Support Worker Jobs in South West

Join a team with a bold mission – at Swindon & Gloucestershire Mind, we are dedicated to reshaping the landscape of mental health and emotional wellbeing in our community. The Rough Sleeper Practitioner will be the forefront of a critical support system for people experiencing homelessness. You will be working with people with mental health needs, offering wellbeing support to rough sleepers identified in the borough.

What You'll Do:

- Collaboration and Efficiency: Work hand-in-hand with existing Mental Health Provision. well as other local agencies/organisations to effectively support young people transitioning from services.

- Innovation and Empowerment: Channel your passion into providing evidence-based interventions, elevating the mental health and emotional well-being of the people we serve, while opening doors to life's possibilities.

Why Join Us:

• Impact Matters: Join a team where your work directly transforms lives and contributes to a healthier community.

• Personal Growth: We offer professional development opportunities that will enrich your career and help shape the future of mental health services in Swindon.

• Collaborative Culture: Work alongside like-minded individuals who share your passion for making a meaningful impact.

Together, we can build a brighter, healthier future for Swindon. Your contribution can make all the difference.

Somewhere to shelter, feel safe, leave your possessions and put down roots is one of the most fundamental requirements for human beings, here at Threshold Housing Link we are supporting over 80 service users to do just that. 

Our Mission:

To end homelessness. To help vulnerable people create a better life and independence.

Our Aims:

1. To prevent homelessness in Swindon

2. To alleviate the associated social exclusion of homelessness and actively assist recovery from its effects

3. Influence policy that affects homeless and socially excluded people

Job title: Resettlement Manager

Reporting to:  CEO

Salary: Between £40,000-£45,000 per annum, dependent on experience.  

Location: Swindon

About Threshold

Threshold Housing Link is the leading homeless charity in Swindon, Wiltshire, committed for over 50 years to providing shelter, support and advocacy for individuals experiencing homelessness. We believe in creating a society where everyone has a safe place to call home. Our mission is to address the root causes of homelessness and empower those in need to rebuild their lives with dignity and respect. We are dedicated to making a significant and lasting impact in the fight against homelessness.

Our key services are:

Ø  Resettlement support

Ø  Floating support

Ø  Street outreach

About the role

You will work closely with our new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and senior management team to ensure good outcomes for our service users during an ambitious expansion programme.

As an experienced and compassionate Resettlement Manager, you will lead our team of Homeless Project Workers and spearhead the transformation of care for service users in our properties. You will bring a strategic and innovative approach to addressing homelessness, with a focus on empowering individuals to achieve long-term stability.

Closing date for applications:

 16 May 2024. 

This post is subject to a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check. Right to work in the UK essential.

Work at Swindon Hub

Hub Coordinator (2 roles)

£28,000 - £32,000 depending on experience

37 hours/week full time; applications for  job-share / part-time considered

Fixed term contract: 3 years, with possibility of extension

Swindon’s welcome, accessible space in the heart of the town is looking for two Hub Coordinators - to help us grow, build and do more: by and with the community.

You’ll be working with a dynamic group of volunteers and visitors, helping to keep the Hub running day-to-day, as well as taking on a special focus of your own.

One special focus will be reaching out and drawing in: connecting with communities, groups and people around Swindon who are not using the Hub; building relationships, working in partnership and organising events and activities to see that the Hub is as inclusive and diverse as it can be.

The other special focus will be learning, skills & growing: supporting volunteers and visitors to the Hub, developing programmes of activities and opportunities - both internal and working with external partners - to help people learn, develop and grow.

For full details of both roles and an application form to download.

Application deadline 5th May 2024 | Interviews 29th May.

The Huntington's Disease Association is a UK registered charity that supports people affected by Huntington's disease across England and Wales. We provide information, advice and support to families, friends, and healthcare professionals.

We are looking for an experienced Volunteer Manager to support and inspire those who volunteer for the charity. You will lead them in line with the vision, mission and values of the charity and work to fulfil the goals of our strategic plan. You will strengthen our current volunteering strands with effective governance and great communication and will develop new volunteering opportunities within the charity.

You will manage our volunteer-led Branches and Support groups who offer peer support, fundraising opportunities and activities locally. You will also manage HD Voice, our panel of volunteers, who contribute to the internal development of the charity and ensure that the voice of the Huntington’s community is at the heart of research into the condition.

You will co-ordinate all aspects of the volunteer journey from recruitment, selection, induction, training and ongoing support and develop effective policies, procedures and guidance for volunteers as well as developing an effective monitoring and evaluation process.

We are looking for someone with strong volunteer management skills who has experience of training volunteers and of writing policies, procedures and guidance in line with data protection guidance. Also someone with great communication and relationship management skills who has experience of managing volunteers at all stages of their volunteer journey.   

There will be regular evening and weekend work as many of our volunteers work themselves so need the support out of office hours. There will be a need for travel across England and Wales. 

This is a fantastic opportunity for the right candidate to bring their knowledge, skills and experience to our organisation.

We offer great benefits including 25 days annual leave plus public holidays (pro rata for part time staff), a pension scheme with 3% employer contribution, a tax-free working from home allowance, a Medicash scheme, a flexible working approach, a supportive and positive working environment and fantastic learning and development opportunities.

We are committed to equal opportunities in our recruitment process and in order to find out how well we are doing, we collect monitoring data. This will not form part of the selection process in any way and will be used for monitoring purposes only. The completion of this form is voluntary.

The Huntington's Disease Association is looking for someone with the ability to work in a way that promotes the safety and wellbeing of adults at risk, children and young people. We follow safer recruitment practices to ensure we are safeguarding the people we work with. We require the successful candidate to provide two employment references and undergo a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check for enhance disclosure before joining the charity.

Full details of how we securely handle the data you provide to us as part of the recruitment process can be found in our privacy notice for job applicants on our website.

Click on 'apply' to begin your application. To ensure your consideration, please upload both a CV and cover letter. Your cover letter should include why you are applying for the role and how you meet the requirements of the person specification. The job description and person specification can be found within the job vacancy pack.

Applications submitted without a CV and cover letter will not be considered.

Closing date for applications is Friday 3 May 2024, 5 pm
Interviews will be held Friday 17 May 2024.

The Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre (Rape Crisis South London) is looking for a committed, professional and skilled Helpline Support worker to provide high quality emotional support, information and signposting in our Support Line team.

The 24/7 Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Line is a partnership between Rape Crisis England and Wales, the Rape and Sexual Abuse support Centre (RASASC - Rape Crisis South London) and two other Rape Crisis Centres (ARCH Teesside and Lincolnshire Rape Crisis). The post-holder for this role is employed by RASASC (Rape Crisis South London).

The post-holder will provide emotional support, information and signposting to survivors of any form of sexual violence, of any gender, aged 16 and upwards, and their supporters via phone calls and chats. Helpline Support Workers also provide support to colleagues and volunteers as part of their daily duties. Helpline Support workers have experience of either providing emotional support on a telephone helpline or experience providing support to survivors of sexual violence. You will also need to have good knowledge and understanding of the impact of sexual violence. 

Join a team with a bold mission – at Swindon and Gloucestershire Mind, we are dedicated to reshaping the landscape of mental health and emotional wellbeing in our community. The Autism Practitioner will work with people across Swindon with Autism and mild to moderate mental health concerns at pre/post assessment stage. Your role is all about providing a collaborative and tailored approach.

What You'll Do:

Collaboration and Efficiency: Work hand-in-hand with other local agencies/organisations to effectively deliver a wide variety of wellbeing support for people with Autism.
 

Innovation and Empowerment: Channel your passion into providing evidence-based interventions, elevating the mental health and emotional well-being of the people we serve, while opening doors to life's possibilities.

We have 3 contracts available 2 x 30 hours and 1 x 17.5 hours per week 

 Salary - £23,962 Per Annum (base salary £22,962  per annum + £1000 Unsociable Hours allowance)

 Job Type - Permanent/Full-Time

 Hours – 40 hours (including 5 hours paid lunch breaks)

 Location – Plymouth (Driving License and access to vehicle MANDATORY)

The provision of the contract is between 08:00 and 22:00. As such, there will be morning and evening shifts available with a rolling rota for Saturday on call shifts. However, there is flexibility around this which can be discussed at interview.

We believe that a career is not just about earning a living; it's about having your say and making things happen that can mean positive changes to the lives of vulnerable people. We are a national social justice charity with more than 50 years' experience of changing lives, building stronger communities, and reducing crime.

Nacro have launched the Community Support Service – Tier 2 (CAS-2) which is a national service commissioned by Ministry of Justice to provide accommodation as an alternative to custody. 

This role is based within our team in the East of England. As a Support Worker, you will provide exceptional housing support services and housing management services to a diverse range of service user including those on Bail, prison leavers, and those going through the criminal justice system. The Team provides flexible and holistic support to residents with a wide range of support needs. We aim to support them to find and keep a stable home at the end of their CAS-2 placement. You will manage a caseload of clients in properties in your allocated patch in the East of England.

This role provides an excellent springboard into other criminal justice professions and housing roles.

Key Responsibilities

• Plan and deliver effective support and safety plans with the service user referring to specialist agencies as required.
• Ensure that properties are always adequately equipped, maintained, furnished, and cleaned.
• Support residents to understand responsibilities that will help them keep their CAS-2 and future accommodation.
• Empower and motivate service users to identify and achieve desired outcomes.
• Develop a move-on plan with service users at the earliest opportunity, identifying realistic options for their future home.

What we want from you

• Understanding and Commitment to the Nacro’s Values.
• Knowledge of the issues affecting people in contact with the Criminal Justice System and/or people experiencing homelessness.
• Ability to develop person centred support and move on planning.
• Understanding of housing management, housing-related support, and safeguarding.
• Ability to work with vulnerable adults with complex needs (such as substance misuse, physical health, mental health, seeking employment and housing support).
• Flexibility to travel within your allocated patch for training and team meetings and be flexible to cover other local patches as required.

What you can expect from us

• A dynamic and supportive team who delivers results for the people we support every day.
• The opportunity to work flexibly within the community as this role allows you to work from home in between property visits.
• A commitment to helping you learn and develop your career.
• Excellent benefits including a great annual leave entitlement, additional special leave, an occupational sick pay scheme which exceeds statutory requirements and cycle-to-work scheme.   

This role requires regular travel, a Full Driving License and access to your own vehicle are essential. You will be able to claim mileage expenses from base location (to be ascertained) at 45p for every mile travelled.

An Enhanced DBS check is required for this role, as well as registration on the DBS Update Service. These will be completed as part of the Pre-Employment Screening process. This role also requires a Prison Clearance.

For further information about the role, pleased click here.

For further information about Nacro’s amazing benefits, please click here.

This role is part of the Devon Domestic Abuse Service which provides support to high and medium risk victims of domestic abuse and their families.

This exciting new specialist role of Housing IDVA is designed to support victims of Domestic Abuse to remain safe in their own accommodation or secure suitable new housing.

The main tasks for this role include:

• Managing a caseload of high risk victims, providing specialist support around housing.
• Acting as a link person between the local authority housing teams, our Domestic Abuse services in Devon, supported accommodation and refuges.
• Offering dedicated support to victims in Places of Safety.
• Providing specialist training and professional consultancy to partner agencies.

This is a 2-year contract with the potential to extend or be made permanent, subject to funding.

For a full job description/person specification and to apply, please follow the link provided on this website. This vacancy is will close once a suitable candidate is found, so early applications are encouraged.

FearFree is committed to encouraging equality and diversity in the workplace.  We strive to be a diverse and inclusive place to work where we can all be ourselves and individual differences are recognised and valued. 

To support dads to have positive relationships with their families 

We are looking for a Dad Matters Support Coordinator to join our team to deliver 121 support to dads in the perinatal period.  The successful candidate will play a key part in better supporting dads/partners in the early days of parenthood across Gloucestershire. 

The successful applicant will either be a dad themselves or someone who has equivalent knowledge and experience in working in this type of setting.

Do you have what we are looking for?

• Great listening skills
• An understanding of the needs of babies, children, and families
• An awareness of the impact that poor mental health can have for Dads during the perinatal period
• Experience of developing new relationships and connections
• Good IT skills
• Team player but ability to self-motivate
• A car driver with access to a car

This role is subject to DBS checks.

Main Responsibilities

1-2-1 Support to Dads

The post holder will provide individual face to face and telephone support to dads during the perinatal period (from pregnancy to age 2 years of age).  This will involve the following: 

• Managing a caseload of dads who have been referred to the service by professionals
• Drawing on your own experience of parenting to encourage dad’s strengths and emotional well-being for the ultimate benefit of their own children
• Signposting and supporting access to other services as appropriate
• Educating dads on the importance of bonding and attachment
• Providing a listening space for dads
• Promoting the importance of good mental health
• Reassuring and validating dad’s experiences
• Maintaining good relationships with referrers
• Undertaking designated responsibilities to safeguard and promote children’s welfare

Outreach Support

The post holder will attend Gloucestershire Royal Hospital every week to support dads who are visiting the hospital for antenatal visits and maternity visits. This will involve the following:

• Setting up the Dad Matters pop up information point on the ward
• Liaising with hospital staff and maintaining excellent relationships
• Supporting dads as needed who are visiting the hospital on a 1-2-1 bases
• Signposting dads as appropriate

In addition the post holder will be required to facilitate one Stay and Play session each month.  This will involve:

• Keeping essential records of attendees of groups
• Giving dads a safe space to interact and socialise with other dads
• Encouraging dads to widen their network of relationships and to use effectively the support and services available in the community.

Monitoring & Evaluation:

• Supporting the evaluation of the impact of Dad Matters by adhering to monitoring systems and keeping accurate records

 Supporting the work of Home-Start  

• To contribute to the effective day to day operation of Home-Start in accordance with the Home-Start Memorandum & Articles of Association, Home-Start Standards & Methods of Practice, Home-Start Agreement and Quality Assurance Standards.

To commit to the Home-Start ethos and to understand and implement Home-Start’s policies on:

• Confidentiality
• Equal opportunities
• Looking after children in the absence of their parents
• Safeguarding / Child protection
• Health and safety
• Lone Working
• GDPR

The post holder may be required to undertake any other duties that fall within the nature of the role and responsibilities of the post as detailed above.

Why Access Social Care Exists 

Everyday millions of older and disabled people are denied the social care they need. Most local authorities can’t meet the growing demand for care, none are confident they can meet their legal duties in the future. This affects all of us, we will all need social care at some point. 

We all have a right to hold public bodies to account. But most of us cannot afford lawyers so rely on legal aid. The 77% drop in community care legal aid cases since 2010 means we have nowhere to turn. Without access to justice, our rights do not exist. The rule of law is broken. 

What we do 

Access Social Care provides free legal advice and information for people with social care needs, helping achieve a better quality of life. We work with communities to increase knowledge of the law and our rights. We highlight the gap left by cuts to Legal Aid and provide advice for those who can’t afford it. 
With a 98% success rate, our network of lawyers and barristers ensure fair access to justice when things go wrong. We collaborate with social services whilst ensuring legal obligations are met. We are working towards a future where social care is adequately funded, and we all get the support we need. 

About the role 

This is an exciting time to join our organisation. We have a new strategy and are growing quickly including across our senior leadership team. We have nearly tripled in size and income since we started operating in April 2020 and we anticipate that this strong growth will continue for the duration of our next strategic period. 

We are looking for someone with excellent people skills to play a key role in developing and piloting an approach to support people to engage with and use our on-line Social Care early legal help tool. Initially, this project will be focused on how to support carers who have multiple barriers to accessing the support they and the person they care for need.

We want to pilot a network of Peer Navigators who will act as an interface between the tool and people who are most underserved by social care and advice services and experience intersectionality of barriers. The role would particularly suit someone who has experience of the social care system as a family carer or disabled person and/or someone who has experienced barriers to accessing services due to other protected characteristics. 

The role is new and will initially focus on working within our place-based Hubs of Croydon and Gloucestershire. The role will require a creative person who can work in partnership with other members of the team, people with lived experience of social care support and social care organisations.  They will need to develop a set of policies and procedures for the delivery of the project and recruit, train and supervise the Peer Navigators.

To be a success in this role, you should be an excellent team worker, communicator, proactive, flexible, excellent people skills, highly organised and able to meet deadlines. You should also have a thorough understanding of co-production.

Responsibilities 

• With Hubs manager, Hub team members and people with lived experience – refine the aims of the project and identify priorities 

• Develop and implement a project plan for delivery of the project 

• Develop a role description for the Peer Navigators 

• Identify and test different options for advertising and recruiting Peer Navigators 

• Train Peer Navigators in the Care Act and use of the chatbot 

• Develop guidance on how people can seek advice about their employment and benefit status in relation to fulfilling the role 

• Develop and run an appropriate supervision process to ensure good quality support is offered 

• Arrange further training as chatbot develops 

• Set up and run Peer Navigator team meetings to ensure they feel supported, and we learn from their experiences 

• Devise a monitoring and evaluation framework and set up proformas for peer navigators to capture outcomes 

For the full job discription, values, key responsilities and personal specification please see attached.

How to apply  

We hope that having read this far; you will want to apply!  

Please ensure that your CV and supporting statement do not include your name – use initials only. This will ensure that we avoid unconscious bias in our shortlisting process. To apply, please provide the following documents:  

• An up-to-date CV  

• A completed diversity monitoring form  -  link found in JD attached.

• A supporting statement of no more than three pages, addressing: 

  • The essential requirements of the person specification 

  • Looking at our workplace values, please share with us what our value ‘inclusive’ means to you and an example of something you have done in your work, volunteering or personal life which show us that you share this value. 

 If you want support applying please contact us.

Timeline for recruitment process  

Closing date: 9am on Monday 22nd April 2024 

Interviews on Monday 29th April 2024 

Please ensure you keep these dates free.  

At Access Social care, we aren’t interested in tokenism. We know that if we are to make the biggest difference for the people that need us the most, we need to get Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and anti-racism right. Part of this is recruiting greater diversity in all our teams.    

With this in mind, we particularly welcome applications from candidates with experience of the communities we serve, including people with direct experience of the social care system, and from marginalised groups, particularly Black, Asian and minority ethnic groups, older and disabled people, and trans and non-binary people.  

To note we are only able to accept applicants who have the right to work in the UK.

The Junction is an out of hours “calming café” service which is open 365 days of the year to support people experiencing pre and/or mental health crisis. The aim of the project is to alleviate the need for people within the Swindon locality to access A&E and/or acute mental health services.

As a Wellbeing Practitioner, you will be providing a preventative, person centred approach to people accessing the service who may be experiencing a mental health crisis.

The service is open from 4PM-11PM and there are positions available for part time hours and full time hours and  working patterns will include some weekends.

We are actively accepting applications for this post and will work with the applicant on arranging a suitable date and time for interviews if shortlisted. 

Do you want to help voluntary and community groups in the BCP Council area to survive and thrive? Can you effectively share your skills and expertise in running such groups with them?

You would be delivering information, advice, guidance, and bespoke support along with peer learning and training as appropriate on the legal, income generation, technical and good practice aspects of running a VCS organisation.

You’ll be joining a flexible, innovative, and friendly team.

About you

You will have extensive knowledge of the voluntary and community sector (VCS) and an awareness of the changing environment for local communities and voluntary organisations and the challenges they face covering the Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole area.

As a people person with great interpersonal skills, you’ll be able to build and maintain excellent professional relationships delivering bespoke support, which enables the local VCS to fulfil their missions more effectively, improve performance and governance and become stronger, safer, and more sustainable.

Responsibilities:

• Support the start-up of new VCS organisations, including advice on appropriate structures and any appropriate registrations.
• Identify strengths and weaknesses in management/governance in VCS groups and provide advice to address, in particular trustee roles and responsibilities, business/strategic planning, project planning, evidencing impact, evaluation and monitoring, safeguarding.
• Advise, and support organisations on different sources of funding and which are relevant to their needs including grants, trading, contracts, donors, etc.
• To enable organisations to develop appropriate documentation. To produce model documents in plain language, in particular health and safety, data protection and environmental policies
• To provide organisation specific advice and information by telephone, email and one to one advice sessions (inn person and virtual)
• To design, organise and, if appropriate, deliver training events, webinars, lunch time seminars, meetings, events, and conferences for VCS organisations as required.
• Contribute to the development of tools and resources for defining and supporting the organisational development needs of small and medium sized VCS groups
• To ensure the provision of advice and information through the website, on demand webinars, newsletters, special briefing supplements, etc.
• Be understanding and be particularly supportive to VCS groups who face additional barriers in accessing support and in applying advice and learning
• Encouraging and facilitating the sharing of skills and resources between VCS organisations.
• Work and liaise with others contracted to provide support services to the VCS in the BCP area.
• To maintain effective networks and working relationships with appropriate individuals and agencies.
• Refer organisations to other specialised support and advice agencies as appropriate.
• Promote the role and needs of the sector to stakeholders when appropriate
• To champion, identify and convene partnerships and opportunities for collaboration and co-design to support identified outcomes and by utilising collective resources.
• To identify gaps in community needs and support how the VCS can meet these.
• Monitor and evaluate the work and assist in reporting as required.
• To keep up to date on all the legal and technical aspects of running a VSC organisation, and of local, regional and national funders and funding programmes

What we can offer in return

In return we offer a competitive salary and great benefits, including contributory pension scheme, 25 days holiday (pro-rata) plus all bank holidays, season train ticket loan, flexible working and much more.

We are growing our counselling service and we will be offering more generalised counselling as well as our Self Harmony service which specialises in self-harm and self-injury reduction.

What You'll Do:

- Innovation and Empowerment: Channel your passion into providing evidence-based interventions, elevating the mental health and emotional well-being of the people we serve, while opening doors to life's possibilities.

- Effective Partnerships:  Ensure effective and appropriate communication with all individuals, staff, community agencies and partner organisations.