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CARIS Families is a small charity that supports homeless families living in hostel accommodation in Camden and Hackney.We run play and learning activities for children aged 0-16 from within 4 hostels in these boroughs, as well as a school holiday day trip programme and an Essentials Bank to ease family hardship.Our services for children aim to reduce the stress on children and parents of living in overcrowded, insecure accommodation, and to put back some of the vital childhood experiences that homeless accommodation deprives children of.
We are currently looking for a trainee playworker who is looking to build a career working with children to join our dedicated frontline play team.You do not need to have any formal experience of playwork, but you do need to be passionate about working with children and supporting them to achieve their potential, and to be able to demonstrate this through previous work or volunteering experience.
This is an exciting opportunity for the right candidate, offering a rare entry-level role which alongside providing plenty of on-the-job training, will also fully sponsor their training towards the Level 2 Diploma in Playwork following successful completion of the probationary period.
Our new Playworker will:
Role Description
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Help to deliver our hostel-based Kids Club’s play session for 0-16 year olds during term time in the London Borough of Camden
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Help to deliver our School Holiday programme during school holidays (in Camden, Hackney and the wider London area)
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Support the running of our term-time Essential Bank programme, providing free household goods to families in hostels
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Provide a warm and welcoming experience for children & their families attending CARIS Families’ services
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Engage with children in their play and learning experiences, through staff-led activities and supporting child-led play.
Person Specification
We are looking for someone at the start of their career (or a career-changer) who is:
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Experienced in working or volunteering within a play-based setting, with children between the ages of 0-16.
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Enthusiastic about supporting children in their free play and facilitating adult-led activities that stretch and stimulate children in their development
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Passionate about improving opportunities for disadvantaged children
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Understanding of the varied needs of children and their families
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Good communicators, comfortable with working with a wide range of service users and professionals
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Able to work well as part of a team.
Salary: £14 per hour
Contract: 12 months initially, with a three month probation period, and the possibility of extension beyond 12 months subject to funding.Training for the Level 2 diploma will commence after successful completion of the probation period.
Hours:12 hours across three days a week in term time (40 weeks a year), Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.Please note on Kids Club days the working day ends at 6pm.One day a week (8 hrs) in school holidays (12 weeks a year), days variable.25 days per year Annual Leave (pro rata) with an additional week off over Christmas.
Your pay will be equalized out across the 12 months of the year so you receive a consistent salary each month.
Please submit your CV and a cover letter, explaining the reasons for your interest in the traineeship and what you think makes you a good candidate, with close reference to the Role Description and Person Specification.
CVs sent without a personalised cover letter will not be considered.
Registered Charity 
Thank you!
Start Date: Immediately (subject to pre-employment checks)
Location: Great Ormond Street Hospital, WC1
About Citizens Advice Camden
Citizens Advice Camden is a well-respected local charity with more than 85 years’ experience of delivering free, independent and impartial advice and casework services to those most in need.
About the Role
This is an exciting opportunity to work in a well-regarded and innovative project contributing to achieving positive outcomes for some of the most vulnerable families in England and beyond whose sick children are being treated at Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital (GOSH) We also provide an ‘open door’ service to our GOSH partners such as social workers and family support officers in our areas of expertise.
You will be expected to deliver high quality holistic advice and in-depth casework to families with children who are patients at GOSH across all Citizens Advice issue areas and this will include complex housing issues and with benefits cases up to appeal level.
Whilst we are keen to provide paid to train opportunities where we can, this role is not suitable for a trainee and such applications cannot be considered. Please check the person specification below to ensure you meet the requirements for the role before applying.
What you will bring to the role
- Relevant experience of client-centred advice work with competency in welfare benefits and housing casework.
- Experience of researching complex advice issues including those outside of your advice experience
- Meet the accreditation requirements to the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) quality framework to advice and casework levels. Documentary evidence of accreditation will be required.
Being available onsite is an important aspect of this role and so this role is hybrid working.The exact split between remote/onsite working will be by agreement with the line manager and to meet the needs of the project which could change over time. This role is not suitable for remote working only.
To apply complete our application form and online application process at Adviser.
Closing deadline for applications is: 9.00am on Friday 24 April 2026
If you have recently applied for this role, please do not apply again.
Early applications are encouraged as we are interviewing on a rolling basis and may close the role before the closing date.
CVs are not accepted.
Interview date: 29 and 29 April 2026
Interviews will be held on Zoom.
The successful candidates will be required to provide documentary evidence of their right to work in the UK, complete a satisfactory DBS check, and complete and comply with GOSH honorary status requirements.
Citizens Advice Camden is an equal opportunities employer. We encourage applications from all sections of the community.
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