About the Role
The Kennet and Test Valley Methodist Circuit in North West Hampshire and West Berkshire offers a warm welcome to visitors at any one of our six Churches where we worship in a variety of different styles. Our mission is to proclaim and reflect the love of God in all that we do.
We are looking for someone who has a passion and expertise for delivering care home ministry. The main focus of this role will be to work with us to continue developing a sustainable care home ministry. We have a desire to further extend our outreach into other care homes in the area from which it is anticipated there will be missional and development opportunities. There may also be further pastoral opportunities within the Newbury area.
This role is an important part of promoting our mission to Hungerford, Newbury & Thatcham and as such has a genuine occupational requirement that the post‑holder is a practising Christian (as outlined by 2010 Equality Act, Section 9).
About You
You should have a nationally recognised biblical, theological or practical mission qualification or equivalent experience evidenced for the role.
You should have the ability to demonstrate an awareness of pastoral issues affecting older people and the kinds of support that could be appropriate and an understanding of the Church’s work with mission amongst older people.
You should have proven experience of working in a pastoral context within a church or community groups in a paid or voluntary capacity in previous roles. This is an essential criteria.
You should have excellent people skills, good organisational ability and be adept at creative thinking.
Our Culture, Values and Benefits
Thank you for considering joining our inclusive and welcoming circuit that strives to proclaim and reflect the love of God in all that we do. We value and support all who join our team through a positive work‑life balance augmented by generous annual leave and TOIL. We offer an occupational pension scheme to which you will be auto‑enrolled and to which we will also contribute.
We are an inclusive and affirming group of churches. We welcome all people regardless of their sexuality, gender identity, ethnicity, background or disability. We are registered for same-sex marriage and celebrate our diversity in Christ
It is important that you are able to demonstrate an ability to relate effectively to a wide spectrum of people from a diverse range of backgrounds and needs.
You must be supportive of the ethos and values of the Methodist Church and be able to act as a positive ambassador for the Circuit.
This role will require a satisfactory Enhanced DBS disclosure & the completion of the Advanced Safeguarding training course of the Methodist Church.
The nature of this role necessitates being available for end of life spiritual care and therefore may require occasional out of hours work.
N.B. We reserve the right to close this vacancy early should we receive sufficient applications. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.
Closing date: 30th April 2024
Interview Date: 21st May 2024
Please complete the application form and the equality and diversity monitoring form and return them to the email address detailed on page 2 of the application form
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
We have an exciting opportunity for a part-time Caseworker (known internally as an Independent Victim Advocate) to join the team in Gloucestershire, working 22.5 hours a week.
Do you want to make a difference every day? Do you want to contribute to change & improvement for those who need it?
Do you have resilience & adaptability? Can you work effectively with a focus on customer service and care?
If yes, then we'd love to hear from you…
What we offer:
At Victim Support we believe in attracting & retaining the best people and offer a competitive rewards & benefits package including:
- Flexible working options including hybrid working
- 28 days annual leave plus Bank Holidays, rising to 33 days plus Bank Holidays
- An extra day off for your Birthday
- Pension with 5% employer contribution
- Enhanced sick pay allowances, maternity & paternity payments
- High Street, retail, holiday, entertainment & leisure discounts
- Access to our financial wellbeing hub & salary deducted finance
- Employee assistance programme & wellbeing support
- Ongoing training & support with opportunities for career development & progression
About the role:
This role is based at our Gloucester office and will require regular travel within the Gloucestershire area. Hence, holding a driving licence is essential.
As a caseworker, you will:
- Effectively manage a caseload of self-referrals or referred service users, delivering excellent services which support the commissioners and their service goals to victims.
- Ensure each victim receives an individually appropriate tailored support and information service that fully meets their needs, keeping complex needs central to all processes and decisions
- Undertake risk and needs assessments to address the specific needs of the client in line with VS operating procedures. To follow relevant safeguarding policies and procedures, working with safeguarding leads and other agencies to ensure an integrated approach to address any safeguarding concerns.
- Provide information and advocacy to enable service users to navigate and understand the criminal justice process and ensure their rights are upheld in accordance with the Victims Code of Practice this could include criminal, legal and if relevant, civil remedies to service users.
You will need:
- Experience of working with vulnerable adults and/or families
- Understanding and knowledge of an active commitment to promoting equal opportunities, inclusion and diversity
- Ability to work without direct supervision, prioritise work and deal with competing or conflicting demands/ needs and interests in an organised and methodical manner
- Understanding of confidentiality and safe working practices, in accordance with safeguarding and data protection legislation
- Ability to needs assess, risk assess and empathise with the victim
- Excellent IT and administrative skills including the use of Microsoft Office packages
- High resilience and the ability to work under pressure
Please see attached Job Description and Person Specification for further details.
About Us:
Victim Support (VS) is an independent charity providing a range of specialist services to people who have been affected by crime across England and Wales. We work towards a world where there are fewer victims but who have stronger rights, better support and a real influence in the Criminal Justice System. Everyone at VS is driven by our Vision Ambitions and Values to play their part in making a difference for those who experience crime and traumatic events. Working for VS gives you the opportunity to play a key role in a national charity providing high quality services to victims and witnesses and being a vital force for change.
Victim Support are committed to recruiting with care and to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Background checks and Disclosed Barring Service checks may be required.
Victim Support strives to represent the diverse communities we serve and are passionate about creating an environment where all staff and volunteers feel respected and heard. Being a diverse organisation with an inclusive culture is integral to us being able to meet our aim of ensuring that anyone who is a victim of crime gets the support they need.
As part of our commitment to the Race at Work Charter we particularly welcome applicants from Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities. VS is also a Disability Confident Employer and we provide a Guaranteed Interview Scheme for candidates that are disabled and meet all essential criteria for a role.
If you have a disability, a learning difficulty such as dyslexia or a medical condition which you believe may affect your performance during any aspect of our selection process, we'll be happy to make reasonable adjustments to enable you to perform at your best.
How to apply:
To apply for this role please follow the link below to the Jobs page on our website and complete the application form demonstrating how you meet the essential shortlisting criteria.
We look forward to hearing from you.
We reserve the right to close this vacancy early, if we receive enough suitable applications to take forward to interview prior to the published closing date.