Hostel worker jobs

About The Role

Do you want to be part of empowering individuals to find their own solution to their housing crisis? This may be the job for you!

We have two roles available, one in Cirencester and one in Witney. 

You will provide a comprehensive homelessness service to customers with a range of housing related issues on behalf of Publica and involved with assisting in the day to day running of Publica’s Homeless Hostel’s.

Creating individual housing plans for every applicant which fully reflects their needs and circumstances, whilst managing and resolving caseloads for those currently experiencing a housing crisis. Sourcing appropriate short term and long term accommodation to assist the council in discharging its duties, whilst maintaining accurate records both written and electronically and ensuring they are captured and recorded accurately.

You will be required to represent the section/department at meetings/working parties/case conferences as appropriate and maintain a thorough knowledge of Housing and related legislation, including the Housing Acts, case law, the Homelessness Reduction code of guidance and good practice in the implementation thereof.

What we are looking for…

 
The successful candidate will be analytical and confident in interpreting housing legislation, with strong decision making skills essential for delivering effective homelessness prevention and relief services. 

You will be someone who values structure, confidentiality, and professionalism as much as they do empathy and support. You will be expected to handle sensitive personal information with the utmost discretion, in line with GDPR and safeguarding protocols. Maintaining client confidentiality is non-negotiable in this role. 

This role requires a strong understanding of professional boundaries and the ability to maintain them — even in emotionally complex situations. This is a rewarding but demanding role — ideal for someone who thrives on helping others in crisis, but who understands the importance of clear boundaries, resilience, and confidentiality. 

You will need resilience and adaptability as you will often work with people experiencing stress, crisis, or confrontation, so it is essential you can manage these situations calmly and confidently. Being emotionally resilient and understand how to support others without becoming personally involved or emotionally entangled.

Teamwork is essential for this role to work effectively with colleagues and external agencies.

Please note you will need to be in the Witney/Cirencester offices 2 – 3 days a week and have the ability to travel within the district as required.

You will need…

• GCSEs (5 A-Cs or equivalent, including Maths and English) Please confirm what qualifications as not clear on JD
• Experience of working with vulnerable people
• Experience of working with people with complex needs
• Communicates effectively at all levels (excellent verbal and written skills)

For more information about this role please see the Job Description/Person Specification.

Special Conditions…

• Full UK Driving Licence with access to a vehicle for work purposes
• DBS Check
• Expected to work reasonable additional hours in line with the needs of the service

What can we do for you… 

• Agile working allowing a mix of home and office working
• Flexible working arrangements (depending on the role)
• 27 days paid annual leave (pro rata if you are working part time) plus bank holidays and an extra two volunteering days off a year for you to support a charity of your choice
• Renewed again for another year there is a Health cash plan giving you cash back on health, dental and eye care
• Pension scheme with a good employer contribution of 5% of your earnings
• Employee Assistance Programme 24/7, providing positive, preventative and supportive advice and counselling to deal with everyday events and issues
• Cycle to work scheme
• Salary sacrifice car lease scheme with significant tax and NI savings to be made on electric cars
• Generous sickness cover above statutory entitlements
• Additional income protection, covering 50% of your salary for potentially a further five years if you are unable to work due to sickness or injury
• Life assurance, currently four times your annual salary

To apply for this position please click on "apply now" within this page and submit your CV and supporting statement. Please apply for the role at the location you prefer to work at. Please tell us about your skills, knowledge, qualifications, experience and how they meet the criteria listed above and in the job description/person specification. It’s important that we’re a good fit for each other, so let us know what’s important to you and why you want to work for Publica Group Ltd.

Accredited of the disability confident scheme, we guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the vacancy/ies - Please state this within your covering statement or in a separate email. 

Safer recruitment practices are applied to all job vacancies. Successful candidates will be required to complete a pre-employment medical questionnaire; provide references;  proof of identity; nationality and immigration status; three years’ employment or education history (if applicable) and, in some cases, verification of criminal record.

About Us

You will be employed by Publica Group Ltd which was created by four partner Councils (West Oxfordshire District Council, Cotswold District Council, Cheltenham Borough Council and Forest of Dean District Council) to deliver more efficient and improved services. 

Publica is a unique place to work, established to transform the way local services are delivered, fundamentally rethinking the way our services are designed and delivered in a digital era, making us a customer-focused organisation driven by real user needs.

Salary: £29,120 per annum FTE (actual £19,968)

Contract: Permanent, following a 3-month probation period

Hours:24 hours across three days a week: Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Do you want to make a tangible difference in the lives of some of the most deprived children in London? 

CARIS Families is a small frontline charity that offers holistic support to families experiencing homelessness in hostels in the London Boroughs of Camden and Hackney.  Amongst our other services, we run play and learning activities for children aged 0-16 from within 4 hostels in these boroughs, as well as a school holiday day trip programme.  Our services for children aim to reduce the stress on children and parents of living in overcrowded, insecure accommodation, and to put back essential childhood experiences that homeless accommodation deprives children of.

The services we currently offer our families in hostels are:

- Kids Club: an after-school play club in term time for 0-16s, run from our dedicated play club in the basement of one family hostel in Camden.

- Enrichment Trips and Summer Programme: a series of day trips for groups of families from our 4 hostels in the school holidays.  We take part in exciting activities and visit interesting destinations round London and the South-East, to ease the pressures of being stuck in the hostel during the long school breaks.

- Essentials Bank: Our Essentials bank runs weekly in term-time from two of our hostels, offering families free hygiene products such as toiletries, nappies, washing powder etc. to ease the pressure on family finances at a difficult time.

- Family Support Work and Housing Casework: we offer holistic casework to support families to ease the stress of their situation, from working on finances to supporting employment searches, to assisting with legal cases and supporting them to navigate their housing case and move out of homelessness as soon as possible.

We are currently looking for an experienced Play and Community Worker to join our dedicated frontline Family Services team, delivering this vital support to around 100 children and their families each year.

Responsibilities of the Role

The Play and Community Worker will:

- Deliver play and learning activities for children aged 0-16 at our hostel-based Kids Club’s play sessions during term time in the London Borough of Camden.

- Deliver our Enrichment Trips School Holiday programme during school holidays (in Camden, Hackney and the wider London and South-East England area)

- Deliver our term-time Essentials Bank programme, providing free household goods to families in hostels

- Assist the Services Manager with a range of administrative and operational activities to support the day-to-day running of our Family Services and CARIS Families’ operations as a whole

- Provide a warm and welcoming experience for children and their families attending CARIS Families’ services

- Engage enthusiastically and supportively with children in their play and learning experiences, through staff-led activities and facilitating child-led play

- Work proactively as part of our Family Services team, supporting colleagues, embracing change and contributing ideas to service development within our frontline Family Services.

Person Specification

We are looking for a Play and Community Worker who is:

- Qualified to Level 2 or 3, or prepared to work towards this qualification in: Playwork, Early Years, CYP Workforce, Youth Work or any related area

- Experienced in delivering play within a CYP or community work setting, and working with 0- to 16-year-olds

- Experienced in providing and facilitating safe and creative play experiences

- Passionate about improving opportunities for disadvantaged children

-  Understanding of the varied needs of children and their families, and of the impact of trauma and ACE on children’s development and wellbeing

- Able to maintain professional boundaries while supporting parents/carers and children empathetically, and with a person-centred, relational approach.

- Understanding of Equal Opportunities and Safeguarding best practice

- A good communicator, comfortable with working with a wide range of service users and professionals

- Proficient in use of Microsoft Office packages and basic web-based software applications (e.g. Canva)

- Reliable and diligent, with good time-keeping skills, who is able to work well as part of a team, take the initiative and lend a helping hand across our fast-changing, responsive frontline work

Job Title: Support worker

Location: London Borough of Tower Hamlets

Salary: £28,808.00 per annum 

Hours: Hours: 40 hours per week, including sleep-ins

Contract: Permanent

PRHA is a great place to work – Our award-winning teams work together to improve the lives of our residents and make a real contribution to ending homelessness. As an IIP Gold standard employer, we value our staff and commit to develop their skills and support them in their important work.

We have an exciting opportunity for Support Workers  within two of our specialist  services. We are looking for self-starters with a passion for sparking change in people’s lives. You will have the necessary skillset to empower people and support residents to achieve their goals.

PRHA hostels guarantee a fast-paced, challenging and dynamic environment where no two days are ever the same. We are seeking motivated and energetic individuals to join our teams and help our residents to change their lives for the better.

We are looking for:

Competencies

• Knowledge, empathy, understanding and proven ability to work creatively and engage homeless people whose alcohol/ drug misuse/ mental health/ complex trauma has had significant effect on their physical and mental health, social and coping skills .
• Ability to assess needs, risks (within a framework of positive risk taking) and develop user led support plans.
• Awareness of and ability to identify and address health and care issues with partners, especially substance misuse, mental health, dementia etc.
• Ability to respond to challenging behaviour in a safe way.
• Ability to develop successful professional relationships, working collaboratively with external and internal partners , sharing expertise and learning from colleagues in health, social care,probation and voluntary sector etc
• Knowledge of and commitment to service user involvement, self empowerment, equalities, diversity andservice improvement
• Basic understanding of the principals of delivering support within a Psychologically Informed Environment (PIE) and commitment to working within this model
• Robust knowledge and practical application of adult safeguarding requirements.
• Knowledge and understanding of Healthand Safety in a hostel setting, including dealing with emergencies and working alone.
• A good listener and communicator at all levels, including people with communication difficulties
• A good standard of literacy, numeracy, computer skills and the ability to write accurate and succinct reports.
• Proven ability both to work within a team and use initiative to problem solve.
• Excellent time management skills
• Willingness and ability to support personal care where the service user is at risk
• Ability to implement policies and procedures,standing orders and financial regulations

What we offer

We offer our staff a generous benefits package, which includes:

• Pension Scheme – We offer a group stakeholder pension scheme with 3% employer's contribution, employee contribution is 5%
• Holidays - Employees receive up to 22 days annual leave plus bank holidays rising with long service
• Medical – we provide a “Cash Back" Scheme for a range of services such as dental, physio, chiropody, health& wellbeing
• Training Programmes – We provide comprehensive training to our employees to enable them to grow in their career and achieve their professional aspirations.
• Season Ticket Loans – We offer interest-free season ticket loans after successful probation
• Life Assurance - Upon death whilst in service, a Death in Service payment may be made according to the scheme rules. The payment covers 3 times of the employee’s annual salary.

How to apply

Please read the full Job Description & Person Specification which can be found on our website. To apply, please send your CV and Supporting Statement outlining your interest in working for PRHA and explaining how you meet the criteria set out in the Job Description & Person Specification. Please send your CV and Supporting Statement by clicking the Apply Now button. Furthermore, applications with no attached personal statement explaining how you meet the job description will not be considered.

It is required for this post that the successful candidates will have to complete an enhanced DBS disclosure check.

We're looking for a kind, compassionate and resilient Support Worker to join our Homelessness and Complex needs service in Brent.
£28,808.00 per annum, working 40 hours per week.

Want to feel like you have an exciting future? You'll feel at home here.
Making you feel at home here means helping you thrive in every way. That's why we offer a wide range of benefits, award-winning Learning & Development and a culture that welcomes all. These aren't token gestures - we've thought long and hard about how best to support our team. After all, our people are doing something amazing: helping to transform lives every day.

Our benefits include:
* Annual leave increasing up to 30 days with length of service
* Free DBS (take this out if BSW advert)
* Exclusive discounts and cashback via Reward Gateway® and opportunity to buy a Blue Light Card
* Fully paid induction programme and further training
* ILM courses and Apprenticeship Programmes
* Healthcare Cashplan through our partner Healthshield
* Cycle to work scheme
* Employee Assistance Programme for 24-7 confidential support
* Online wellbeing resources
* A generous pension - we will contribute up to 4% and life assurance cover up to £10,000 (T&Cs apply)
* Quarterly Staff Awards to reward & recognise our amazing staff's commitment and contribution
All applicants must be legally eligible to work in the UK by the start of employment as Look Ahead are not able to offer sponsorship.
Livingstone House is a 24 hour staffed 92 bed mix gender hostel, which provides short term supported housing for single homeless vulnerable people with Low to Medium support needs. Look ahead provides the support function and Riverside provides the housing management and night concierge. The Service provides on average 5 hours of weekly support to customers who reside in the hostel with the aim to provide them with the tools to move on within the community and live independently. On occasions, we may need support within our scattered sites based in Brent.

The Shift pattern of this role consist: 8am -4pm and 1.30pm - 9pm. Over a 7 day rota with 2 days off with weekend working

What you'll do:
- To provide support to peers and management, being flexible and responsive and help bespoke support for each customer's abilities and aspirations
- To implement the principles of personalisation, as part of a local service plan.
- To help support your colleagues to maximise the customers' independence.
- To motivate customers to access educational and training opportunities and to integrate fully in the community
- To support up to 14 customers to sustain their tenancies
- To promote customer involvement in all aspects of your work
- To take on a project that will help assist the service move forward
- To work closely with peers/customers and lead on initial referral assessments, aiding their journey for betterment & lead on the resettlement of customersThis is not an exhaustive list of all the duties and responsibilities that may be required from time to time and is subject to change in accordance with the needs of Look Ahead

About you:
- Excellent communication and a team player
- Excellent customer relationship management
- Professional manner in everything that you do
- Proven experience of motivating, supporting customers or transferable skills than can complete this task and beyond.
- A essential willingness to work evenings, weekends and bank holidays on a shift rota basis
- Ability to think outside the box (Essential)
- Work upon your own initiative which is essential

What you'll bring:

Essential:
- Time management with is key in all area's
- Leadership
- Teamwork
- Communication
- Resilience
- IT skills

Desirable:
- Problem solving
- Ability to work under pressure
- Confidence
- Change management

About us:

Look Ahead is a leading, not-for-profit care and support provider in London and the South East. Our vision is to build better lives through social care and housing in local communities. As an organisation we deliver over 100 services, providing support to thousands of customers each year. Our mission is to co-design and deliver services that offer innovative social care solutions and support people to thrive. We work across mental health, homelessness and complex needs, young people and care leavers and learning disabilities so there are plenty of opportunities to grow and progress your career with us.
We have a strong social purpose and we live and work by our values:
* We focus on Excellence and innovation.
* We are Caring and Compassionate.
* We are Inclusive and Trusted.
* We work in Partnership and are One-Team.
Look Ahead is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and adults at risk, and expects all employees, workers and volunteers to share this commitment.

If your application for this role is unsuccessful, but we feel that you would be suitable for another role, we may contact you to discuss alternative opportunities. If this occurs you would not need to submit another application for the alternative role.

We reserve the right to close this advert early if we are able to appoint to the vacancy before the advertised closed date.

We are committed to diversity and inclusion at work and are accredited with Silver in the Inclusive Employers Standard 2021. We are a proud member of the Employers Domestic Abuse Covenant and encourage applications from a diverse range of applicants of all backgrounds.

Please see our website for full job decription

Are you passionate about supporting and transforming the lives of people who are experiencing homelessness in Hammersmith & Fulham?

About the role

The Hammersmith and Fulham Supported Pathway are recruiting for a Support Worker at The Old Theatre; a 12-bed female-only very high support needs hostel based in Hammersmith.

In this role, you will be supporting our clients on their road to recovery in a psychologically informed environment; aiding clients to gain necessary skills to move on from our services and into suitable accommodation. You will work with a caseload of clients, aiding them to gain necessary skills to maintain independence in the community. The role is focused on supporting residents around their strengths and aspirations for the future.

About you

These roles will suit people who can;

• Work with clients to identify their personal aims and ambitions and work towards achieving them.
• Provide practical and personal support to clients in an approachable, caring and person centred way.
• Work as part of a dedicated team to provide safe, high quality, positive and inclusive service to clients.
• Complete administrative records relating to client work, housing management and health and safety.
• Coordinate with external services relating to substance use, mental health, physical health, domestic violence and more, to provide a multiagency approach to clients’ support.
• Work on a weekly shift rota including early and late shifts, weekends and bank holidays.

Above all we are looking for inspirational individuals who have a genuine desire to support people to transform their lives, and who will be committed to our Recovery Ethos.

*For genuine occupational requirement reasons we are looking to appoint a female only for this post (exemption under the Equality Act 2010 Part 1 Schedule 9).

How to apply

To view the job description and guidance on completing your application form, please click on the ‘document’ tab on the advert page on our website.

To find out more and apply please go to the St Mungo’s careers page on our website.

Closing date: 10am on 23 July 2025

Interview and assessments on: TBC

What we offer

• Excellent Development and Growth Opportunities
• A Diverse and Inclusive Workplace
• Great Pay and Other Benefits

Support Workers

We are currently seeking two permanent support workers for Ripon House, due to the nature of the post we can only accept applications from women.

If you are passionate about working with individuals in the criminal justice system and you are resilient with a mature outlook and want to work in a residential setting that provides an opportunity to support and make a real difference to those released from custody, then the Support Worker job could be ideal for you. It is also a pathway to gain experience if you are thinking of a career in Criminal Justice.

Progress To Change runs two Approved Premises (formerly known as Probation and Bail Hostels) in Leeds. Ripon House provides a service for women offenders and Cardigan House works with male offenders. Both Approved Premises (AP) operate alongside the National Probation Service (NPS) Approved Premises. Nationally there are fourteen APs that are independently managed. All APs operate to a national agreement / rules.

Purpose of Job Role

1. To provide double cover for the Approved Premise in accordance with the rota.

2. Ensure smooth operation of the premises, with an emphasis on risk management and health and safety

3. To engage with residents and enable and motivate them to attend appointments and activities in order for them to work towards successful resettlement.

4. To support the Case Managers in delivering structured activities.

Relevant Experience:

1. Engaging and motivating others to make positive changes

2. Working with disadvantaged groups and people from diverse backgrounds

3. Working to procedures / systems to manage risk and ensure safety

4. Working as part of a team

Relevant Knowledge:

1. Knowledge re good communication Systems

2. Difficulties experienced by offenders and or other disadvantaged groups

3. Engagement / pro social behaviour

4. Knowledge of diverse backgrounds

We do not do any personal care or restraint. All service users must be independent and able to manage themselves.

The work can be challenging but is also rewarding. If you like engaging with people, enjoy problem solving and are motivated, assertive and enthusiastic, this could be a fantastic opportunity.

You must be at least 18 years old, have 5 GCSE passes including English and Maths and / or some paid or voluntary experience of working with people, particularly disadvantaged groups. Above all you must enjoy working with and motivating people.

The service provides 24 hour support and therefore candidates must be able to undertake the full pattern of shifts which includes, earlies, lates, weekends and waking night shifts.

Special Requirements:

1. Compliance with DBS

2. Commitment to shift work and flexible.

Closing date: 20th July 2025

Interviews to take place: 5 & 6 August 2025.

BACKGROUND

Ashiana is a ‘by and for’ women's led BME VAWG service with 30 years’ experience in delivering a holistic range of specialist services to South Asian, Turkish and Middle Eastern women affected by VAWG.

OUR SERVICES

Ashiana runs three refuges with a total of 29 bedspaces; specifically for women aged 16-35 fleeing forced marriage. This multi award winning project is the only service of its kind in the UK and is highly innovative in terms of addressing an area of significant need not met in other refuge provision. Within these refuges we designate a number of bedspaces for women with no recourse to public funds. We offer an advice and support service to women and girls who are experiencing VAWG, enabling them to make informed decisions and exit violent relationships. We provide a legal service supporting women with no recourse to public funds to help resolve their immigration status.

Counselling is offered for women and girls affected by VAWG. The counselling service works from an integrative stance, with the focus of providing a holistic service whereby we also work alongside other services and provide specialist domestic violence group work. The emphasis of therapeutic work with our clients is from a trauma informed model.

We also deliver an education programme for young people in secondary schools in East London aimed at preventing domestic violence and enabling young people experiencing domestic violence to access appropriate services. The prevention service includes delivering a whole school approach in schools to young people as well as group work to women and girls across North East London boroughs as well as community engagement activities and delivery. We deliver a range of awareness raising workshops for young people in the community and training on domestic violence for professionals in the voluntary and statutory sector.

PRIMARY TASK

The post is instrumental in overseeing the delivery of a comprehensive package of services and care for women in our refuges. To provide a safe environment and a service that is appropriate to the needs of young BME women particularly those from South Asian, Turkish and Middle Eastern communities and to support ex-clients following resettlement.

The post holder will have a caseload of clients and be responsible for providing advice, advocacy, casework and support to women and girls, advocating on behalf of these women and making others aware of their particular needs. The post-holder is required to demonstrate sensitivity and an awareness of the culture and needs of  minoritised communities in all aspects of their duties and responsibilities.

Please see the attached the full job description

The post-holder will maintain a manageable caseload of clients needing support with their welfare rights and benefits. The role is to support the Welfare Rights Advice Project Team with the following:

1. To carry out an initial client assessment, identifying any issues with their benefits and any claims they can make to maximise their income.
2. Provide casework (including challenging decisions) for welfare benefits available to clients with mental health difficulties and their carers: i.e. Personal Independence Payments, Universal Credit, Employment and Support Allowance and Housing Benefit.
3. Provide information and advice as appropriate about issues related to a client’s particular situation.
4. Provide advice and casework for mobility and discretionary schemes and personal grants that could be of benefit to clients.
5. Take referrals directly from service users, carers or staff from other agencies (encouraging use of our online referral form)
6. Signpost and refer clients to agencies that assist with transition from hospital to community living, or to tackle social isolation and improve mental wellbeing.
7. Maintain records in accordance with Hear Us policies and procedures, including the handling of confidential and private documents and keeping written and computer records up to date and secure.
8. Liaise with GPs, CMHT’s and other agencies to obtain supporting documents, by telephone, letter and e-mail.
9. Taking confidential telephone messages from clients and outside agencies.
10. Take part in weekly WRAP team meetings regarding case allocation, and stay up to date with changes in benefits legislation. 
11. Attend regular supervision and yearly appraisals with line manager.
12. Assist WRAP manager to write reports and evaluate the project for funding bids and to support and promote the project.
13. Collect and distribute flyers and leaflets for signposting purposes.
14. Attend Hear Us staff meetings, staff development days, and other Hear Us events (e.g. Hear Us Open Forum) where directed by line manager.
15. Attend identified training and other personal development activities that will support you in this role.
16. Develop and maintain healthy working practices for yourself, with clear personal and professional boundaries.

We work with unaccompanied asylum-seeking young people to support them to transition to adult life in the UK, feeling fully supported, equipped, and confident of their independent living skills and sustainable capability to flourish. 

You will welcome each person into a place they can call home, encouraging them to decorate their rooms and explore their local area. These houses, shared with other UASCs, offer comfort and stability throughout what can be a challenging period of asylum claims and settling into the UK.

We are looking for somebody who can foster a supportive community of friends across nationalities through weekly gathered activities, such as football, cricket, and dinners.