Entry level jobs

We are seeking a compassionate HCPC-registered creative arts psychotherapist such as an arts therapist, dramatherapist or music therapist to join our team for one day per week to deliver therapeutic support through our in school support Project HOPE. 

This is an opportunity to be part of a small but ambitious organisation that places relationships, compassion, and community at the heart of everything we do, while working alongside a supportive team dedicated to improving outcomes for children, young people, and families. This position will initially be one day per week; however, there is strong potential for increased hours and days for the right candidate. Joining our small but fast-growing charity offers an exciting opportunity to develop alongside the organisation.

Project HOPE is a school based project offering therapy sessions as one-to-one or group work, making arts-based psychotherapy accessible to those who need it most. Project HOPE offers a creative lifeline for children who’ve encountered four or more adverse childhood expereinces (ACEs) and experienced or witnessed domestic abuse. It steps in where other local services can’t, providing support now and preparing children and young people for future life challenges.

We understand the emotional demands of therapeutic work and are committed to supporting practitioners to deliver high-quality, ethical, and sustainable practice. The successful candidate will receive regular clinical supervision and will have access to peer support, reflective discussions, and opportunities for ongoing professional development.

Newly qualified candidates are encouraged to apply, as we are happy to consider both those starting their careers and experienced professionals within the field.

Key Responsibilities include:

Therapeutic Delivery

• Deliver one-to-one and small group arts-based therapeutic interventions to secondary school-aged young people.

• Develop and facilitate creative therapeutic sessions tailored to the individual needs of participants.

• Build safe, trusting, and therapeutic relationships with young people experiencing complex trauma.

• Support young people to develop emotional regulation, resilience, self-awareness, and positive coping strategies.

Assessment and Planning

• Undertake initial assessments and contribute to identifying appropriate therapeutic support.

• Develop therapeutic goals and intervention plans in collaboration with young people and relevant professionals.

• Monitor progress and adapt interventions as required.

Multi-Agency Working

• Work closely with school staff, pastoral teams, safeguarding leads, and project partners to ensure a joined-up approach to supporting young people.

• Attend relevant meetings and contribute professional insight where appropriate or share relevant information with the manager to attend on your behalf. 

Safeguarding and Risk Management

• Maintain a thorough understanding of organisational and national safeguarding procedures and statutory responsibilities.

• Identify and respond appropriately to safeguarding concerns, following organisational and school policies.

• Maintain accurate and confidential records in line with GDPR and professional standards.

Monitoring and Evaluation

• Maintain appropriate case notes and outcome measures.

• Contribute to project reporting, evaluation, and impact measurement.

• Support the collection of feedback and evidence demonstrating project outcomes.

Essential Qualifications and Experience

• Registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC).

• MA Qualified Creative Arts Therapist (Art Therapist, Dramatherapist, Music Therapist, or equivalent HCPC-recognised profession).

• Experience working therapeutically with children and young people.

• Experience supporting individuals who have experienced trauma, adversity, or significant emotional challenges.

• Strong understanding of trauma-informed practice.

• Knowledge of safeguarding procedures relating to children and young people.

• Excellent communication and relationship-building skills.

Desirable Experience

• Experience working within schools or educational settings.

• Experience delivering both individual and group therapeutic interventions.

• Understanding of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and their impact on development.

• Experience working within multi-disciplinary teams.

• Knowledge of local support services and referral pathways.

Personal Qualities

• Compassionate, empathetic, and non-judgemental.

• Calm and emotionally resilient.

• Creative and adaptable in therapeutic practice.

• Able to build trust and engage young people who may be reluctant to access support.

• Strong professional boundaries and ethical practice.

• Committed to promoting the voice, wellbeing, and potential of young people.

Safeguarding

This role involves working directly with children and young people and is subject to an enhanced DBS check with barred list clearance. The successful candidate will be expected to adhere to all safeguarding, confidentiality, and data protection policies and procedures.

Barnardo's is one of the UK's leading children's charities, and our North England Fostering Service has recently been rated ‘Good' by Ofsted.

We are committed to providing safe, nurturing, and supportive homes for children and young people. We are now looking for a passionate and skilled Supervising Social Worker to join our committed team.

Our North England service covers Yorkshire, Humber, and the North East of England.  This role will mainly cover the North East, with expectations of traveling to North Yorkshire on occasions.

About the Role

This exciting opportunity has arisen following an internal promotion.

As a Supervising Social Worker, you will play a vital role in supporting foster carers to deliver high-quality care.

Key responsibilities include:

• Managing a protected caseload with access to innovative social work training
• Supervising, supporting, and developing foster carers
• Undertaking assessments of prospective foster carers
• Contributing to the matching process and foster home stability
• Working collaboratively with children, families, carers and professionals
• Maintaining accurate and timely records in line with regulatory standards
• Delivering training to foster carers
• Following Induction period participating in the out-of-hours rota (with additional payment)

What We're Looking For

We're seeking an individual who is:

• A qualified Social Worker (DipSW, CQSW or equivalent)
• Registered with Social Work England
• Experienced in fostering or children's social care
• Skilled in building strong, supportive relationships
• Committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children

Why Join Barnardo's?

• A supportive and inclusive working environment
• Access to high-quality training and development, including DDP and trauma-informed approaches
• Generous annual leave and pension scheme
• Opportunities to develop your career within a well-respected national charity

Additional Information

• A recognised Social Work qualification and SWE registration are essential
• Experience in Family Placement, Child Protection, or Looked After Children services is required
• A full UK driving licence, access to a car, and business-use insurance are essential due to the nature of the role

Please note due to the high volume of applications for some posts, this advert might close before the displayed closing date. We recommend that you apply for this role as soon as possible.

• Estate Services Officer

  Temporary Contract – 6 Months + (potential for temp-to-perm)

  Hybrid Working, Barking
  ? Monday–Friday, 8am–5pm (40 hours per week)
  £18–£22 per hour Umbrella (dependent on experience)

  We are seeking a proactive and customer-focused Estate Services Officer to support the delivery of estate services across a portfolio of residential estates.

  Working closely with the Grounds Maintenance & Caretaking Contracts Manager, you will help ensure estates are clean, safe, and well-maintained while delivering excellent customer service to residents.

  Key Responsibilities

  • Support the management of grounds maintenance, caretaking, and waste contracts.
  • Carry out estate and block inspections, identifying and reporting issues.
  • Monitor contractor performance and ensure service standards are maintained.
  • Manage fly-tipping and waste-related issues, coordinating timely resolutions.
  • Respond to resident enquiries and complaints in a professional and empathetic manner.
  • Maintain accurate records, reports, and administrative systems.
  • Raise purchase orders and liaise with contractors as required.

  About You

  • Strong organisational and administrative skills.
  • Excellent communication and customer service skills.
  • Able to manage competing priorities in a busy environment.
  • Experience in housing, estate services, facilities management, or a similar environment is desirable.
  • Proficient in Microsoft Office.
  • This is an excellent opportunity for someone who enjoys a varied role, combining office-based administration with on-site estate management, and is passionate about delivering high-quality services to residents.

  Apply now to be considered.

We're looking for an organised, proactive and resilient Business Systems Administrator to join our IT Team located at our Head Office in Islington.

£42,500.00 per annum, working 35 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
* 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
* 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.

What you'll do:
- Ensure all live and test application environments are maintained in compliance with Look Ahead's IT policies and guidelines to meet business needs by working with colleagues and the Business Systems Manager to manage system security and coordinate system changes, patch installations, database copies and upgrades, as applicable.

- Provide application configuration, support, and administration for Nourish (Care plans) and Camascope (eMARS), and cover for other key business systems including MHR's iTrent (Recruitment, HR & Payroll), Cx (Housing Management & Customer Support Plans), OnTrack (Domestic Abuse) and any other applications and products being deployed through the Digital Transformation programme.

- Act as the subject matter expert and coordination point for Nourish and Camascope specific support activities, including updating support tickets and associated details and responses via the ticketing system.

- Manage ticket and incident escalations, as appropriate.

- Support the application owners, business users and team members with the building and running of reports from Nourish and Camascope when required for urgent organisation needs, such as regulator requirements or responding to serious incidents.

This 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:
High levels of customer service - puts self in the place of system users to understand how best to tailor solutions to business requirements and needs.
- Approachable and open behaviours
- A Team Player, willing to share work and learning with the team and builds a positive team culture
- Able to work on their own initiative with minimal supervision
- Means, desire, and discipline to work effectively from home and still achieve desired results

What you'll bring:
Essential:
- Hands on knowledge of, or involvement in system administration for, at least one Customer Care Plan related system
- Previous history of supporting business systems or their use
- Self-starter with good initiative
- Well organised and methodical
- Good problem solving / analytical skills
- Experienced in issue resolution
- Excellent attention to detail
- Success orientated and delivery focused
- Excellent communication skills
- The ability to work to tight deadlines
- The ability to work through conflicting priorities
- The ability to build relationships with key internal and external stakeholders

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 full job description on our website

Planning & Integration Manager - 12-month FTC

It starts with community – and so does everything we do at The National Lottery Community Fund (the Fund). As the UK's largest community funder, we will distribute over £4 billion by 2030 to projects that strengthen society and improve lives. Our UK-wide Communications & Engagement Team is at the heart of telling that story, and we're looking for an exceptional Planning and Integration Manager to join us on a 12-month maternity cover basis.

This is a genuinely exciting opportunity to play a pivotal role in one of the most ambitious periods in the Fund's history. As we enter phase two of our It Starts With Community strategy, our communications are more important than ever – positioning the Fund as a credible, influential voice on community resilience, cohesion and change. You'll be the operational linchpin that turns our strategic ambitions into coordinated, measurable reality.

Role Expectations

Working closely with the Head of Communications Strategy and the wider communications leadership team, you'll bring together integrated plans for our media, marketing, digital and external affairs functions, ensuring clear milestones, measurable outcomes, and efficient use of resources. If you're energised by complexity, thrive on bringing order and clarity to busy teams, and care about the power of communications to make a difference, this role is for you.

Key responsibilities include:

• Managing design and delivery of planning and project management tools and systems across the Communications & Engagement function.
• Acting as the central point of contact/traffic manager between Communications teams and the rest of the Fund, managing incoming requests and allocating resources effectively.
• Developing project dashboards and reporting tools that track delivery progress and highlight risks or dependencies to drive project decisions and provide business insights.
• Establishing, monitoring and evaluating integrated objectives and metrics across media, marketing, digital and external affairs, ensuring our campaigns are based on evidence and focused on outcomes.
• Managing a team of two Communications Assistants.​

Skills & Requirements

You'll bring a strong track record in planning and delivering integrated communications activities in a complex organisation, with proven experience in operational planning, resource management and building effective planning frameworks across multiple teams. You'll be confident using data and analytics to drive operational improvements, and skilled at working across and between teams in a matrix environment.

Experience in people management is essential, as is the ability to build relationships and influence at all levels. A background in communications or marketing agency planning would be an advantage, as would familiarity with the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector.

We have a hybrid approach to working. Work pattern and location will be agreed with the successful candidate. The role can be based at any of our UK offices: Belfast, Birmingham, Cardiff, Exeter, Glasgow, Leeds, London, Manchester, Newcastle, and Newtown. The role requires semi-frequent travel to other offices.

Interview details:

• Date: July 22nd and 23rd
• Format: Online
• Location: UK-wide

We will be hosting a briefing session on Thursday 18th June, 11am. To register for the session or for any questions about the recruitment process, please email the recruitment team.

For an informal discussion about the role, please contact the recruitment team.

How to apply:

Upload your CV in word format and write a supporting statement (1000 words) with the following criteria, we will use this to score your application.

Essential Criteria

• Strong track record in planning and delivering integrated communications activities in a complex organisation to deliver against organisational KPIs.
• Experience in operational planning and resource management across multiple teams, with proven ability to build and maintain effective planning frameworks and processes.
• Success in stakeholder management and matrix working.
• Experience using data and analytics to improve operational effectiveness.
• Experience in people management and development.

 Desirable Criteria

• Background in communications or marketing agency planning.
• Relevant project management qualification.
• Understanding of the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector.

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion ​

Communities in the UK come in all shapes and sizes. National Lottery funding is for everyone – therefore, we are committed to equity, diversity and inclusion and we work hard to ensure our funding reaches where it is needed.  

We also believe our people should represent the communities, organisations and individuals we work with. That’s why The National Lottery Community Fund is committed to being an inclusive employer and a great place to work. We recognise and celebrate the fact that our people come from diverse backgrounds. We positively welcome applications from people from ethnic minority backgrounds, people with disabilities or longstanding health conditions, people who are LGBTQ+, and people from different socio-economic and educational backgrounds, as well as people of all ages. 

As a Disability Confident Employer, we take a proactive approach in making reasonable adjustments, if needed, throughout the recruitment process and during employment. (This can be related to a physical and mental health condition.)