Independent mental health advocate jobs in birmingham, west midlands

AAFDA was founded by Frank Mullane in memory of his sister Julia Pemberton and her son Will who were both killed by her ex-partner in 2003.

Each year, around 150 families lose a loved one to domestic homicide. The actual number of suicides as a result of domestic abuse remains unknown.  Most of these families suffer significant problems including relationship breakdown, job difficulties/loss and mental and physical health issues. We help these families in many ways, our prime function being to provide families in England and Wales with specialist peer support and expert and specialist advocacy for the range of statutory reviews that will take place after domestic homicide.

AAFDA (Advocacy After Fatal Domestic Abuse) is a growing Charity and to meet the demands of this growth, we are looking for exceptional candidates to join our team in a highly rewarding opportunity. Although home based, some travel will be required - frequency will be commensurate to the role. We welcome applications from candidates with experience of domestic abuse.  We are also committed to diversity and strongly encourage applications from those with Black and/or Minoritised backgrounds.

Our Specialist Advocates support families impacted by fatal domestic abuse through provision of lay advocacy, for and on behalf of, families with a range of statutory service providers (e.g. those conducting reviews and inquiries, social services, police, housing) and work to build good relations between all parties.  To ensure that families get the support they need, you will use AAFDA’s Home Office endorsed seven-step approach to working with individuals and families, to ensure that they receive the best possible support and advocacy to restore dignity and relief for families and to help them cope and recover. Through trauma-informed approaches, you will:

listen to families and advocate for them in a complex system that too often treats them as passive participants and overlooks the value of their insight.
provide information, support, guidance, advice and advocacy on Domestic Homicide Reviews, Mental Health Reviews, Inquests, Independent Office of Police Conduct inquiries and other types of inquiries.
manage families’ expectations of the legal and procedural processes facing them by supporting families in meetings with agencies such as health, police and local authorities.
give families practical help on a wide range of issues - including help with letter writing or advocating with employers and local authorities on the families’ behalf.
Support AAFDA in our bringing families together in AAFDA’s peer support events, such as the Hear Our Voice weekend and the on-line peer support Zoom sessions, where families can speak with others to share their experiences and stories. This will involve occasional evening work.

In return for joining us, we will offer you:

25 days annual leave per annum, plus bank holidays
Excellent development and training opportunities
Pension Scheme
Healthcare Scheme
Employee Assist Scheme

Application Instructions

To apply for this role, please submit a supporting statement, outlining how you meet the person specification, along with your CV.

Applicants will be shortlisted according to how well they meet the criteria in the person specification. Please highlight and explain how you meet these in your supporting statement. If you have been shortlisted for interview, you will be informed by email. Regrettably, we are normally unable to acknowledge unsuccessful applicants. Please note that we will not progress applications where the supporting statement does not address the criteria for the role being applied for.

LGBT Independent Domestic Violence Advocate (IDVA) Birmingham & West Midlands.

Full-time 37 hours per week.

Birmingham LGBT is seeking to recruit a full-time LGBT IDVA covering Birmingham and the West Midlands to ensure that LGBT victims/survivors of domestic violence have access to an IDVA who will offer support, signposting, advocacy, risk management and safety planning.

We recognise the importance and advantages of diverse workplaces and communities, and we acknowledge under-representation in our workforce of Black, Asian and global majority people; people with a Romany or Irish Traveller background, and people with lived experience of migration. We particularly welcome applicants from those backgrounds, identities and lived experiences

The successful applicant will join a motivated and enthusiastic team based at the Birmingham LGBT Centre in central Birmingham.

Salary: £27,506 per year, plus up to 5% matched pension contributions.

Hours: Full-time, 37 hours per week, with some evening and Saturday work;

Annual Leave entitlement: 25 days.

Two-year, fixed-term contract, may be extended subject to funding.

Birmingham LGBT is an equal opportunities employer.

Closing date for applications is 5pm on Tuesday 28th October 2025.

Applications should be sent by email 

Applications will be reviewed anonymously and candidates selected for interview will be invited shortly after the closing date.

Download an application pack from our website. 

For more details or an informal chat about this vacancy, please phone us and ask for your contact details to be passed on to Steph Keeble, Director.
 

Main Duties

 ·Provide independent advocacy and support to LGBT survivors of domestic violence.

·Work with survivors from the point of crisis and offer intensive support to help ensure short-term and long-term safety.

·Maintain multi-agency links and partnerships through protocols and procedures that prioritise the safety of survivors of domestic violence.

·Empower service users by providing them with emotional and practical support, thus enabling them to access their rights, empowering them to make decisions and increasing their life options.

·Inform survivors of full range of civil, criminal and practical options that might increase their safety.

Casework Management

·To advise and support LGBT survivors of domestic violence.

·To undertake advocacy casework, working with survivors following an initial assessment of their needs, working within a structured key-working relationship.

·To provide one-to-one-emotional, practical, legal and advocacy support to survivors through the development of an individual support plan, including risk assessments, safety planning and assistance in accessing other relevant services such as the police, counselling, housing, and legal services.

·To support LGBT survivors of domestic violence who are going through the criminal justice system.

·To develop and maintain good working relationships and links with other agencies, referring service users to appropriate specialist agencies where necessary as part of a support plan and in consultation with them.

·To ensure that any issues in relation to child or adult protection concerns are responded to in line with Birmingham LGBT’s policies and are brought to the immediate attention of the line manager.

·To deliver training on LGBT domestic violence.

·To work within Birmingham LGBT’s policies and procedures.

Monitoring, Evaluation and Information Management

·To participate in the collection and maintenance of information on relevant referral agencies and local services.

·To ensure high quality and effective statistical monitoring is undertaken at all times in accordance with Birmingham LGBT’s procedures.

·To produce monitoring reports as requested by the Office of the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner.

·To maintain accurate, confidential service-user records of contact details and interventions, ensuring that personal information is up-to-date and that it is kept secure and confidential at all times in compliance with the Data Protection Act 1998 and Birmingham LGBT’s procedures.

·To ensure that feedback from service users and agencies is actively sought to inform the continuous improvement and development of the service.

Professional Development and Training

·To keep up-to-date with developments in legislation, policy and local and national government initiatives that address domestic violence.

·To attend and prepare for regular meetings with the line manager and to participate in individual appraisals in accordance with Birmingham LGBT’s policies and procedures.

·To attend internal or external training events, meetings or forums, as requested by the line manager and in line with the post-holder’s professional development plan.

·To attend regular team meetings.

·To carry out other duties as may from time to time be reasonably required by the line manager.

·To support colleagues with general duties at the Birmingham LGBT Centre.

Job Title: Domestic Abuse Helpline IDVA (Domestic Abuse Helpline Independant domestic violence advocate)

Location: Warwickshire 
Salary: £25,857.12 per annum
Contract type: Full Time, Fixed Term (Until 30 September 2026)

Hours: 37.5 hours per week

This is an opportunity to join Refuge as a Domestic Abuse Helpline IDVA, supporting survivors of domestic abuse and their children, from the point of crisis, providing high quality independent advocacy and support.

Referrals to the Warwickshire Domestic Violence and Abuse Service (DVSW) will come via a single-point-of-access Freephone telephone number, or email, from professionals on behalf of victim survivors and victim-survivors who want to self-refer. Referrals can come through any agency, or self-referral, and pathways are well established with all local statutory and support services including the police, social care, housing, health, education, mental health, drug and alcohol services and the voluntary sector. The DVSW service will accept referrals for any survivor living in Warwickshire, at any level of risk, on a needs-led basis.

The Helpline IDVA will work closely with Refuge’s community outreach service support workers, the MARAC team, deputy managers, and the refuge accommodation team.  Refuge’s deputy manager for the community outreach will manage the helpline worker alongside the outreach workers, taking overall responsibility for monitoring, reporting, and meeting outcomes across the community outreach support service.

The Helpline IDVA’s post is an exciting opportunity to work in a collaborative way across all referring agencies and therefore it is an important aspect of this job that the post holder has experience of working collaboratively with a range of other agencies.

This post is restricted to women due to the nature of the role. The Occupational Requirement under Schedule 9 (part 1) of the Equality Act 2010 applies.

Closing Date: 09:00am 23 October 2025

Interview Date: 31 October 2025

The Initiatives and Partnerships Manager plays a key role in the Trust’s Initiatives and Partnerships Team. The post holder will support the development and implementation of the Trust’s projects, manage team members and on occasion support external and partnership projects. Our work is varied, ranging from early-stage feasibility planning, partnership development, fundraising, business planning and design development, as well as supporting our conservation team who lead construction phase oversight. 

This role builds on the successes of the Trust’s longstanding Regeneration programme, which has undertaken pioneering Regeneration projects addressing some of our most pressing conservation needs, as well as developing new operating models for some of the churches in our care. The job will support our regional teams in developing and implementing projects to deliver a range of conservation, social and regeneration benefits; with the balance of each responding to local need, demand and opportunity.

In addition, it encompasses the work undertaken to develop new commercial income opportunities. Examples are our groundbreaking Champing™ initiative, as well as others such as filming, and other commercial partnerships.

We have recently published our TRUST values, which outline the behaviours and expectations that act as our foundations at CCT. We have attached the pack, outlining each value, which we will also be using as part of our shortlisting and interview process to find the right candidates that align with our values.

The Community Engagement Officer is an essential role in fostering strong relationships with current and prospective members of the School Library Association community. The postholder will provide frontline support, drive online and in person engagement through outreach initiatives, and contribute to the growth and sustainability of the membership base. This is an exciting opportunity for someone passionate about school libraries, children's books, education, and community-building. An expert communicator, you will be experienced in developing relationships with a variety of stakeholders at all levels and relish a busy role.

Coordinating and supporting our Branch network, you will collaborate on initiatives for development, delivery and new projects as they come online. You will be the first port of call for advice and expertise relating to school libraries and enabling our members to more effectively support their school communities. As resident children’s book expert, you will help with initiatives such as the SLA Information Book Award and member book related events. Supporting the delivery of online and in-person networking events and workshops for members, you will work with your SLA colleagues, in particular the Training and Events Officer, to deliver a high-quality member offer and to ensure member needs are reflected in all offerings. The ability to travel to training and events across the UK is essential. Duties include:

Branch network and member support

• Support the SLA Branch Network and member outreach
• Identify opportunities for developing initiatives to grow and develop the Branch network community, that will deliver on the SLA mission
• Develop strong relationships with local, regional and national stakeholders to support network growth and enable members to take full advantage of all relevant opportunities available to them
• Provide advice for SLA members on all aspects of school libraries, ensuring they are supported and can be as effective as possible in their school communities 
• Drive engagement and development of online communities as part of the branch network
• Coordinate the mentoring scheme and ensure it is promoted effectively, with necessary support and development available to mentees and training for mentors

 Training and events

• Support the development and delivery of a calendar of online and in-person networking and engagement events and workshops
• Represent the association at relevant events and for programmes (e.g., conferences, webinars, book awards)
• Support development of training programmes, toolkits and resources using member insight to inform

Outreach and communications

• Use sector insight to identify opportunities for development of research and other initiatives, maintaining links and horizon scanning
• Provide SLA consultancy aligned with strategic approaches, supporting schools with development of their libraries, reading and information literacy provision to help children and young people reach their full potential
• Contribute to SLA communications such as TSL, newsletters, updates, and promotional materials
• Oversee the book review process in support of TSL, our quarterly journal

An ability to foster collaboration and community engagement will be an important part of this role. All team members contribute to office admin, maintaining member data and general office support.

To be successful in this role you should ideally be able to demonstrate:

• experience of working in school libraries, the education sector and a strong understanding of the education landscape
• strong knowledge of children and young people’s literature across the age ranges
• understanding of the curriculum and teaching and learning outcomes
• experience developing and delivering inspirational training, online and in person
• experience creating training resources, toolkits, teaching and learning activities
• the ability to galvanise and inspire others with flair and creativity
• the ability to multi-task, manage own workload, prioritise and meet competing deadlines
• the ability to work hours flexibly around event and training delivery

The salary for this position is £19, 594.59 (FTE £29,000) for 25 hours per week, and comes with a 6% employer pension contribution.

This is a remote working role, with regular all team meetings which you will be required to attend, in addition to training and events across the UK and online. Working patterns can be negotiated. We strongly encourage candidates of all different backgrounds and identities to apply. Each new role provides us with an opportunity for us to bring in a different perspective and we are always eager to diversify our team. The SLA is committed to building an inclusive, supportive place, where you can do brilliant and rewarding work.

Why work for the School Library Association?

We are in an exciting period of growth in the history of the SLA, with a new CEO, coinciding with the opportunity to influence a new government. Plans to redevelop our offer are in progress and you will have the opportunity to influence new approaches and ways of working. We are a small, friendly team who support each other to deliver an excellent service to our members and passionately believe in the power of school libraries to transform children and young people’s personal, social and educational outcomes.

Annual Leave is 25 days plus bank holidays. We offer free mental health support and counselling sessions and brilliant discounts with a variety of retailers including up to 40% off Vue cinema tickets through our HR partner.

About the School Library Association

The School Library Association (SLA) is an independent charity and membership organisation that believes every pupil is entitled to effective school library provision. The SLA supports all those working in school libraries. We have been representing the school library sector for more than eighty-five years, with membership to the Association thought of as essential to all those who work in and around school libraries. Membership to the SLA provides training, support in advocating with senior leadership teams, incredible discounts and collegiate networking opportunities for everybody working in and with school libraries.

How to apply

To apply please send your CV and a covering letter (no more than one page) detailing the experience you have in relation to the job description, that you can bring to this role, and how your skills align with what we are looking for. Applications without a cover letter will not be considered. We truly appreciate all applications, but due to the volume we receive, we will not be able to provide individual feedback. No agencies please.

Deadline: 10th November 9am. Please note we will be actively interviewing for this role; if you are interested apply as soon as possible as we may close recruitment early if the right candidate is found.