond:

· cultivating community – offering a safe space for community activities that strengthen mutual support networks.

· growing capability - equipping local residents with the skills and confidence to bring about positive change in their community.

· fostering connections - acting as a focal point for collaborative working between local charities, agencies and businesses.

Our community development work is particularly focused on “growing capability”, recognising the importance of focusing time and energy into listening, encouraging and empowering others, and offering opportunities for local residents to get involved through volunteering, training, and working with us.

LCH is always seeking to be shaped by the desires and needs that arise within the community, by bringing people’s ideas into action and giving residents a voice in decisions affecting the local area. As a charity, we are also working towards residents being involved in every aspect of the governance of LCH, whether as trustees or on the management and operations teams.

Context

North Leatherhead is in the top 10% most deprived neighbourhoods in Surrey, with relatively high rates of poverty, economic inactivity, poor physical and mental health, and social isolation; all these issues have been exacerbated by the lack of community provision and damaging impact of the closure of the children’s centre and other community buildings in recent years.

Leatherhead Community Hub (LCH) was set up in July 2020 as a dedicated community centre in North Leatherhead. LCH provides opportunities for people to come together socially and build community, as well as giving our partner organisations a permanent base from which to offer critical support to local residents. Our mission is to create a safe, welcoming space at the heart of the community, where people of all ages can connect, learn, have fun, and find the support they need to thrive. The Hub attracts around 3,500 visitors a month to our affordable café and the many other community activities run by LCH and other community groups.

Description of role:

We are looking for someone who is capable of running community projects, but who is keen to involve others and gains most joy and satisfaction from developing leaders and volunteers from within the local community and seeing them grow and succeed in their roles.

In this role, you will be responsible for engaging and empowering the residents of North Leatherhead to facilitate positive change for the local community, by:

1)   overseeing existing community projects, and encouraging the involvement of local residents in supporting, running, and leading these projects;

2)   equipping local residents with the skills and confidence to initiate and run new community-led events and activities;

3)   facilitating and growing our Residents’ Panel to play a key role in the governance and running of LCH, with a view to appointing several trustees from the local community.

4)   promoting dialogue and collaboration between local residents and service providers, enabling people to have a greater say in decisions affecting the community;

5)   supporting the management team and trustees in prioritising LCH’s resources to best serving the desires and needs of the local community.

6)   subject to experience, we would also like the postholder to help with, or lead on, our social media alongside volunteers from the local community - although this is not an essential requirement for this role.

You will be employed by Leatherhead Community Hub, using the Hub as a base for networking, capacity-building, and community-led activities, whilst also reaching out and making connections with other sections of the local community. This role will require you to have a regular presence at LCH and in the wider community.

You will work closely with local service providers and other community organisations, including the council, housing association, and GP practices, as well as LCH’s core partners: Citizens Advice Mole Valley, EDGE Disability, Good Company Surrey (Foodbank), Link 2030, Mid-Surrey Community Fridges, The Gathering Church, and The Hive (a creative arts project). You will help promote a collaborative and participatory approach to supporting the community, seeking to ensure that local residents are directly engaged in initiatives aimed at meeting the needs of the North Leatherhead community.

You will be member of LCH’s Management Team, and line managed by the Managing Director, Tom Sefton, with advice & support from one of our Trustees and Co-Founders, Jenny Moore, who has worked in this community for over 20 years.

This role is partly funded by a multi-year grant from the National Lottery’s Reaching Communities Fund, which includes a number of specific objectives which you will be responsible for delivering, including: growing our youth sports projects, supporting more community-led activities, establishing our Residents’ Panel; and increasing local representation on our Board of Trustees. 

 Requirements of the postholder: 

Essential:

· Excellent listening skills – friendly and approachable, with the ability to connect with people from a wide range of backgrounds and make them feel supported and valued.

· A proven ability and desire to motivate and support people to use and develop their strengths and skills for the benefit of the wider community.

· Good networking skills and experience of working well with other organisations to achieve positive change for the community.

· Experience of volunteering and/or working in a range of community settings.

· Strong organisational and time management skills, and good IT skills.

· A positive and creative approach to work – able to handle new or competing demands and work on own initiative without close supervision.

· A willingness to work flexibly, including occasional evening and weekend meetings and events.

· A firm commitment to the vision, mission and values of LCH.

Desirable:

· Previous experience of working as a community development worker or similar role. 

· An understanding of the principles of asset-based community development and/or other participatory approaches to community development.

· Experience of training and supporting volunteers.

· Demonstrable experience in developing and running community-led events and activities, in a voluntary or paid capacity.

· Experience using social media to raise awareness, engage local communities, and promote activities or events.

· Experience of living, working and/or volunteering in the local area.

How to apply:  Please send your CV and a cover letter (no more than 400 words), explaining why you would like this role and how you meet the job requirements.

 Posted on: 24th August 2026

Closing date: 23rd September 2026

Interview date: 30th September 2026

Spectra is looking for a Research and Community Development Coordinator to join our growing Sex Worker Support Service.

Spectra is a health and wellbeing not-for-profit with a strong LGBTQ+ heritage. We design and deliver programmes for people from marginalised communities, including LGBTQ+ communities, particularly trans and gender diverse communities, sex worker communities, young people, and people living with and affected by HIV. Our work includes sexual health programmes, HIV and STI testing and outreach, counselling, advocacy, peer support and mentoring. 

Our Sex Worker Support Service has grown significantly since it was formed in 2023, and we are now looking for someone who can support the next stage of its development through community engagement, partnership work, participatory research and shared learning.

About the role

This role will support the ongoing development of Spectra’s Sex Worker Support Service by working closely with the Head of Sex Worker Support Services and the wider team. The postholder will help develop collaborative working with community and grassroots organisations, experts by experience, statutory agencies and other stakeholders.

You will lead on developing projects that support cross-community development in the sex worker support sector across London. This will include building external partnerships, helping to develop training, and supporting Spectra to play a positive and useful role in the wider sector. 

The role will also involve recruiting for and facilitating community participatory research projects and focus groups, contributing to data analysis and report writing, and sharing learning with colleagues and external stakeholders. The postholder will also occasionally contribute to outreach sessions and community support training, to build a direct understanding of the needs of the sex workers we work with.

Key areas of work

In this role, you will:

• Support the development of collaborations with agencies, grassroots organisations, collectives and experts by experience.
• Assist with the production of peer-led needs assessments and reliable, usable data and research. 
• Facilitate regular community participatory groups with service users and share learning with colleagues. 
• Create and distribute a monthly newsletter to stakeholders.
• Coordinate training opportunities and awareness-raising sessions with external organisations, delivering training alongside the Head of Service and/or other colleagues.
• Assist with funding proposals and applications. 
• Contribute to monitoring, evaluation and reporting.
• Help create, review and monitor resources for service users. 
• Work with Spectra colleagues and external partners to increase community engagement and develop resources for service users.

About you

We are looking for someone who is organised, thoughtful and community-minded, with good communication skills and a strong commitment to the rights and wellbeing of people from marginalised backgrounds.

You will have lived experience of sex work or transactional sex, or substantial experience working in trusted, peer-led sex worker support settings. Spectra delivers this service using a peer-led model, and lived experience is considered essential to this role because it supports trust-building, meaningful engagement, culturally competent service delivery, and the development of services that reflect the needs and experiences of sex workers and people engaged in transactional sex. 

You will also bring experience of developing good working relationships with stakeholders while maintaining professional boundaries, and experience of community research projects, data analysis and report writing.

We would particularly welcome applications from people who have experience of direct work within sex work community projects, online or in-person group facilitation, and/or knowledge of community participatory research methods.

About Spectra

Spectra’s values shape how we work, how we support one another, and how we work with the communities we serve. Our values are grounded in lived experience and reflect our commitment to equity, care and collaboration. We aim to be inclusive, supportive, emotionally aware, accessible, anti-oppressive, lived experience-centred and community-driven. 

We strive to provide a strong and supportive working environment for our staff team, many of whom have lived experience and are from the communities we serve.

How to apply

To apply, please complete the application form and return it by Thursday 3 September at 9am.

Interviews will take place in person on Monday 14 September.