Independent Advocate Jobs in East Of England
Do you want to support people with mental health issues in a moment of crisis? Are you calm, non-judgmental and able to work effectively with people experiencing distress?
Can you demonstrate our values of Hope, Courage, Together, and Responsive and want to be part of our mission to create opportunities for individuals to make choices, find their own solutions, build resilience and manage their whole life and wellbeing?
If the answer to all of these is yes, we want to hear from you.
Mental Healthcare Support Worker – Helpline & Crisis Cafés - Evening and Weekends
Reference: 198
Responsible to: Crisis Cafe Coordinator
Working Base(s): Watford, Stevenage and Ware (expectation to travel whenever necessary with mileage paid when not working at home base)
Salary: £22,347 - £24,024 per annum, FTE
Hours: Full time or part-time positions (30 or 22.5 hours) available in addition to Bank hours.
Work pattern: A full-time pattern will be working 5 out of 7-day rota, working 17:30 - 01:30
About the Service
Our Nightlight Service is proud to provide urgent support, crisis intervention and emotional support to people experiencing a mental health crisis in Hertfordshire as an alternative to statutory pathways.
We provide support to adults across Hertfordshire 7 days a week, 365 days a year through our helpline, crisis centres, crisis cafes and a weekend Crisis House. We aim to provide a safe space for people in crisis to talk and feel supported, be listened to without judgement, access relevant support with problem solving and facilitate access to external services when necessary.
The objectives of Hertfordshire Mind Network’s (HMN) Nightlight Mental Health Crisis Services are:
- To improve the mental wellbeing of people experiencing mental health crisis in Hertfordshire.
- To increase early access to help for people experiencing mental health crisis in Hertfordshire, by providing a clear and effective pathway to services provided by Herts Mind Network and other third sector and statutory providers.
- To contribute to an improvement in individual mental wellbeing.
- To remain a source of independent support for all clients.
- To provide an alternative pathway to people in distress and crisis to support better outcomes and reduce the demand on statutory crisis services and emergency services.
About the Role
Mental Healthcare Support Workers are key members of staff delivering the Nightlight Mental Health Crisis Service, taking part in a rota covering 7 days per week, ensuring the delivery of quality crisis support services and instilling Hertfordshire Mind Network’s values throughout the crisis cafe and helpline provision. Working closely with other staff (bank staff, volunteers), coordinators, team leaders and Crisis manager to ensure services are of the highest quality and support the continued growth and development of the service.
Key Responsibilities
- Providing emotional support and developing, alongside clients, flexible and realistic crisis support/person-centred plans within agreed guidelines with support from leadership team (including assessments of need, risk, crisis support plans and review forms), often where risks are significant.
- Liaising with statutory agencies to ensure appropriate intervention is obtained for individuals.
- Drawing upon own lived experience as appropriate to inform the delivery of person-centred support.
- Providing immediate advice and information to clients to support with crisis presentations.
- To support individuals both through telephone support (helpline) and face to face support (crisis café).
- Liaising with Nightlight management and external services e.g. police, ambulance service, Crisis Resolution Home Treatment Team, Single Point of Access, Safeguarding Out of Hours Service, Mental Health Liaison Teams, Adult Community Mental Health Services etc .as needed in terms of accepting referrals and proactively recognising the indicators of deteriorating mental health and facilitating appropriate support.
- Completing appropriate signposting/onward referrals to both internal and external services in accordance with identified needs and risks.
- Supporting clients with making drinks and beverages as needed when visiting the crisis café.
- Assisting with housing keeping/cleaning tasks as necessary and reporting any maintenance problems.
- Contributing to the co-development of the service by supporting service user, family and carer involvement by obtaining feedback and supporting where necessary chances to be involved in wider service reviews.
We offer:
- Annual leave entitlement of 25 days per year pro rata, rising in increments to a max. of 29 days after 5 years employment (plus 8 days Bank Holidays)
- An additional day of leave each year for your birthday following completion of probation period.
- Ongoing training relevant to your role.
- An Employee Assistance Programme.
- Health cover (after 6 months employment) – compensation payment for Optical, Dental, Chiropody and Therapy Treatments.
Closing date for receipt of applications is 6th May 2024
Interviews shall take place the week commencing 6th May 2024.
Please note: We reserve the right to close this advertisement early if sufficient applications are received so would encourage early applications.
Interested?
If you would like to find out more, please click the apply button. You will be directed to our website to complete your application for this position.
Equal Opportunities
We welcome applications from all suitably-qualified candidates, irrespective of gender, disability, marital or parental status, racial, ethnic or social origin, colour, religion, belief, or sexual orientation. In addition, during the various stages of recruitment, specific measures can be taken to ensure equal opportunities for candidates with disabilities or special needs.
Hertfordshire Mind Network is committed to the Disability Confident and Mindful Employer charters. We actively recruit staff who have a lived experience of mental ill health. We recognise and value the unique combination of skills, knowledge and perspective that employing people with a lived experience, at all levels across the organisation, brings. We create an environment where the sharing of experiences and vulnerabilities to support others and create positive change is welcomed and work towards breaking down the ‘them’ and ‘us’ culture. The organisation is committed to nurturing peer relationships that allow all staff to thrive.
We are delighted to have been accredited as a Living Wage Employer.
No agencies please.
Citizens UK and the NRPF Partnership
Citizens UK
We are Citizens UK. We’re working together to make change on the issues that matter, from campaigning for zebra crossings on dangerous roads, to reforming the immigration system, to the Living Wage campaign.
We bring together everyday people and local organisations to build a better, fairer society. Too often communities are left out of decisions that affect their lives, but we know everyday people have the ability to shape the world around them. We develop local leaders who find solutions to problems big and small and hold power-holders to account.
We work with hundreds of civil society organisations, who we call our members - schools, universities, faith groups, charities, unions and more - to help them win change. Over the last 30 years, we’ve worked in alliance with 500+ members, trained 4,000+ community leaders, accredited 13,000 Living Wage employers, and won hundreds of campaigns.
NRPF Partnership
The NRPF partnership was set up in 2023 and is being developed by Citizens UK, Migration Exchange, and Praxis. We are working to build the necessary infrastructure for collaboration across a range of organisations, amplify their work, and build power to win change against the No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) condition. You can learn more about the overall initiative via our FAQs page.
Each partner contributes staff capacity and will work closely with the appointed person to ensure a positive, professional and supportive culture. The Partnership centres around:
1) Placing decision-making power and strategic vision in the hands of people doing the work
(frontline staff and people with lived experience), via a steering group and working groups.
2) Establishing a strategic pooled fund so that the steering group has sufficient budget to guide the collaboration, act, identify and seize political opportunities, and facilitate active participation of everyone involved.
3) Expanding the movement and building power, using incremental wins to build towards broader change towards the goal of ending NRPF.
The Person and the Role
100,000s people in our communities have put down roots in the UK but are denied access to the welfare safety net (No Recourse to Public Funds).
Citizens UK has worked with Migration Exchange and Praxis to raise over £2m to develop a 5 year partnership to enable the movement to end NRPF.
This Senior Project role will be a core part of the support to the steering group of the partnership to make sure it runs effectively and achieves its potential.
If you're angry about injustice in the immigration system, have good communication and relationship building skills and self organised - apply below. We are particularly keen to hear from candidates who have been through the immigration system themselves.
We are looking for a values-driven and experienced person with exceptional skills and knowledge in project management, relationship-building, and community organising. This role will lead and coordinate all project management and tactical activities necessary to support the day-to-day functioning of the NRPF Partnership. The right person will be highly motivated by joining the distinctive ethos of Citizens UK and the shared values of the NRPF Partnership, where local leaders and people experiencing injustice are in the lead, and where grassroots community organising is combined with strategies for social change.
This role is a really exciting opportunity to forge real change and to shift the power dynamics in social change work. The successful candidate will be at the heart of making change happen on one of the most important social justice issues of our time. Top Priorities
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Building and maintaining relationships and communication – maintaining excellent working relationships and effective communications with the Coordination Backbone Group (CBG), Steering Group, working groups, wider community partners involved in the NRPF partnership, and the Citizens UK Migration Team
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Managing and coordinating capacity-building and leadership development in support of the shared strategy set by the steering group– developing and maintaining the effectiveness of a capacity-building and leadership development inputs that enables everyone in the Partnership, especially those with expertise by lived experience, to fully participate across all levels of the Partnership
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Project managing all partnership implementation logistics and follow-up – managing meeting logistics from planning to scheduling to outreach to follow-up to ensure seamless participation of Steering Group and Working Group members and ensure that planned activities take place effectively in support of the goals and values of the Partnership
The role will be reporting to Assistant Director, Migrant and Refugee Organising.
Main Responsibilities
Reporting directly to X with oversight from the NRPF Partnership CBG, the post holder will be expected to manage their own independent workload, as well as support the broader CBG. The main responsibilities are outlined below:
Working with the NRPF Partnership’s key stakeholders
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Developing and maintaining relationships with Partnership stakeholders
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Working with the CBG to update outreach strategy as new needs emerge
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Building and maintaining trust and relationships across the whole Partnership and more widely (within and across sectors from migration to anti-poverty to children’s rights, etc.)
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Supporting with the facilitation of Working Group meetings
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Develop and implement ideas for action that are consistent with the goals of the project
Strategic coherence
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Supporting the coordination of activities with partners to align strategies and actions and minimise duplication
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Working with the CBG to coordinate with other related projects and coalitions to maintain a full understanding of the current landscape of local and regional activities
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Maintaining understanding of current implementation challenges and developing comprehensive solutions to address them in dialogue with partners
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Developing, maintaining, and monitoring political opportunities to support Working Groups to develop and execute on their action plans
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In partnership with the CBG and steering group, providing support to partner organisations to coordinate and collaborate on joint initiatives
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Coordinating advocacy activities across stakeholders that support the wider aims of the Partnership
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Supporting the independent learning partner to deliver evaluation and learning activities
Communications
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Organising appropriate outreach and communications efforts across the Partnership (e.g. publishing a regular newsletter, email updates, insights from learning and evaluation etc.)
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Ensuring effective internal communication with CUK organisers, leaders, and partners involved with the NRPF Partnership and with funders
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Facilitating on-going communication across the NRPF Partnership to ensure alignment of activity
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Supporting the development of any communications materials such as summary documents, brochures, FAQs, social media content, etc.
Build leadership development offer for the Partnership
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Working alongside CBG and the CUK Migration team, refine community organising and leadership development support for all members of the NRPF partnership especially those with lived experience of NRPF
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Ensuring that everyone in the group can contribute to the best of their ability by managing a training and external facilitation budget to build skills, confidence and trust
Fundraising and reporting
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Working with the CBG to develop and support fundraising bids and support reporting requirements and funder relationships
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Contributing to the budgeting process and the effective management of financial resources in the project working closely with Global Dialogue who will hold pooled funds on behalf of the partnership
Managing meeting/event logistics
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Planning and managing the logistics of all Partnership meetings and gatherings of the Steering Group, working groups and CBG (e.g., dial-in, attendance, cancellations, etc.)
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Consolidating Working Group updates for Steering Group, including summarising meeting notes and highlighting key outputs and decisions so they can be easily shared with others across the Partnership
Any other reasonable tasks as required by the line manager.
Person Specification
REQUIREMENTS
ESSENTIAL (E)
DESIRABLE (D)
QUALIFICATIONS
Degree or equivalent professional qualification (D)
EXPERIENCE
Significant proven, comprehensive experience in a project management role (E)
Experience of initiating new projects and developing them so that they become sustainable underpinned by strong values (E)
Experience of building consensus between diverse stakeholders and managing complexity in relationships (E)
Experience of organising and managing all aspects of community events, incl. logistics (E)
Proven experience of raising significant funds for charitable purposes (D)
A proven track record of delivering and reporting against targets and on budgets (D)
KEY SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE
Knowledge of No Recourse to Public Funds and working with individuals who have an NRPF designation on their immigration status (E)
Outstanding communication skills (verbally and written) combined with the ability to liaise with stakeholders (E)
Ability to work well as part of a team, and maintain effective communication with colleagues (E)
Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to build relationships, lead, influence and motivate others (E)
Ability to act on own initiative to introduce and develop new projects and systems (E)
Proven computer literacy to include MS Office (E)
PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES
Exceptional leadership skills, with an ability to enthuse and inspire staff and volunteers (E)
A proactive approach to all areas of work with a flexible approach to work demands (E)
An appreciation and respect for different communities; including faith groups and different cultures. (E)
A strong commitment to the CUK values and the values of the NRPF partnership, which include: (E)
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Being open to new ideas (specifically ensuring that all our 121 conversations, small group discussions with the sector and funders create an environment that fosters creative problem-solving and innovation)
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Fostering connection
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Championing co-design and co-production
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Being equity-focused and enabling any one interested to participate and feed into the design and development of this work
Please note there will be recruitment webinar on Tuesday, 7th May from 14:30-15:30. Please register via the following link if you are interested in attending: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwpcO-rrzsoH9ecIXUaaFbqDjaVxVSvqJLq.
Interviews are planned to take place on Thursday, June 13th (subject to change.)
Actively Interviewing
This organisation is scheduling interviews as the applications come in. Don’t miss your opportunity, apply now!
Aid to the Church in Need is a Catholic charity, supporting persecuted and suffering Christians around the world.
Working alongside the existing Community Fundraiser in London, this role will engage with the Dioceses in Westminster, Brentford & East Anglia to establish and strengthen links to individual bishops and diocesan communications staff. Attend parishes to deliver weekend fundraising appeals as well as giving talks and presentations to parish groups.
Developing strong links for ACN with educational and pastoral networks in Schools, Colleges and Universities, building relationships and supporting them in delivering the ACN Schools Programme, boosting the take up of the programme, increasing school engagement and delivering assemblies in person and virtually.
A driving licence and access to a car is essential for this role.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Community Engagement Officer
£30,000 - £34,000 (dependent on relevant skills and experience) plus generous benefits
Location: Home-based, with occasional travel to Football Foundation offices and other sites
We are the Football Foundation - the Premier League, the FA and government’s charity that delivers outstanding grassroots facilities, more and better places to play, transforming lives and communities where it is needed most.
To help us with this important mission, we’re looking for a Community Engagement Officer to join the team and play a key role in ensuring we achieve our objectives of engaging with and increasing physical activity levels amongst the four key priority groups facing the greatest inequalities: low socio-economic groups, women and girls, disabled people and people with long term health conditions, and culturally diverse communities.
This is an exciting time to be joining the Football Foundation and this is a great opportunity to use your knowledge and experience of place-based working and community engagement to make a real difference through community sports.
About the Football Foundation
Over the last 22 years, the Foundation has awarded more than 23,000 grants to deliver outstanding grassroots facilities across England worth more than £877 million. This year, the Foundation will be investing more money than ever into facilities across England and is committed to improving the experience of playing football for everyone.
The Foundation’s goal is to unlock the power of pitches ensuring everyone has a great place to play regardless of gender, race, disability or place
The role
As Community Engagement Officer you will play a key role in ensuring the Foundation achieves its objectives of engaging with and increasing physical activity levels amongst the four key priority groups facing the greatest inequalities: low socio-economic groups, women and girls, disabled people and people with long term health conditions, and culturally diverse communities. This will predominantly be achieved through the critical support you will provide to our ambitious PlayZones Programme, as we continue to roll the programme out across priority areas of the Country.
We have an ambition to deliver in excess of 200 PlayZone facilities by 2025. To realise this ambition, we’re going to focus on investing in safe, inclusive, and accessible facilities in communities with the greatest need. We will tackle inequalities in physical activity levels and create inclusive opportunities for our priority groups to become active through recreational formats of football and other sports and activities.
With a great deal to do, the role will be pivotal in working with local groups to support them through the application process, and to ensure high quality projects are being developed based on local community need.
The role sits within the Football Foundation’s Delivery Team, the team responsible for strategic identification and capital project delivery, reporting to the Community Engagement Lead and with responsibility for a portfolio of PlayZone programme areas within one of the Delivery Team geographical regions.
You will provide critical support to applicants and work extremely closely with our network of Delivery Managers & Officers to advise and agree community engagement plans for a range of Over £25k projects – helping to ensure their engagement is robust, but that applicants also receive support and guidance as required throughout the development of their application.
Community Engagement Officers will champion the benefits of great engagement, capturing good practice, identifying successful approaches, and share knowledge and learning across the Foundation and other stakeholders.
What are we looking for?
You don’t need to follow football to apply, but it is expected that you appreciate the power of sport to change lives and have a genuine interest in using your skills and experience to help the Foundation achieve our charitable and strategic objectives.
You must be educated to HND/Degree standard, or with the equivalent experience, with knowledge of how sports development can be used for community benefit. You must have strong communication and interpersonal skills with experience of communicating with and supporting a diverse range of colleagues and customers remotely.
Your knowledge of place-based working and how to best reach and engage with local communities will be key for this role, as well as your understanding of the inequalities that exist in supporting active lives across socio economic groups, women & girls, individuals with a disability or a long-term health condition, and culturally diverse communities. You will be aware of and have experience of dealing with the operations and challenges faced by community organisations, charities, and the voluntary sector.
You must be highly organised, with working knowledge of different project management techniques and experience of managing multiple projects at the same time. While not essential, experience of producing robust reports and of using dashboards to monitor the progress of projects would be useful.
How we achieve our goals is equally important to us. We are striving to be an inclusive and diverse organisation which reflects the diverse communities, users and beneficiaries of our work and the outcomes we deliver. Becoming part of the Football Foundation team, will give you the chance to deliver a positive impact in every community in England; to help transform lives and communities through great places to play; and to be part of a supportive and inclusive staff team that works hard and plays fair to achieve its goals.
For full details of the role and requirements, please download our recruitment pack below.
What can we offer you?
The salary for this role is £30,000 - £34,000 per annum (dependent on relevant skills and experience). You will start on 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays (which increases after 2 years), plus additional time off to volunteer. We also offer a generous pension scheme (8% employer contribution), collective bonus scheme, free health care provision, a monthly gym subsidy, interest-free season ticket loan, death in service benefit and access to selected match tickets
We are committed to helping our team members maintain a healthy work-life balance, so offer flexible working around core hours to help achieve that.
Equality and Diversity Commitment
The Football Foundation is committed to, and values the principles of diversity, equality, and inclusion. We strive to provide an inclusive and supportive working environment where all our team feel respected and supported in fulfilling their potential. We encourage and welcome applications from all, regardless of background and are particularly interested to hear from individuals belonging to under-represented groups including diverse ethnic communities, individuals with a disability and those from the LGBTQI+ community.
Should you need any adjustments to the recruitment process, at either application or interview stage, please contact us at jobs @ footballfoundation. org .uk
How do I apply?
To apply, please follow the steps outlined below:
1. Please send the following to jobs @ footballfoundation. org. uk
o CV
o Cover letter - please highlight briefly and clearly how your skills, abilities and experience equip you for the role, together with your reasons for applying.
The closing date for applications is: Wednesday 22 May 2024 at midday
Interviews are currently scheduled for 30 May 2024.
Due to the volume of applications received for most roles, the Foundation only contacts candidates if they are shortlisted for interview. If you do not hear from us within two weeks of the closing date, you should assume your application has not been successful.
Please note that you must be eligible to work in the UK to apply.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.