Social prescribing project worker (contract) jobs

Job Description

Brent Mencap has been passionate about a healthier and fairer Brent since 1979. We’ve developed and run successful housing, employment, health, advice, wellbeing and self-advocacy services. During austerity and Covid we diversified, successfully taking on NHS work with people with long-term health conditions. We provide social prescribing support and health and wellbeing coaching to patients for Brent GPs. In 2024-5 we helped over 18000 people. We’re a leading partner on the Brent Health Educators Programme. Recently we’ve focused on developing and retaining a much larger staff group, using our data better and improving our marketing.

Brent Mencap offers fantastic free creative and wellbeing activities for people with a learning disability, autism and long-term health conditions. These have flourished since Covid. People love yoga, poetry, singing, gardening, Breathe and Move, self-advocacy, campaigning, awareness raising, CREATE art activities for young people, external trips and parties. Small grants, donations and our reserves fund this while we get longer term funding. Our self-advocates want us to focus on paid employment, youth services and making Brent Council use accessible information properly. People with a learning disability, neurodiversity and their family carers are inclusively supported by social prescribers for advice and by health educators/coaches for health-related matters if needed.

Our current Executive Director, who has led Brent Mencap so well for 25 years wants to retire. The successful candidate will build on Brent Mencap’s history, current success and potential so our long-term passion for a healthier and fairer Brent can evolve and improve the lives of Brent People. Are you the amazing successor to lead and inspire our talented, committed team?

We are looking for someone who  

· Has the relevant voluntary sector experience, vision, determination and leadership skills

· Is committed to developing and supporting our diverse staff group

· Can see the bigger picture but also focuses on the important details

· Supports our ethos of person-centred service delivery and activities

· Can communicate well with users, partners, staff, trustees and funders

· Enjoys influencing and raising awareness

· Is entrepreneurial, savvy, confident and can maintain our current  financial stability and diversify our income streams

· Understands the lived experience of disability, long term health conditions and inequality  and wants to improve their lives

· Understands the importance of marketing and data to challenge inequality, promote positive change and attract new funds.

· Can prioritise reviewing and improving our data collection

· Can develop funding project plans that includes staffing for enhanced  wellbeing and creative activities, for  young people, employment  related support and other identified needs

In addition, they will have to:

· Work with the Board of Trustees and staff to develop our vision, implement strategic plans and  deliver agreed objectives

· Be able to ensure all aspects of our work are done safely, legally, in line with our articles/constitution  and able to assess risks and mitigate them

· Be responsible for staff development, management and all aspects of the administration of the organisation

· Be an ambassador for Brent Mencap, meeting and working with leaders with statutory and voluntary sector, Royal Mencap and local Mencaps

· Represent the lived experiences and voices of people with learning disabilities, neurodivergence, long term conditions and their families who inform our work and the work of others in Brent

· Work late occasionally, attend evening events, meetings and occasional weekends and undertake any other necessary tasks as required to ensure Brent Mencap functions safely.

In order to deliver services effectively, a degree of flexibility is required and the post holder may be required to perform work not specifically referred to above. This job description will be subjected to review with the post holder, from time to time to ensure it accurately reflects the duties and range of the post.

This post is:

• subject to Enhanced DBS Disclosure

• subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975. It will be necessary for a disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and barring Service for details of any previous criminal convictions.

• Candidates must be eligible to live and work in the UK

• Please note: Our office base is on the first floor of a Victorian building with steep stairs.

To be shortlisted,

· Candidates must fully complete our application form, and show clearly how their previous experience and knowledge meets all aspects of the person specification with examples given of actual actions/experience relating to the person specification. Please go to our website to complete the application by 9.00am on 28th August. We do not accept CVs

· Be prepared to visit Brent Mencap so key staff and self-advocates can meet them informally before the interview day  or have a 60–90-minute Teams meeting with them. To arrange a face-to-face or Teams  meet up on a Wednesday only  please contact our office manager Simon via the website.

Interview details

· A 4-part Interview with senior staff, self-advocates, operational managers and trustees, will take place at Brent Mencap on Friday 5th or 12th September 2025. Shortlisted candidates will be given a paper-based scenario to complete and send to us on the Thursday before the interview

· We anticipate the full interviews will take 2.5 hours with a 30-minute break at some point.

Responsible to: Longfield Hall Trust (‘LHT’) Board

Salary: paid monthly at rate of £27.50 per hour

Contract: 12 months, with potential for extension

Hours of Work: 14 hours a week (2 days per week) at least one of the days per week at Longfield Hall. We will launch an all-day café (10.30 to 3.30pm) on Thursday 4 September.

Background:

Longfield Hall Trust (LHT) manages the historic Longfield Hall, offering a range of cultural experiences and classes for all ages. Our new Memory Café project aims to support dementia patients and their carers by providing a welcoming space for social and recreational activities. The Café will offer dementia friendly activities (including karaoke, bingo, arts/crafts and immersive theatre/dance shows) to empower dementia patients to enjoy regular social, cognitive and physical activities.

Alongside supporting patients, the Memory Café will create a highly supportive environment for carers. This will enable carers to take some 'time out' while remaining nearby in a safe space where both carers and patients can socialize more widely. Furthermore, the Café will provide access to information about relevant local services, ensuring comprehensive support for all attendees.

We are also providing a dementia care-worker who will support the Memory Café manager and enable us to support a broad range of dementia patients and their carers.

Main duties and responsibilities:

Roles and responsibilities:

• To manage the Memory Café service for people living with dementia and their carers.
• To coordinate and deliver a stimulating programme of weekly sessions of the Memory Café at Longfield Hall together with our collaborators/partners/external agencies.
• To lead the coordination and facilitation of the Memory Café, providing a welcoming and supportive space.
• To undertake assessments, risk assessments and including home visits of new participants to ensure group suitability and engagement.
• To liaise with carers, family members, and professionals to support participant wellbeing.
• To help plan and deliver a range of personalised activities to create a lively and stimulating environment.
• To take responsibility for evaluating the service and report writing.
• To take the lead in the team for the implementation of a comprehensive service of care and support for participants.
• To ensure all sessional facilitators have materials required for sessions by liaising with Memory Café Care Worker.
• To actively participate in the development of improvements for the service.
• To support people with care needs, including those living with mild - moderate dementia and complex needs.

• To understand the changing needs of older people, including those with mild to moderate to advanced Dementia.

• To arrange transport as needed.

• To assist with handling monies for transport and reimbursement

• To provide dementia advice and support signposting and making referrals to external agencies as and when the need arises. 

• Awareness of safeguarding, and health and safety responsibilities.

• To build referral relationships with external agencies.

• To recruit, train and supervise volunteers.

Successful candidates should expect to be appointed at the starting point of the salary scale and consideration may be given to a higher salary depending on the experience of the individual

Full Time: 35 hours

Fixed Term until: 31st of March 2027

Location: HMP Peterborough and Cambridgshire

Ref: WWC-254

Are you a dynamic, collaborative and compassionate individual with a proven track record as a caseworker delivering gender specific and trauma responsive interventions which support resettlement and rehabilitation of female adults in the criminal justice system, whether in the community or in prisons?

If so, St Giles and the Wise Group are looking for a Women’s Wellbeing Coach to be an integral part of a multi-agency team providing person-centred support, where you will deliver holistic and trauma informed Women’s services to females on remand or unsentenced.

Who are we?

The Wise Group and St Giles came together to form a partnership with the aim of supporting the Probation Resettlement reforms by offering a high-quality service underpinned by staff who have lived experience and cultural competency. As a result, we have been awarded contracts to deliver Women’s Services across Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, North Yorkshire, and Durham. These services will provide holistic support to community offenders and prison leavers.

The Wise Group is a leading social enterprise which is proud to be making a difference to people’s lives. We’re proud because we help people to find jobs, provide advice to people struggling to heat their homes and support people to find their feet following time in prison. To do this, the Wise Group works in partnership with everyone from large businesses to national and local government and third sector organisations who provide essential specialist support to our customers. Together, we’re greater than the sum of our parts.

St Giles is an award-winning social justice charity using expertise and real-life past experiences to empower people who are not getting the help they need. People held back by poverty, exploited, abused, dealing with addiction or mental health problems, caught up in crime or a combination of these issues and others. We show people there is a way to build a better future for themselves and those they care about and help them create this through support, advice, and training. Our peer-led services form the backbone of our work, putting people with lived experience at the centre of delivery, design, and evaluation of support and services across the UK.

About this exciting opportunity

As Women’s Wellbeing Coach, you will provide person-centred support to a caseload of service users, who will be female adults aged 18 years and above on remand and unsentenced within Cambridgeshire.  This role will involve completing Trauma Informed assessments and developing, in collaboration with each service user, action plans which will result in timely and prescribed outcomes being achieved.

We will also rely on you to create a safe and trusting environment, using trauma informed practice to successfully facilitate a supportive and constructive relationship with service users and to deliver a range of interventions which contribute towards achieving pre-determined targets.  Developing and maintaining positive working relationships with external agencies and working towards contractual targets and outcomes within agreed timescales are both essential aspects of the role, as is providing updates and reports, where required, using a range of formats.

What we are looking for

• Proven ability and experience as a caseworker delivering gender specific and trauma responsive interventions which support resettlement and rehabilitation of female adults in the criminal justice system whether in the community or in prisons.
• Experience of working with young adults and supporting them to achieve positive outcomes.
• Experience of engaging successfully with challenging people, for example people who have complex needs, people who are reluctant to discuss their needs, and people who are angry and confused Experience in delivery of 1:1 and group coaching solutions, including preparation and delivery of skills and learning.
• Experience in working with partner agencies either as part of a multi-agency team working towards common objectives or negotiating to establish links to further the aims of a project.

Please note this role requires Enhanced Adult Workforce only.

In return, you can expect a competitive salary, generous leave allowance, staff pension, flexible working, a mentoring programme, an advice and counselling service, clinical therapist sessions, life insurance (4 x annual salary), duvet days, season ticket loan, employee perks programme, eye care voucher and much more.

We are an equity and inclusion confident employer. We welcome all applications, and we particularly encourage applications from people of the global majority (black, brown, multi- heritage ) and those who identify as disabled, neuroexpansive, neurodiverse, with any protected characteristics and/or social barriers or challenges. We value the empowering and informative impact that all lived experiences and diversity of thought can offer the organisation.

St Giles will guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria set out in the Job Description for the vacancy.

Closing date: 17th August 2025. 11:00pm Interviews: 1st September 2025 on Team