Lead lgbtq youth worker jobs in south croydon, greater london

This role presents opportunity to work innovatively & responsively, creating new, unique, & informative LGBT+ affirmative resources, crisis support, prevention & wellbeing initiatives; along with having a developmental role in upskilling & supervising sessional staff, trainees, interns & volunteers. 

This is an exciting job opportunity to join a dynamic & committed team, in a key frontline role working directly within our Heads-Out mental health service, which provides individualised mental health plans, crisis safety plans, mental wellbeing workshops, varied mental health support groups including for those seeking asylum, a trans & non-binary group; LGBTQ+ mental health social connections & activities group, and drop-in support.

Opportunities will include delivery of specialised interventions, taking direct referrals and helping to support & stabilise those at heightened risk and/ or living through mental health crisis, plus psychoeducation workshops and group programmes will further enable you to engage, empower & support participants to build confidence, develop skills, strategies & achieve goals to improve, maintain & best manage mental health, increase mental wellbeing, and reduce and/ or prevent future crisis.

elop is a  London based thriving community-led LGBT+ mental health & wellbeing charity offering a range of support, advice, information, counselling, and group support services to lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT+) communities. 

There will be one regular evening/ week and occasional weekend working required.

NB: Initially there will be some remote home-based working alongside office-based working whilst we relocate to new premises

Interviews will take place Thursday 4 September 2025 between 9.30am – 15.00 pm

About Us

Our vision is for every child and young person to be safe, loved and happy, to achieve their potential and have a bright future.

St Christopher's is a leading charity for children and young people. We are proud of our history of providing fostering, children's homes and innovative leaving care services across the UK & Isle of Man.  We have a passionate commitment to our young people, placing them at the centre of everything we do.  We provide positive life experiences for young people who are unable to sustain a placement in their parental or foster home.

We are an equal-opportunity employer keen to develop an inclusive workforce where people feel they belong.We hope to attract applications from under- represented groups, including people from different cultures, nationalities, socioeconomic backgrounds, ages, disabilities, religions, faith, sex, orientation, childcare responsibilities, and gender-diverse identities.

St Christopher’s Academy

At St Christopher`s we can provide more than just a care job. We can offer you a career where you can develop your skills and knowledge while making a difference to young people’s lives.

When you join St Christopher’s, we will set you up in your career with a tailored development plan. Whether you want to move across to a different service, become a Manager or just explore further your current role, we will support you to map out your career trajectory and help you achieve your professional ambitions. If you want to learn more about St Christopher’s Academy, please visit our website.

We are proud that 84% of all our Team Leaders, Deputies and Managers are internal promotions.

About the role

As an Experienced Practitioner, you will provide direct support and care for our young people who have complex emotional and mental health difficulties (such as trauma and loss) and can struggle to regulate their emotions.

Working within a therapeutic framework, you will develop a direct programme of work aimed at developing authentic relationships with our children and young people (aged 12 – 17 years old), you will also have responsibility for making sure our residents are safe, providing support, liaison with other professionals and completion of support documents to record information.

If applying for the Waking Night role, you will have the additional support of an on-call manager should there be any emergencies. Further to this, you will be involved in monthly team meetings and receive monthly supervision.

Applicants should have

• Level 3 Diploma in Residential Childcare or equivalent (i.e. Level 3 Diploma Children and Young People Workforce with the children's social care pathway) or be willing to achieve the Level 3 Diploma in Residential Childcare within 2 years as per Children’s Homes Regulations 2015 (England).
• Minimum of 1 years’ experience working and supporting children and Young People to achieve their full potential.
• Genuine commitment to working with and supporting children and Young People to achieve their full potential; with the ability to build and promote trusted relationships while maintaining professional boundaries.
• An understanding of the issues facing children and Young People and a basic understanding of safeguarding Regulations and Procedures.
• The ability to cope effectively with challenging behaviour.
• Good communication and team working skills.
• Flexibility to work shifts, including weekends and bank holidays.
• Commitment to undertake any mandatory training (outside of working hours) and continuous learning to ensure a high level of service.
• Creativity, enthusiasm and energy to inspire and encourage young people to achieve their goals.

What you should expect from us

• Salary: £28,912 per annum. Overtime / bank holidays paid time-and-a-half and 2 weekends off per month.
• A friendly working environment, a fun, open and honest culture.
• 25 days holiday rising to 27 days after 3 years’ service, plus Bank Holidays, pro-rata.
• Industry leading training programme including access to level 3 qualifications, children’s right and participation, CSE, empowerment, mental health and social pedagogy.
• Contributory pension scheme, enhanced maternity and company sick scheme.
• UK Life Assurance (Death in service) to the value of 3 times your annual salary.
• BUPA employee assistance programme, offering counselling, financial advice and legal support.
• Cycle to work scheme.
• Bluelight card; discount shopping scheme at hundreds of retailers across the UK.
• Discretionary funded training programs.
• Employee awards based on performance and length of service.
• Fantastic opportunities to develop your career within our range of services.

Recruitment Process

At St Christopher’s we are committed to the safeguarding of all children and young people in our care. During the recruitment process you will be expected to complete an online application form to ensure we capture essential information to meet legislation, best practice and vetting requirements.

Applicants will ideally already be on the DBS Update Service; if this is not the case St Christopher's will carry out a DBS (police) check prior to starting.

First Stage Interview – Tuesdays & Thursdays throughout July and August

Shortlisted candidates will be invited to attend an interview at our Head Office

Second Stage

Successful candidates will then attend the second stage interview at the home they have applied for.

We advise you to apply as soon as possible as applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

Please note:

• This post has a minimum age restriction of 21 year for roles working directly with children and young people in our residential and supported accommodation Homes in line with the Equality Act ‘occupational requirement’.
• It is illegal to apply for any role that involves working with children and young people under the age of 18, if you know you are barred from working with children.
• all shortlisted candidates invited to interview will be asked to submit a Self-Declaration and Disclosure form which will need to be returned prior to an interview being booked.

As the London Sexual Health Services Manager, you will lead METRO’s London-based Sexual & Reproductive Health services, overseeing a range of programmes including sexual health, outreach, and youth engagement. 

This role will manage and oversee the daily operations of the Sexual Health Office (SHO), including staffing, results management, and phone helpline services. The successful applicant will lead and develop a team of staff, providing supervision, training, and performance management.

This role is also responsible for overseeing the implementation and evaluation of sexual health programmes, including the National Chlamydia Screening Programme (NCSP) and C-card (condom) schemes. The post-holder will work closely with other colleagues in our communications team to facilitate this.

This role is responsible for supporting engagement and reach targets across the National Chlamydia Screening Programme (NCSP) and C-Card scheme, delivered across multiple London boroughs. To achieve this, the London Sexual Health Services Manager will manage a small team of lead and frontline staff. The role will include regular liaison with professional stakeholders, including commissioners, and may involve occasional direct delivery of outreach activities.

In addition, this role will lead the Young Greenwich (YG) sexual health team within the Royal Borough of Greenwich (RBG), overseeing a range of activities including outreach, youth hub engagement, one-to-one support, and training. The successful applicant will also have oversight of the Sexual Health Office (SHO) and the South West London (SWL) programme. Collaboration will be essential, as this role will work closely with other METRO managers involved in Young Greenwich delivery, as well as with our delivery partners at Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust and Charlton Athletic Community Trust.

About Us

Our vision is for every child and young person to be safe, loved and happy, to achieve their potential and have a bright future.

St Christopher's is a leading charity for children and young people. We are proud of our history of providing fostering, children's homes and innovative leaving care services across the UK & Isle of Man.  We have a passionate commitment to our young people, placing them at the centre of everything we do.  We provide positive life experiences for young people who are unable to sustain a placement in their parental or foster home.

We are an equal-opportunity employer keen to develop an inclusive workforce where people feel they belong.We hope to attract applications from under- represented groups, including people from different cultures, nationalities, socioeconomic backgrounds, ages, disabilities, religions, faith, sex, orientation, childcare responsibilities, and gender-diverse identities.

About the role

As an Experienced Practitioner, you will provide direct support and care for our young people who have complex emotional and mental health difficulties (such as trauma and loss) and can struggle to regulate their emotions.

Working within a therapeutic framework, you will develop a direct programme of work aimed at developing authentic relationships with our children and young people (aged 12 – 17 years old), you will also have responsibility for making sure our residents are safe, providing support, liaison with other professionals and completion of support documents to record information.

Applicants should have

• Level 3 Diploma in Residential Childcare or equivalent (i.e. Level 3 Diploma Children and Young People Workforce with the children's social care pathway) or be willing to achieve the Level 3 Diploma in Residential Childcare within 2 years as per Children’s Homes Regulations 2015 (England).
• Minimum of 1 years’ experience working and supporting children and Young People to achieve their full potential.
• Genuine commitment to working with and supporting children and Young People to achieve their full potential; with the ability to build and promote trusted relationships while maintaining professional boundaries.
• An understanding of the issues facing children and Young People and a basic understanding of safeguarding Regulations and Procedures.
• The ability to cope effectively with challenging behaviour.
• Good communication and team working skills.
• Flexibility to work shifts, including weekends and bank holidays.
• Commitment to undertake any mandatory training (outside of working hours) and continuous learning to ensure a high level of service.
• Creativity, enthusiasm and energy to inspire and encourage young people to achieve their goals.

What you should expect from us

• Salary: £27,248 per annum
• A friendly working environment, a fun, open and honest culture.
• 25 days holiday rising to 27 days after 3 years’ service, plus Bank Holidays, pro-rata.
• Industry leading training programme including access to level 3 qualifications, children’s right and participation, CSE, empowerment, mental health and social pedagogy.
• Contributory pension scheme, enhanced maternity and company sick scheme.
• UK Life Assurance (Death in service) to the value of 3 times your annual salary.
• BUPA employee assistance programme, offering counselling, financial advice and legal support.
• Cycle to work scheme.
• Bluelight card; discount shopping scheme at hundreds of retailers across the UK.
• Discretionary funded training programs.
• Employee awards based on performance and length of service.
• Fantastic opportunities to develop your career within our range of services.

Recruitment Process

At St Christopher’s we are committed to the safeguarding of all children and young people in our care. During the recruitment process you will be expected to complete an online application form to ensure we capture essential information to meet legislation, best practice and vetting requirements.

Applicants will ideally already be on the DBS Update Service; if this is not the case St Christopher's will carry out a DBS (police) check prior to starting.

First Stage Interview – Tuesdays & Thursdays throughout April and May 2025

Shortlisted candidates will be invited to attend an interview at our Head Office

Second Stage

Successful candidates will then attend the second stage interview at the home they have applied for.

We advise you to apply as soon as possible as applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

Please note:

• This post has a minimum age restriction of 21 year for roles working directly with children and young people in our residential and supported accommodation Homes in line with the Equality Act ‘occupational requirement’.
• It is illegal to apply for any role that involves working with children and young people under the age of 18, if you know you are barred from working with children.
• All shortlisted candidates invited to interview will be asked to submit a Self-Declaration and Disclosure form which will need to be returned prior to an interview being booked.

Starting Salary: Up to £35,000 depending on experience

Specific Hours: 40 hours per week shift work- including evenings, weekends, bank holidays and sleep-ins. 

(flexibility to work evenings and sleep-ins are for the Day position. Waking Night position requires staff to be awake for the entire night shift).

Sleep-ins: £50. Overtime / bank holidays paid time-and-a-half and alternative weekends off

Location: Croydon, CR2 - closest station is 1 stop after East Croydon | 10 minutes from Clapham Junction | 20 minutes from Waterloo.

Looking for fantastic career progression, excellent training and therapeutic support? Join our committed and professional team and make a difference to young people living in residential care, where no two days are the same!

About the role

As a Children’s Residential Worker, you will directly look after children and young people who have complex emotional and mental health needs due to trauma, loss and other adverse experiences.

You will be required to support children to regulate and understand their emotions. Working within a therapeutic framework, you will develop a direct programme of work aimed at developing authentic relationships with our children and young people (aged 12 – 17 years old on admission to the Children’s Home).

You will have a key role in making sure our children are safe and happy. You will also be required to work collaboratively with key professionals to ensure that information is recorded and shared appropriately, as well as to enable children to receive the multi-agency support that they require.

If applying for the Day position, you will be required to do sleep-ins paid at £50 each.

If applying for the Waking Night position, you will have the additional support of an on-call manager should there be any emergencies. Further to this, you will be involved in monthly team meetings and receive monthly supervision.

Applicants should have

• Level 3 Diploma in Residential Childcare or equivalent (i.e. Level 3 Diploma Children and Young People Workforce with the children's social care pathway) as per Children’s Homes Regulations 2015 (England).
• Minimum of 2 years’ experience working and supporting children and Young People to achieve their full potential.
• Genuine commitment to working with and supporting children and Young People to achieve their full potential; with the ability to build and promote trusted relationships while maintaining professional boundaries.
• An understanding of the issues facing children and Young People and a basic understanding of safeguarding Regulations and Procedures.
• The ability to cope effectively with challenging behaviour.
• Good communication and team working skills.
• Flexibility to work shifts, including weekends and bank holidays, and if applicable, sleep-in’s.
• Commitment to undertake any mandatory training (outside of working hours) and continuous learning to ensure a high level of service.
• Creativity, enthusiasm and energy to inspire and encourage young people to achieve their goals.

What you should expect from us

• Salary: Up to £35,000 depending on experience
• Sleep-ins: £50. Overtime / bank holidays paid time-and-a-half and alternate weekends off
• A friendly working environment, a fun, open and honest culture.
• 25 days holiday rising to 27 days after 3 years’ service, plus Bank Holidays, pro-rata.
• Industry leading training programme including access to level 3 qualifications, children’s right and participation, CSE, empowerment, mental health and social pedagogy.
• Contributory pension scheme, enhanced maternity and company sick scheme.
• UK Life Assurance (Death in service) to the value of 3 times your annual salary.
• BUPA employee assistance programme, offering counselling, financial advice and legal support.
• Cycle to work scheme.
• Bluelight card; discount shopping scheme at hundreds of retailers across the UK.
• Discretionary funded training programs.
• Employee awards based on performance and length of service.
• Fantastic opportunities to develop your career within our range of services.

Recruitment Process

At St Christopher’s we are committed to the safeguarding of all children and young people in our care. During the recruitment process you will be expected to complete an online application form to ensure we capture essential information to meet legislation, best practice and vetting requirements. Applicants will ideally already be on the DBS Update Service; if this is not the case St Christopher's will carry out a DBS (police) check prior to starting.

Your Online application must include a supporting statement addressing the criteria stated in the Person Specification.

For the full Job Description and Person Specification please see our wwebsite. CV’s will not be accepted.

For more information or assistance during the application process, please visit our website.

Closing Date: August 18th 2025

First Stage Interview – Throughout August 2025

Shortlisted candidates will be invited to attend an interview at our Head Office

Second Stage Interview 

Successful candidates will then attend the second stage interview at one of St Christopher's residential homes.

Our Children and Young People are looking forward to hearing from you

We advise you to apply as soon as possible as applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

Please note:

• This post has a minimum age restriction of 21 year for roles working directly with children and young people in our residential and supported accommodation Homes in line with the Equality Act ‘occupational requirement’.
• It is illegal to apply for any role that involves working with children and young people under the age of 18, if you know you are barred from working with children.
• All shortlisted candidates invited to interview will be asked to submit a Self-Declaration and Disclosure form which will need to be returned prior to an interview being booked.

The main job role is to support Spectra in achieving a more inclusive and supportive process as part of our current organisational transformation. The postholder will design and embed practices and procedures that will improve staff wellbeing and inclusion. They will also provide support to managers around organisational change and embedding culture change.

Main Responsibilities:

• Design and deliver a people and culture strategy based on our strategic plan.
• Promote staff wellbeing and provide a supportive culture.
• Develop and deliver Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) strategies.
• Oversee and review people and culture policies.
• Support managers with tailored HR solutions.
• Foster collaboration between senior management and staff.

If you’re an experienced people manager who thrives in an agile and complex environment we’d love to hear from you.

The role offers a combination of working online and at Spectra’s office based in South London.