Job Title: Advocate
Service: Coram Voice: Swindon & Out of Area
Contract Type: Permanent
Hours: 12 per week
Salary: £7,646.06 per annum (£22,301 FTE)
Location: Swindon (Home Based with Travel Across Counties)
About Coram:
Coram is committed to improving the lives of the UK’s most vulnerable children and young people.
We support children and young people from birth to independence, creating a change that lasts a lifetime.
Coram is the UK’s oldest children’s charity founded by Thomas Coram in London helping vulnerable children and young people since 1739. Today, the Coram group helps more than one million children, young people, families and professionals every year by providing access to the skills and opportunities they need to thrive.
About Coram Voice:
Coram Voice is a national independent children’s charity established in 1975 and has grown to become one of the leading organisations for children and young people in the UK.
Coram Voice exists to enable and equip children and young people to hold systems to account, to challenge and support them to do their jobs properly and to uphold the rights of children and young people to actively participate in shaping their own lives.
Coram Voice strives for a society which recognises, and willingly accepts, its responsibilities to children and young people, where the inequalities and discrimination they currently face have been eradicated. Where those children and young people are fully engaged in all decisions that are made about their lives. Where the views, needs and feelings that they express are at the core of those decisions.
Our Advocacy services we provide advocacy direct to children and young people in a variety of situations. Advocates around the country support children and young people to get their voice heard in decisions about their lives. This may be through the telephone helpline or through an advocate working directly with a child, for instance, to support them at a review meeting or to help them make a complaint about their care. Coram Voice provides visiting advocacy services to most of the secure units nationally, to Secure Training Centres, Juvenile Young Offender Institutions, psychiatric hospitals, residential special schools and children’s homes.
About the Role
We are looking for an Advocate to join our team in Swindon. We are seeking applicants who have transferable skills, a willingness to learn, a desire to promote the rights of children and young people or already have an IAP City and Guilds Level 3 or IAQ City and Guilds Level 4 in Advocacy.
You will work directly with care experienced children and young people and those on Child Protection Plans providing them with advocacy support in the community and a variety of settings.
You will empower and support them to ensure their voices are heard within decision–making processes that effect their lives.
You will be a capable ambassador for Coram Voice with the ability to engage effectively with professionals, carers, other stakeholders and most importantly children and young people.
If you have the necessary experience and skills and a commitment to promoting the rights of young people, we would like to hear from you.
What you will receive
We wish to reward and recognise the valuable contributions our staff make to the organisation and offer an attractive benefits package to do so. Coram Voice benefits package includes a competitive salary, a matched pension scheme up to 5% of salary, generous leave entitlements of up to 25 days’ annual leave and an additional 3 days paid leave between Christmas and New Year. A supportive work environment fostering a good work/home life balance and a suite of family friendly policies, which promote employee wellbeing.
You will get a genuine opportunity to make a difference every day.
Recruitment process
Our Children’s Rights Managers will undertake Shortlisting. Successful candidates will be invited for interview. The interview process comprises of a written exercise and a panel interview. Successful candidates will have a further one to one interview in accordance within Warner recommendations. Internal candidates will need to notify HR of their interest in the post and they will provide further information on the internal application process.
Returning your application:
· We cannot accept general CVs.
· When completing your application form, you need to address each point of the person specification and demonstrate how you meet it.
· Applications must be fully completed.
· If you are a current Coram Voice employee you may submit a supporting statement only addressing the person specification requirements for the post.
Closing date: 3rd May 2024 (23.59pm)
Interview date: 14th & 15th May 2024
General consideration for applications:
· DBS checks: all posts are subject to an enhanced Disclosure and Barring check.
· Training: All successful candidates are required to complete our compulsory training programme which includes training in Advocacy (Being a Voice) Safeguarding and Diversity
· Conflict of interest: the independence of the service is important to Coram Voice. Prospective applicants need to raise any other potential conflicts of interest when initially contacting Coram Voice about this post.
Coram is an equal opportunities employer and we believe a diverse workforce enables us to improve the services to the children and families we help. We are genuinely committed to encouraging candidates from all sections of the community we seek to support. This includes those from, Asian, African, Caribbean and other minority ethnic backgrounds, those that identify as LGBQT+, those with disabilities, those with lived experience of care, those with neuro-diversity, and those from other groups who are underrepresented at Coram.
If applicants feel comfortable, we would encourage them to draw on lived experience as well as professional experience in their personal statement as part of their application.
We are committed to the safeguarding of children and where appropriate will require the successful applicant to undertake a check from the Disclosure and Barring Service.
Registered Charity No. 312278.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
We are a charity dedicated to supporting women exposed to gender-based violence and exploitation and their children to be safe and have acess to appropriate intervention and support in order to live free from fear and harm.
Our core values are diversity and inclusion, collaboration, advocacy and innovation and we aim to challenge oppression in all forms.
If you are passionate about supporting women then this role is for you.
We need a dynamic individual to work with our Assessement and Referral team to ensure women have an excellent experience when contacting our service and feel believed and supported.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
15 HOURS PER WEEK, 8.00AM – 1.00PM MONDAY, THURSDAY AND FRIDAY
HERTFORDSHIRE
We have an exciting part-time vacancy within our exceptional front of house team to join us as a Receptionist. Providing a high quality, friendly and professional service you will be the face of St Elizabeth’s to external visitors when arriving to our main reception.
You will:
• Answer incoming calls and direct to appropriate colleagues
• Book meeting rooms and accept, check and organise deliveries
• Organise and sort outgoing and incoming mail
• Set up new starters on our system, ensuring ID badges are provided
• Book taxis for staff and visitors as required
• Be the central point of contact for all St Elizabeth’s staff
About you
The successful candidate will have previous experience in a similar role or environment, and will be an enthusiastic team player with the ability to work closely with the rest of our front of house team, and the confidence to lone work as necessary. You will be approachable and have first-class customer service skills, with a calm and professional telephone manner, alongside good working knowledge of office systems and reception protocols.
Why work for us
Based across 60 acres of beautiful countryside, St Elizabeth's is a charity supporting children, young people and adult day clients with epilepsy and other complex medical conditions.
Over the past 120 years, St Elizabeth's has grown and developed to comprise a non-maintained special School for both boarders and day students, a specialist Further Education College, domiciliary care for College learners, Supported Living in the community, a comprehensive Day Opportunities programme for adult day clients and 24 hour health provision provided by specialist nurses and therapists.
In addition to excellent staff training, our employees are also rewarded with various other benefits offered as part of your employment:
• 23 days’ annual leave per annum – 5 service related day’s accrued up to 5 years of service (based on full time working hours)
• Eligible for Blue Light card – discounts on big brands!
• Discounted gym membership
• Employee recognition scheme
• Life assurance
• Free on-site parking
• Recommend a friend payment up to £500!*
• Confidential employee assistance programme
• Fully paid for DBS
• Contributory pension scheme - eligible employees are automatically enrolled after 3 months at 5% (3% employer contribution)
• *terms and conditions apply
How to apply
Please complete an application form and upload an up to date CV on our website. All offers are conditional and subject to receipt of satisfactory pre-employment checks and references including an enhanced DBS check. Please note we are not on a public transport route.
Applications will be reviewed and interviews scheduled on a rolling basis; therefore, we recommend that you apply sooner rather than later. We reserve the right to close an advert if we receive sufficient applications ahead of the deadline. If you require reasonable adjustments at application or interview stage, please do let us know as soon as possible.
Equality, Diversity & Inclusion
At St Elizabeth’s we embrace diversity and aspire to create a diverse and inclusive working culture. We are proud to be recognised as an Investor in People and to hold Disability Confident status. We are an equal opportunities employer welcoming all applications from across the community.
Safeguarding
St Elizabeth’s Centre is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, vulnerable adults and young people. The successful applicant will be required to undertake an enhanced disclosure through the Disclosure and Barring Service. Some of our positions involve regulated activity relevant to vulnerable children, adults and young people. It is a criminal offence for people who are barred from working in regulated activity to apply for roles that require them to work unsupervised with that particular group. Our vacancies are exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.
Registered Charity 1176777
You may have experience of the following: Front Desk Coordinator, Office Administrator, Customer Service Associate, Administrative Receptionist, Guest Services Coordinator, Front Office Assistant, Client Support Representative, Administrative Support Specialist, Reception Coordinator, etc.
REF-212 860