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Senior Peer Support Workers and Peer Support Workers, who have direct lived experience of mental health issues, are working on in-patient wards in Croydon, Greenwich, Lambeth, Lewisham and Wandsworth to provide recovery-focused peer support to people as they leave hospital and journey towards living independently in the community.

We are seeking a Senior Peer Support Worker to join the team in Lewisham, using personal lived experience of mental health difficulties to provide person-centred, recovery-focused peer support to people on hospital wards and as they are discharged to journey towards being settled in the community. This role will also line manage a Peer Support Worker, providing regular supervision and support, annual appraisals and development opportunities.

The Senior Peer Support Worker will collaborate with the multidisciplinary team within the Unit, assisting in-patients in developing essential skills and coping mechanisms, while promoting overall wellness through strength based and non-directive conversations. They will provide both practical and emotional support, facilitate access to community resources to help individuals maintain their independence while ensuring their wellbeing.

Additionally, this role includes supporting service users after discharge in the community for up to 12 weeks, aiding them in fostering independence within their local community, connecting with various agencies, enhancing life skills, providing guidance related to employment or educational opportunities and improving their ability to manage challenges effectively to prevent re-admission.

This position requires building connections with service users through shared experiences of mental health challenges, making lived experience a crucial requirement for applicants. You will also need to have previous experience of line management/managerial responsibilities.

Successful applicants will be expected to undergo an Enhanced Level Disclosure and Barring Service check.

Closing date: Sunday 9th August (11:59pm)

Likely interview date: Wednesday 2nd September

We encourage early applications as we reserve the right to close the vacancy early if we receive a high number of applications.

About Us

SEL Mind supports people with mental health problems and dementia in the boroughs of Bromley, Greenwich, Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark. We are proud of our diverse workforce and know that our organisation is made stronger by the variety of backgrounds, experience, and ideas within it. We promote a culture of inclusion and representation, and are working hard to build a workforce that even better reflects the communities we support.

SEL Mind is somewhere that you can be your authentic self without fear of discrimination on the grounds of ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, neurodivergence, gender, age, lived experience of mental health problems or anything else that’s part of who you are.

Read more about staff benefits and why staff love working here on our website.

The Orpheus Centre is a specialist performing arts college and charity that supports young disabled adults to live more independent and fulfilling lives. Guided by our values—joyful, bold, inclusive, resilient and determined—we empower our students through the arts while providing an exciting, creative and supportive environment for staff.

​The role

We are looking for an energetic, organised and enthusiastic challenge event and corporate fundraiser to join our ambitious fundraising team. This is an exciting opportunity for someone with experience in fundraising, ideally working within the corporate or challenge event fields.

You will play a key role in growing our corporate income by stewarding existing relationships and cultivating new ones. Alongside growing our TEAM ORPHEUS! Challenge event. Recruiting, stewarding and retaining fundraisers. Working closely with the Partnerships Manager and Deputy Head of Fundraising, you’ll help the organisation prepare for significant planned growth and an upcoming capital appeal

If you are passionate about relationship-building, motivated by targets, and want to make a meaningful difference to the lives of disabled young people—this could be your next step.

​Location: Godstone, Surrey

Salary: £26,000- £30,000 per annum

Hours: Full-time, 35 hours per week / 52 weeks per year. Hours may be altered on occasions according to the needs of the curriculum and organisation

Contract: Permanent

​Key responsibilities

• Deliver against corporate income targets in line with our fundraising strategy.
• Identify, cultivate and secure new corporate partnerships, including Charity of the Year opportunities, sponsorships and corporate fundraising campaigns.
• Steward existing corporate supporters with high-quality engagement, communication and reporting.Plan and manage corporate supporter engagement opportunities including meetings, volunteering days and events.Recruit and engage participants to sign up for fundraising challenge events.
• Provide excellent supporter care by guiding participants before, during, and after their challenge.
• Identify opportunities to grow income, including upselling participants to larger events or encouraging repeat participation.
• Maintain up-to-date and accurate records using our CRM system.
• Contribute to industry insight by monitoring trends, opportunities and sector developments.
• Attend meetings, pitches, events and occasional evening/weekend activities (TOIL provided).

​About you​

Essential Experience & Skills​

• Experience in fundraising or B2B account management.
• Ability to build strong, positive relationships with a wide range of stakeholders.
• Experience working to income targets and managing pipelines.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including report and proposal writing.
• Good negotiation, influencing, and presentation abilities.
• Excellent organisational skills and the ability to manage a busy and varied workload.
• Confident user of Microsoft Office and CRM systems.
• Strong attention to detail and accuracy.

​Desirable Experience​

• 1+ years’ experience in fundraising.
• Experience developing pitches and securing COTY partnerships.
• Experience in working with challenge events and participants.
• Understanding of disability issues.

​Other Requirements​

• Full, clean driving licence and access to a vehicle.
• Willingness to occasionally work outside standard hours.​

Why work with us?​

• A warm, friendly, and creative working environment.
• Opportunities for training, development and personal growth.
• The chance to make a direct, meaningful impact on the lives of young disabled adults.
• Being part of an ambitious organisation entering a period of exciting growth.​

Join us in making a lasting difference in the lives of young disabled people through the power of the arts.

​Safeguarding and Equality​

Orpheus is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of young people. All posts are subject to an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check and satisfactory references. This post is classed as having a high degree of contact with vulnerable adults and is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. It is an offence to apply for this role if you are barred from engaging in regulated activity relevant to children.

As part of our safer recruitment process and in line with Keeping Children Safe in Education 2025, online searches may be undertaken as part of due diligence.

​We are an equal opportunities employer and welcome applications from all sections of the community.

In order to be considered you must be eligible to work in the UK.

​The Orpheus Centre is proud to be a disability confident employer

We have made a positive commitment to employing disabled people. Reasonable adjustments will be made to the recruitment procedure as required in consultation with the applicant to ensure no-one is disadvantaged because of their disability. If a disabled person is selected for a position, reasonable adjustments will be made to the workplace, including premises and equipment, work duties and practices or policies, as appropriate. All disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the role as set out in the role profile and person specification will be considered for interview.

​As a Disability Confident Employer, we are:

• ​Challenging attitudes towards disability
• Increasing understanding of disability
• Removing barriers to disabled people and those with long-term health conditions
• Ensuring that disabled people have the opportunities to fulfil their potential and realise their aspiration

No agencies please.

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Would you like to make a lasting difference in the lives of children affected by domestic abuse? Join an award-winning trauma recovery service provider that is passionate about making a positive difference to the lives of children and families.

Bounce Back for Kids (BB4K) is a lifeline for children healing from the trauma of domestic abuse and we’ve expanded our service into Oxfordshire.

We are looking for a Service Lead and a Support Worker to join our team on a fixed term contract to help guide children and families on their healing journey.

Position: Bounce Back for Kids (BB4K) Service Lead

Fixed term full time – 37 hours per week, weekdays

Location: Oxford or Reading with frequent travel. Role covers casework activity across Oxfordshire.

Salary range: £35,502 to £43,389 per annum

Position: Bounce Back for Kids (BB4K) Support Worker

Fixed term part time – 18.5 hours per week, weekdays.

Location: Oxford with frequent travel. Role covers casework activity across Oxfordshire area including Cherwell, West Oxfordshire and the wider Oxfordshire area.

Salary range: £13,254 - £16,199 pro-rata per annum (full time equivalent range £26,508 to £32,397 per annum) 

About the roles:

As a Service Lead you will play a significant role in supporting children and families affected by domestic abuse, some of your key responsibilities will be to:

· support our families through providing outreach support

· deliver group work for children and parents

· provide 1-2-1 sessions to children and families most in need

· lead a dedicated team of Support Workers

· ensure BB4K activities are planned, coordinated and deliver effectively and manage caseload across the team

As a Support Worker you will play a significant role in supporting children and families affected by domestic abuse, some of your key responsibilities will be to:

· complete assessments to understand the needs of families

· deliver group work for children and parents

· provide 1-2-1 sessions to children and families most in need

· support our families through providing outreach support

About you:

A successful Service Lead will have professional expertise in the field of domestic abuse and hold a qualification or professional experience in social care or childcare support work.

You’ll be experienced at managing a team with effective interpersonal skills to collaborate with a wide range of stakeholders and colleagues. You’ll also have experience of working with vulnerable parents and/or children in a range of community settings and adept at delivering groupwork programmes.

A successful Support Worker will need a good understanding of domestic abuse and the impact on children and families (or an interest in working in this field), with experience of delivering groupwork programmes for vulnerable parents and/or children.

If this sounds like you please visit our website and apply today to join a collaborative and dedicated team who are part of something truly meaningful. You will also find contact details for an informal chat about the role on our website.

We welcome applicants from diverse backgrounds, including those with personal lived experience of domestic abuse or from underrepresented communities, who meet the essential role requirements.

For more information about our BB4K service please visit the Bounce Back 4 Kids page on our website

Closing date: Midday on Thursday 27 August 2026

Early applications are encouraged as we may review and appoint on an earlier basis if a successful candidate is secured.

Other roles you may have experience of could include: Family Support Worker, Family Key Worker, Children’s Support Worker, Domestic Abuse Support Worker, Domestic Abuse Key Worker, Recovery Worker, Assistant Support Worker, IDVA Independent Domestic Violence Advocate, ISVA Independent Sexual Violence Advocate, Family Support Team Leader, Family Key Worker Team Leader, Family Support Manager, Children’s Support Team Leader, Children’s Support Manager, Domestic Abuse Support Team Leader, Domestic Abuse Support Manager etc.

Safeguarding is at the heart of everything we do at PACT. We have robust measures and best practices in place to safeguard and protect the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and we take pride in maintaining outstanding safeguarding standards.

Anyone joining our team is subject to PACT’s safer recruitment pre-appointment enquiries, including a Disclosure Barring Service (DBS). The role description provides information on what our safer recruitment enquiries include and the level of DBS required to work in the role.

All opportunities with PACT are based in the UK.

Build a resident-led network of community support on the Bourne and Tybalds Estates (in Holborn & Covent Garden ward).  The project focuses on estates experiencing high levels of deprivation and inequality, supporting residents to develop skills, confidence and ownership so they can shape, deliver and sustain community-led activities, events and campaigns.  Getting involved now offers the chance to shape the project itself and work with people to create a truly empowering, enriching project making a difference to people’s lives. 

We are seeking someone who:

• Can engage with the community in an open, accessible and inclusive way to understand their needs
• Has experience involving volunteers in ongoing, active participation in their community
• Is confident organising themselves and others

The Nook, Greenwich is a peer support project aiming to provide a safe and welcoming space for young people living in the Royal Borough of Greenwich (or those who have a GP within the borough) to connect with other young adults who have experienced mental health challenges. 

We are recruiting a sessional Young Person's Peer Support Worker to co-lead the development and delivery of The Nook alongside our Peer Support Coordinator and a team of volunteers.

You will work with Peer Support Volunteers to plan and co-facilitate the groups in line with service user needs. You will have experience of group development, psychoeducation, collaborative working across service teams and an excellent understanding of service user engagement particularly with young people. You will be highly organised and be proficient with case management tasks and project management administration and take an active role in creating partnerships. 

Groups will be held at the University of Greenwich premises and will run every week until March 2027, with hope of an extension of contract. We particularly want to increase engagement of under-served communities in Greenwich.

Successful applicants will be expected to undergo an Enhanced Level Disclosure and Barring Service check.

Closing date: Monday 3rd August (11:59pm)

Likely interview date: Friday 14th August

We encourage early applications as we reserve the right to close the vacancy early if we receive a high number of applications.

About Us

SEL Mind supports people with mental health problems and dementia in the boroughs of Bromley, Greenwich, Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark. We are proud of our diverse workforce and know that our organisation is made stronger by the variety of backgrounds, experience, and ideas within it. We promote a culture of inclusion and representation, and are working hard to build a workforce that even better reflects the communities we support.

SEL Mind is somewhere that you can be your authentic self without fear of discrimination on the grounds of ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, neurodivergence, gender, age, lived experience of mental health problems or anything else that’s part of who you are.

User Voice is looking for a passionate, committed individual with personal lived experience of the criminal justice system to join our team as a Lived Experience Consultant.

This role is central to ensuring that the voices of people in the justice system shape the services that affect them. You’ll work in HMP Northumberland as well as a range of community‑based projects regionally, and occasionally nationally. Some projects will require significant travel, so flexibility is essential.

This role involves independent travel to multiple sites each week – therefore a valid UK driving licence and access to a reliable vehicle would be significantly beneficial for this role. You must be off prison licence or community sentence to apply, as this role is subject to HMPPS clearance, and you will be required to draw keys.

Terms  & Conditions

• Part-time
• Permanent 
• £27k- £30k depending on experience (pro-rata)
• Bank holidays plus 25 days holiday (pro-rata)
• You must be off community order / prison license
• Probationary period: Six months

Join a Values-Led Charity Making a Difference

The Frank Parkinson Yorkshire Trust is a long-established almshouse charity providing high-quality independent living accommodation for older people in Guiseley. Home to 44 residents, our attractive and well-maintained site offers more than housing – it provides a safe, supportive community where people can live independently with dignity and confidence.

We are looking for an enthusiastic and compassionate Housing Officer to join our small, dedicated team. This is an opportunity to take ownership of a varied and rewarding role, combining housing management, resident engagement, estate management, and community development.

About the Role

Reporting to the Head of Operations, you will lead the day-to-day housing management and estate services across our site. You will build positive relationships with residents, support their wellbeing and independence, ensure homes and communal areas are safe and well managed, and help create a vibrant community environment.

This is a hands-on role suited to someone who enjoys working closely with people, takes pride in delivering excellent services, and can balance resident support with professional housing management responsibilities.

Key Responsibilities

· Manage housing applications, allocations, viewings, sign-ups, and empty homes.

· Carry out regular resident visits to support wellbeing, independence, and tenancy sustainability.

· Lead day-to-day estate management activities and property inspections.

· Monitor repairs, contractors, and compliance activities to ensure high standards are maintained.

· Respond effectively to resident enquiries, concerns, complaints, and safeguarding matters.

· Maintain accurate records and support housing, health and safety, and compliance requirements.

· Organise resident events, engagement activities, and community initiatives.

· Build positive relationships with residents, families, contractors, local organisations, and partner agencies.

· Contribute to service improvements and support reporting for senior management and Trustees.

· Provide occasional support outside normal working hours in emergency situations, with time off in lieu provided.

What We’re Looking For

We are seeking someone who:

· Has experience in housing, property, community, support, or customer-focused services.

· Enjoys working directly with older people and supporting independent living.

· Has excellent communication, organisational, and problem-solving skills.

· Can work independently while contributing positively to a small team.

· Demonstrates empathy, professionalism, and sound judgement.

· Is confident managing competing priorities and maintaining accurate records.

· Understands the importance of safeguarding, health and safety, and resident wellbeing.

Why Join Us?

At The Frank Parkinson Yorkshire Trust, you’ll be part of a small organisation where your contribution is visible, valued, and genuinely makes a difference.

This is a leadership role within User Voice’s Midlands team, managing our new flagship Leadership Academy, in partnership with Unlock, and our Lived Experience insights programme with NHS England (East & West Midlands).

The Leadership Academy is designed to create credible, recognised leadership pathways for people in prison and on release, and aims to develop resilient, confident, socially aware, and practically skilled leaders who can positively influence their environments, progress into employment, and contribute to systemic change. The Academy will run its first pilot at Peterborough Prison.

Our two NHS England programmes embed lived-experience insights directly into Health and Justice commissioning, procurement, and service evaluation. and supports a Lived Experience Panel who provide structured input to ensure services are informed by real experiences across the care pathway

The Project Manager will lead the planning, delivery, and evaluation of these initiatives, ensuring they meet strategic objectives and deliver meaningful impact for participants and stakeholders.

This role is ideal for someone experienced in leading complex projects and managing teams and partnerships.

Terms  & Conditions 

• Full-time
• Permanent
• Up to £40K dependant on experience
• Bank holidays plus 25 days holiday pro-rata.
• Probationary period: Six months
• You must be off community order / prison license

Help build meaningful relationships with communities most impacted by the criminal legal system and ensure their voices inform research, policy and advocacy.

We're looking for a Community Engagement Coordinator to join UNJUST and support the development and delivery of community engagement activities that amplify lived experience, build trust, raise awareness and contribute to our research, policy and advocacy aims.

Working closely with colleagues across the organisation, you'll build and maintain relationships with community groups, grassroots organisations and individuals with lived experience of the criminal justice system. You'll design and deliver engagement events, facilitate workshops and listening sessions, promote opportunities for community members to get involved in UNJUST's work and help develop creative, ethical ways of gathering and sharing lived experience stories.

The role also includes co-creating programmes and materials with communities, supporting content creation for social media, recruiting interns and volunteers from impacted communities, and representing UNJUST in relevant forums, networks and coalitions.

We're looking for someone with experience in community engagement, organising or outreach, strong relationship-building and communication skills, and an understanding of racial justice and the UK criminal justice system. You'll be committed to UNJUST's mission, values and anti-racist working practices, and be comfortable working independently as well as collaboratively.

UNJUST is committed to tackling systemic racism and discriminatory processes, policy and practices within the criminal legal system. We work at the intersection of lived experience, research, law, advocacy and community power to expose the root causes of injustice, reimagine equitable systems and bring about transformative outcomes. Our work centres the voices of those most impacted and is guided by our values of realism, empathy, visionary thinking, activism, collaboration and trust.

Give as you Live Ltd are an innovative online fundraising platform enabling members to generate free funds for UK charities through a suite of fundraising solutions.

We are growing our team and are looking for an enthusiastic, efficient and motivated individual to join our team as a Platform Sales Manager.

The Platform Sales Manager plays a critical role in driving the company’s growth by identifying, engaging, and converting potential clients for our fundraising platform.

By understanding challenges and positioning the platform as a solution, the Platform Sales Manager will help charities improve their fundraising through our technology. The role also involves maintaining long-term relationships, collaborating with the technical and marketing teams, and providing insights to enhance our offerings and sales strategies.

At Bluesci, we believe that everyone deserves good mental health and wellbeing. Our staff and volunteers, many of whom have experienced our services, collaborate with individuals and their communities to help them achieve their aspirations and wellness.   

Bluesci operates across the borough of Trafford from four Wellbeing Centres, offering arts, cultural and volunteering opportunities, social prescribing, talking therapies, and group support. We partner with Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Trust (GMMH) to deliver Trafford Neighbourhood Mental Health Service and with Trafford Libraries to co-deliver library services from two of our centres. Bluesci at Night offers a safe, welcoming space for people 365 nights a year, and we also provide Smoking Cessation Support.   

Peer support Workers hold a key position in the Trafford Living Well service, working with individuals and groups, to help people to reach their individual recovery goals.

Peer support workers support individuals to establish greater control over their lives, helping to identify aspects of life that give meaning, hope, value and purpose whilst recognising that everyone’s recovery is a uniquely personal process.

As an integral and valued member of the multi-agency team, the post holder will support team members by role modelling and using lived experience of mental health services to shape the service's quality.

We particularly welcome applications from people with lived experience of mental health challenges. It is important that applicants are at a stage in their recovery where they feel able to use their experiences safely and appropriately to support others.

We’re recruiting a Social Value Advisor to join our Social Value team, supporting projects and partnerships across the Southwest and Wales.  In this role, you will play a central part in delivering our Group Social Value Strategy and championing the impact we create with our partners and appointed companies throughout the region.

This is an exciting opportunity for individuals who are passionate about making a positive difference in local communities. In this role, you will work in the Social Value Team and the Charities Liaison Team, supporting wider Group functions by playing a key part in ensuring our initiatives continue to improve lives and places. You will assist LHCPG’s Group and Regional Business Units in implementing the broader Social Value Strategy across our products, services and projects, whilst collaborating with associate partners and companies planning community projects and supporting them to report on the outcomes of their social value plans.

You will also be: 

• Helping develop procedures, toolsand resources for social value management and reporting
• Gathering data to report on achievements and social impact

This dynamic, cross-regional role supports colleagues and customers across the Southwest and Wales.  The position requires travel throughout your assigned areas, meaning a valid UK driving licence and access to your own vehicle are essential. Additionally, you must live within a commutable distance to attend your designated regional office at least once a month for team collaboration 

We are looking for a candidate with strong interpersonal abilities, capable of collaborating and engaging effectively with various teams and stakeholders at all levels. The ideal candidate will demonstrate excellent attention to detail, possess outstanding verbal and written communication skills and evidence proficiency in IT, including familiarity with relevant systems and software packages.  You can confidently present content to colleagues and clients and turn strategic plans into measurable results.  You will also have: 

• A degree in a relevant subject or relevant experience in corporate socialresponsibilityor social impact and innovation
• Knowledge of social value approaches and measurement frameworks used in the public sector
• Demonstrable understanding of the importance of social value 

Working in the public sector, charities, housing or construction experience would be advantageous but not essential. Please refer to the attached job description and person specification for a full list of responsibilities and attributes. 

We are planning to conduct initial interviews w/c 31st August, followed by final interviews on 7th and 8th September. Please ensure your availability for these dates, as shortlisted candidates will be contacted with further details regarding the interview process. The proposed start date will early October 2026.  

What you’ll get: 

• Salary of £39,975 per annum
• Car Allowance of £5,740 per annum
• Highly attractive pension scheme
• 29 days holiday + bank holidays
• Hybrid working
• £300 per annum personal wellbeing allowance
• Flexibility, volunteering day, employee discounts and more
   

It is encouraged that all candidates submit a cover letter to support their application. Please note that we reserve the right to close this job posting before the application deadline if suitable candidates are identified 

Give as you Live Ltd is an innovative online fundraising platform enabling members to generate free funds for UK charities through a suite of fundraising solutions.

We are growing our team and are looking for a friendly, organised and customer-focused individual to join our team as a Customer Support Assistant.

Working with our platform you’ll play an important role in supporting donors, fundraisers and charity partners, helping to ensure they have a seasmless and postitive experience.  

You’ll respond to enquiries, assist with platform related questions and work closely with colleagues to deliver an excellent service that helps charities raise more via the platform. 

 Duties & Responsibilities

• Provide exceptional support to donors, fundraisers and charity clients via phone, email and Zendesk providing timely and professional support.
• Support charity clients with onboarding and navigating features to maximise fundraising success.
• Resolve client issues effectively while maintaining high levels of customer satisfaction. 
• Maintain detailed records of client interactions using internal CRM systems.
• Escalate complex issues to relevant departments and follow up to ensure a resolution.
• Assist clients with product information, troubleshooting and service related queries.
• Collaborate cross-functionally to improve client experience and resolve recurring issues affecting donors, charities and fundraisers.
• Handle sensitive enquiries with empathy and professionalism, turning negative experices into positive outcomes.
• Contribute to achieving team KPI’s, including customer satisfaction scores (Feefo).·
• Provide administrative support including data entry, documentation and reporting.  

Candidate Specification:

• Has excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Enjoys helping people and delivering a great customer service.
• Is organised, reliable and able to manage their workload effectively.
• Demonstrates empathy, patience and professionalism when handing enquiries.
• Is able to work independently while also collaborating effectively with colleagues.
• Has a positive, proactive attitude and a willingness to solve problems.
• An interest in charities, fundraising or making a positive social impact is a bonus.

Participation Manager

Job Description and Person Specification

Job title Participation Manager

Hours 35 hours per week. We are opening to discussing flexible arrangements – please highlight any requests when applying.

Length of contract  Permanent

Location Hybrid work between home and our Vauxhall office. Please read more about our approach to hybrid working in the relevant section below.

Reports to Director of Evidence and Improvement

National Voices

Making what matters to people matter in health and care

National Voices is the leading coalition of health and social care charities in England. We have more than 200 members covering a diverse range of health conditions and communities, connecting us with the experiences of millions of people. We work together to strengthen the voice of people: patients, service users, carers, their families, and the voluntary organisations that work for them.

Our Vision: People shaping their health and care.

Our Mission: We advocate for more inclusive and person centred health and care, shaped by the people who use and need it the most.

We do this by:
 

· Understanding and advocating for what matters to people especially those living with health conditions and groups who experience inequalities.

· Finding common cause across communities and conditions by working with member charities and those they support.

· Connecting and convening charities, decision makers and citizens to work together to change health and care for good.

The Role

At National Voices, our aim is to make what matters to people matter in health and care. Too often, we see decisions made about the design of health and care services which don’t consider the people who use and need those services – especially those with long term conditions and from groups experiencing inequality. While the intentions of decision makers are usually good, they can unwittingly develop services which are difficult to access, stressful to experience and which don’t enable people to live life to its full potential.

We believe that if health and care leaders were better supported to meaningfully involve people living with health conditions, disability, inequality and their carers in decisions about how services are delivered then our NHS and social care services would be more equitable, and person centred.

At National Voices, we believe that this can best be achieved by connecting health and care leaders in health and care to key groups including:

· Leaders within the patient participation movement, who can support and advise health and care leaders on how to share power with people and communities using coaching and quality improvement techniques, and by acting as a critical friend.

· Leaders from voluntary sector organisations and community groups, who can bring insight into the needs, experiences and priorities of the communities they serve. They can identify opportunities to improve how services are designed and delivered, and help connect decision-makers with communities whose voices are often underrepresented.

· People with lived experience of inequality, particular conditions or services, who bring unique expertise based on their direct experience of care. They can provide timely insight into the impact of policies and services, helping decision-makers stay tuned to current needs, experiences and priorities, rather than relying on historical evidence or assumptions.

We are looking for a Participation Manager who can manage our lived experience programme, our membership scheme and our partnership scheme. This role will ensure that where there are opportunities for people and communities to shape health and care, National Voices has the right relationships, processes and support systems in place to connect decision makers with our Lived Experience Partners, members and people with lived experience.

The Participation Manager will:

· Lead National Voices’ Lived Experience Partner programme by strengthening engagement and participation, investing in members’ knowledge, skills and confidence, and ensuring lived experience insights shape our work.

· Lead National Voices’ membership scheme by driving engagement, retention and inclusion, strengthening member relationships, embedding member insights across the organisation, and overseeing satisfaction, records and knowledge management.

· Lead National Voices’ scheme by managing partner engagement, retention and recruitment, overseeing delivery of the partnership offer, and ensuring partners receive high-quality advice, insight, connections and access to relevant people and communities.

· Develop and deliver funded projects, supporting income generation and securing resources to advance National Voices’ strategic priorities.

The Participation Manager will work in collaboration with:

· Policy and communications colleagues who have worked hard to ensure when we capture insights from people and communities, we have established relationships and ways of communicating with key players in health and care so that insights collected lead to impact.

· Research and insight colleagues who have expertise around qualitative research methods and inclusive engagement, who regularly deliver high quality qualitative research on a range of topics and on a range of topics – often focussed on surfacing the experiences of those least well served by health and care services.

· Colleagues across the organisation who lead and contribute to member and partner benefits, including policy forums, networking opportunities, events and other engagement activities.

The Participation Manager will play a central role in ensuring National Voices’ lives its values around meaningful participation so that in both our internal and external work people and communities are engaged in a timely and inclusive way, using methods that ensure their input is heard and acted upon, and their knowledge, priorities, and contributions are recognised and fairly valued.

Responsibilities

Lead our Lived Experience Partner programme

National Voices’ Lived Experience Partners are a group of 15 people who have significant experience of navigating the health and care system, expertise in meaningful participation and who have received training and support to enable constructive and strategic input into improving health and care. The majority of Lived Experience Partners have also accessed learning around coaching and are regularly matched into coaching relationships with senior leaders in health and care. Your role will be to:

· Deliver meetings where our Lived Experience Partners have opportunities for peer learning and opportunities to influence live pieces of work.

· Gather insights from our Lived Experience Partners on how they are experiencing working with National Voices and how they want to grow.

· Ensure our Lived Experience Partners are supported to grow in their knowledge, skills and confidence to influence decision making – through 1:1 catch ups, training and more.

· Lead our work matching Lived Experience Partners in high quality coaching relationships with senior leaders in health and care, ensuring that coaching duos have the support they need to gain value from the relationship.

· Diversify and grow our network of Lived Experience Partners as needed.

Lead our membership programme

National Voices’ members are a group of over 200 not-for-profit organisations who serve a diverse range of communities, including: condition-specific charities - such as Diabetes UK, Allergy UK and Lupus UK; equality charities - such as the Caribbean and African Health Network, Groundswell and National Ugly Mugs; other health, care and community based organisations – such as Compassion in Dying, Pain UK and Patient Information Forum. Our members include some of the biggest and smallest charities in England. They connect us with the experience of millions of people. Your role will be to:

· Direct the activities of our membership working group, taking lead responsibility for member engagement, stewardship, renewals, support and retention.

· Deepen the relationship with our membership, ensuring that we have the structures in place to understand their ambitions, insights, practice and ideas.

· Collaborate with colleagues across the team to ensure our members’ insights become more central to everything that we do.

· Diversify and grow our membership.

· Oversee our annual survey on member satisfaction.

· Oversee improvements in records and knowledge management.

Lead our partnership programme

National Voices’ Partners are a small group of impactful organisations who want to join National Voices in achieving our mission of making what matters to people matter in health and care, including the Nuffield Trust, the Kings Fund, the Nursing and Midwifery Council and others. Your role will be to:

· Take lead responsibility for engagement, stewardship, renewals, support and retention of organisations in our partnership scheme.

· Oversee the delivery of the partnership offer – co-ordinating requests which come from partners and collaborating with colleagues, members and Lived Experience Partners to ensure partners receive high-quality advice, insight, connections and access to relevant people and communities.

Develop and deliver funded projects

· Identify opportunities for collaboration, partnership and income generation that support our strategic priorities – leading on selected funding bids and supporting others as required.

· Develop ideas into clear, fundable proposals and secured projects. This may include designing and delivering activity such as workshops, coordinating advisory or lived experience groups, undertaking qualitative research, facilitation and engagement work.

· Plan confidently and realistically across lived experience workstreams, taking accountability for delivery, spend, and completion of agreed outcomes.

· Manage projects, programmes and budgets in partnership with colleagues and stakeholders, putting in place effective systems to ensure timely, high-quality delivery and reporting.

General

• Provide line management one Project Officer within the team, quality assuring outputs, holding regular 1-2-1s as well as setting annual objectives and completing appraisals.
• Provide matrix management for other National Voices colleagues as and when required.
• Work in sync with other managers across National Voices, contributing to a joined-up, supportive team culture.
• Deputise for the Director of Evidence and Improvement, or other senior colleagues, when required.

· Follow organisational processes to measure, monitor and communicate the impact of our work

· Support good project, financial and data management

Person Specification

Values, attitudes and behaviours

· Passionate about National Voices’ mission and the meaningful involvement of people with lived experience

· Strong commitment to equity, inclusion, and reducing health inequalities

· Proactive, flexible, and responsive, with a willingness to work in complexity

· Comfortable working both collaboratively and independently, taking ownership of delivery

· Calm under pressure and able to manage multiple priorities and tight deadlines without compromising quality

· Confident engaging with a wide range of stakeholders, including constructively challenging where appropriate

· Entrepreneurial - able to spot opportunities for growth, collaboration, and impact

· Energised by variety, able to work across diverse themes while identifying connections and opportunities

Skills and abilities

· Strong project and/or programme management skills, with demonstrable experience delivering complex, multi-stakeholder work

· Excellent organisational skills, including the ability to prioritise, plan, manage risk, and maintain high-quality delivery

· Strong communication skills, including the ability to translate complex insight and evidence into clear, accessible outputs

· Confident relationship and stakeholder management skills, including working with partners, subcontractors, and commissioned work

· Excellent facilitation and presentation skills, including delivering workshops and events to diverse audiences

Experience, knowledge and understanding

· Demonstrable experience of leading or delivering participation work with people with lived experience, ideally addressing inequality

· Strong experience of designing and delivering insight generation projects (qualitative and/or quantitative) that have led to real-world impact and improvement

· Experience of working meaningfully with people experiencing inequalities in safe and inclusive ways

· Experience of managing projects, budgets, and multiple stakeholders, working with a high degree of autonomy

· Experience of managing partnerships, funders, or commissioned work, including contributing to income generation

· Experience of facilitating workshops, events, or participatory sessions

· Understanding of the health and care landscape

· Good understanding of the participation landscape, with the ability to act as a credible contributor in the field (desirable)

· Experience of managing or contributing to coalitions or networks of VCSE or membership organisations (desirable)

· Understanding of mixed methods (qualitative and quantitative) approaches to evidence generation and analysis (desirable)

· Coaching and/or quality improvement qualifications (desirable)

· Lived experience of disability, caring responsibilities and/or inequality (desirable)

Our approach to hybrid working

We recognise the importance of coming together regularly, in-person, as a team, so we can share learnings and spend social time with each other. We also recognise that people need flexibility, and that homeworking enables focused work and can fit well in people’s lives.

We ask all staff to take part in pre-arranged team meetings which take place every six weeks in our office space. We also might ask you to meet in-person with members of your team from time to time, or to be available for face-to- face meetings with clients and partners where this enhances the work.

We assume that this would usually not amount to more than one day per fortnight for people who work full time. We are happy to discuss how this sits in your life. This can be agreed by your line manager.

Please note that our offices are fully wheelchair accessible and that we are committed to making our workplace fully inclusive.

Application guidance

Please submit a CV and cover letter to apply. We are also recruiting a 12 month fixed term Participation Manager role at the same time. If you would like your application to be for both roles, please make this clear when applying. 

Applications should be addressed to our Director Evidence and Improvement, Sarah Sweeney, and submitted through CharityJob.

You're welcome to use AI tools to help you prepare your application. However, we encourage you to make sure your application reflects your own voice and experiences. We often see similar AI-generated writing styles, which can make applications less distinctive. As a charity, we're particularly interested in hearing why our mission matters to you and how your values align with ours.

Please specify any access or other requirements of which we need to be aware for the online interview.

The deadline for applications is 5pm on Thursday 30th July.  

The interviews will take place in early August on Microsoft Teams. Details of an interview task and interview questions will be emailed to you in advance.

We are committed to diversifying our team in order to broaden the insight and experiences we can draw on, and to do our work more credibly. In particular, we would welcome applications from older people, disabled people and people who have experienced socioeconomic inequality. Our offices are fully accessible and we are a Disability Confident and an LGBT+ friendly employer.