Mental health advocate jobs

Working with clients from our Day Centre and Night Shelter to provide casework, advocacy and support to resolve and prevent homelessness in Enfield and Haringey,. 

Within the Day Centre you will provide high quality and relevant advocacy and casework to people who are homeless or at risk. You will maintain a caseload of clients working within a fast paced and dynamic small team. You will support the smooth running of the day centre provision and have a commitment to supporting vulnerable clients in a person-centred way. Outside of the day centre you will support clients to attend a variety of key services and appointments through outreach. 

To be successful in this role will require a keen interest in homelessness and the devastating impact this can have on people. This role is suited to someone with a problem solving, positive attitude, who is passionate about supporting marginalised people.   

As a small charity there is significant opportunity to have input in a wide range of operational and strategic activity across the organisation, supporting our growth and development.

Are you passionate about supporting refugees and asylum seekers through meaningful, holistic services? Do you have the leadership skills to guide a dedicated team delivering frontline advice and support?

We are looking for an experienced and motivated Advice Team Manager to lead our advice services for refugees and asylum seekers. You will oversee our outreach activities, legal clinics, and practical support work across London, ensuring our clients receive high-quality, empowering services tailored to their needs.

We offer a supportive working environment with excellent benefits, including:

• 6% employer pension contribution
• 35 days annual leave (including bank holidays)
• Ongoing training and professional development opportunities

Key responsibilities include:

You’ll need:

• Strong management experience in advice or support services
• A deep understanding of the challenges faced by refugees and asylum seekers
• Excellent communication, organisational, and case management skills
• A commitment to equity, inclusion, and high-quality service provision

This is an opportunity to make a real difference in people’s lives, while shaping a vital service within a supportive and mission-driven organisation.

Disability Sheffield is currently reviewing how we deliver our Community Advocacy work to ensure it is joined-up, fully user-led, representative, accessible and accountable to the community; and ultimately delivers positive change on behalf of our community. To do this effectively we are recruiting a new, senior post that oversees all of Disability Sheffield’s Community Advocacy work on a day-day basis to ensure that our work is as high-quality, consistent and impactful as possible.

This role will directly oversee both the established Sheffield Voices project and the pan-disability / non-LD community advocacy work. It will be a key role in Disability Sheffield’s newly formed senior management team (SMT) and will be the recognised deputy for the CEO in their absence. Some of this is still a work in progress, so initially the role will be about ensuring Sheffield Voices continues to deliver high quality, impactful work whilst starting to develop a more coordinated, effective and visible approach to our pan-disability / non-Learning Disabilities and Autism work.

For more information and to download the Cover Letter, Job Desctiption and Application, please click the "Redirect to Recruiter" button.

Job Title: Independent Visitor Co-ordinator

Service: Children’s Rights Services, London and the South East

Reporting to: London Lead IV Coordinator

Salary: £27,000 - £27,675 per annum

Location: Hybrid (Coram Campus with homeworking and work in the community)

Hours: 35 hours per week

Contract Type: Permanent

Job Introduction

• Are you passionate about supporting and developing volunteers?

• Are you looking for an opportunity to help make positive differences to the lives of children and young people who are looked after or care leavers of the local authority?

• Do you want to work with a leading national independent children’s charity?

Then come join us here at Coram Voice. We have an exciting opportunity for you to become a co-ordinator of our independent visiting service in London. We are seeking candidates who are committed to our objectives for children and young people and equally committed to the organisation and the development of our services.

Our work

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 is a leading children’s rights organisation. We champion the rights of children. We get young voices heard in decisions that matter to them and work to improve the lives of children in care, care leavers and others who depend upon the help of the state.

We provide:

• Advocacy services direct to children and young people in care, in need, in custody and to care leavers and children and young people with severe and complex mental health problems. 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.
• A National Helpline to provide access for children and young people to advocacy and advice, with access to legal advice and links with other national services.
• Independent Mental Health Advocacy (IMHA) to advocate for young people as qualifying patients under the Mental Health Act, in order to fully support them to get their views heard in matters relating to their mental health.
• Independent Visitor services offers a child or young person in care an adult volunteer who provides independent, one-to-one visiting, advice and befriending support. Our independent visitors can become the only long-term, consistent source of support throughout a young person's time in care.
• Independent services provide independent person services for complaints by children and for reviewing whether children should be locked up in secure units on welfare grounds.
• Policy and campaigning to create a better system for all children and young people looked after by the state, for their care to be more child-centred and to give young people a greater say in decisions about their lives.
  • Participation services to ensure children and young people have a voice in the development and delivery of services and campaigns, and through the process, provide the opportunity to develop relevant skills which will be of benefit to them in their future lives.
  • Training, development and information for young people, advocates and child care workers, offering courses in advocacy, children’s rights and child-centred practice across a range of areas including the National Advocacy Qualification.

About the Role

You will co-ordinate and deliver a statutory independent visitor service to children and young people in care or care leavers of London.

You will recruit, assess and train volunteers to become independent visitors, who are volunteer befrienders to children and young people looked after or care leavers. You will manage a cash flow to fund suitable activities for independent visitors to enjoy with the young person. You will manage data and reporting for this statutory service so that service leads and other stakeholders can understand the activity in the service.

We are a child led service, you will not act outside of the young person’s instructions (except in matters of child protection and safety.)You will build strong relationships with the child or young person, independent visitors and other significant adults, you will support Independent Visitors to develop long term, meaningful friendships with the young person.

You will work in partnership with other parts of the service, organisation and external agencies and professionals. This is to ensure there are pathways to attract and retain Independent Visitors in the area and sometimes out of area.

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 28 days’ annual leave per year, with increases linked to years worked at Coram Voice. 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

Shortlisting will be undertaken by Grace Maher, Children’s Rights Services Manager and Jade Joseph, London Lead IV Coordinator. Successful candidates will then 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, address each point of the person specification and demonstrate how you meet it.
• Applications must be fully completed.

Closing Date: 11.59pm, 8th June 2025.

Interviews will be arranged for w/c 9th and 16th June 2025.

Coram is an equal opportunities employerandwe 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 seekto support. This includes those from global majority 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 encouragethem to draw on lived experienceas well as professional experiencein their personal statement as part of their application.

We are committed to the safeguarding of children and where appropriate willrequire the successful applicant to undertake acheck from the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Registered Charity No. 312278.

· To provide housing related support to eligible migrants living in Newport.

· Provide practical and emotional support, advice, information and advocacy to migrants living in Newport. Working towards the goal of preventing homelessness, increasing connections in the local community and securing appropriate accommodation

· To liaise with a range of professionals and organisations to maximise resources for the client.

· Promote understanding, awareness and positive attitudes towards mental health and wellbeing.

· Promote equity, diversity and inclusion.

Principle responsibilities

1. Deliver person centred housing related support to clients that promotes their mental wellbeing and independence supporting them to progress to a life without the need for support. To work with clients in assessing their needs to create individual personal support and plans.

2. Ensure that anti-racism, equality and diversity are central to your work addressing disadvantage, inequalities, stigma and discrimination, making sure that you take action to reach people from marginalised or disadvantaged groups and that the services you provide match their needs.

3. To network effectively with voluntary and statutory agencies to promote the needs of the clients. Working with clients so that they have the knowledge, understanding and skills to access services, support and to improve their mental wellbeing and resilience. To refer to other agencies where possible if they are not eligible for the service

4. To assist clients with benefits and housing and employment to increase income and opportunities to be suitably housed, keeping up to date with the Social Security system and housing legislation, ensuring that clients are referred for specialist advice where appropriate.

5. Focus on client involvement ensuring that clients have their views heard and that the needs and wishes of service users have an impact on the services they receive.

6. Work as part of the Housing and Tenancy Support (HATS) Team and the wider Newport staff team to develop and deliver activities that achieve positive outcomes for migrants in Newport.

7. Ensure all work is recorded and monitored and contribute to evaluating the service.

8. Work in accordance with best practice, legal requirements, the policies of Mind in Gwent, and the policies outlined by the funders.

9. Share models of good practice to aid in organisational development across Mind in Gwent.

10.  To contribute to the work of other projects and teams of Newport Mind as when required or directed to provide cover or to develop new skills or take on new opportunities.

Expectations

1. To work in line with, and to support the delivery of, the vision, mission, values and goals of Mind in Gwent.

2. Adhere to and work within all the policies of Mind in Gwent and the Housing Support Grant, such as child protection policy, protection of vulnerable adults, confidentiality and data protection policies, and the policies contained within the employee handbook.

3. To actively participate, engage with, and respond to, the Mind in Gwent supervision, external supervision and appraisal processes.

4. To attend and positively contribute to Mind in Gwent and Housing and Tenancy Support meetings and other meetings as required.

5. To attend and positively contribute to Mind in Gwent, Housing and Tenancy Support, Housing Support Grant training as required.

6. To actively contribute to a positive, supportive and constructive working relationships and environment with Mind in Gwent, partner organisations and other organisations.

7. To contribute to making Mind in Gwent a greener workplace.

8. To support and contribute to our overall aim of the co-production and participation of people with experience of mental health problems, and to be committed to working alongside people with experience of mental health problems, as colleagues, lived experience experts and campaigners.

9. To be flexible, adaptable and undertake work to support the aims of Mind in Gwent, the aims of the Housing and Tenancy Support Team and the aims of Housing Support Grant funding including participating in an on call rota where required.

Interviews to be held Tuesday 24th June 2025

Post Title Housing First Support Worker

Salary Up to £32,000

Hours 35 hours a week

Line management           None

Location SCT’s satellite site, Tower Hamlets

DBS: Enhanced Adult Workforce DBS is required for this role

Additional Benefits  BUPA Employee Assistance Programme and Wellbeing plan 

Cycle to work scheme 

Season ticket loan

25 days annual leave (rising to 30 days) plus bank holidays

Contributory Pension Scheme with employer-matched contributions of 5% 

Training and development opportunities

ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES

About the Role

As a Support Worker in our Housing First team, you’ll be a key point of contact for a small caseload of residents (approx. 6). You'll offer tailored, compassionate, housing-related and other person-centered support—enabling residents to articulate and achieve their goals, navigate systems, and rebuild their lives.

You’ll work closely with SCT’s internal services teams and external agencies to remove barriers, promote wellbeing, and champion the voice of each resident.

Key Responsibilities

Support and Advocacy

• Deliver person-centred, trauma-informed support to Housing First residents.
• Conduct comprehensive needs and risk assessments.
• Develop meaningful relationships that foster trust, choice and wellbeing.
• Advocate for residents’ access to healthcare, housing, benefits and specialist services.
• Support residents with practical tasks like budgeting, appointments, and accessing community resources.
• Encourage participation in community drug and alcohol services, and other recovery pathways.

Housing and Recovery Support

• Help residents secure, move into, and sustain suitable accommodation.
• Support the use of residents’ personalised budgets (e.g., for furniture, clothing, etc.).
• Work with residents and our housing partner to resolve issues and prevent eviction.
• Facilitate access to SCT’s wider services as required.

Collaboration and Coordination

• Build strong partnerships with local services, agencies and community networks.
• Maintain clear records on In-Form and contribute to reports and evaluations.

About You

Essential Skills and Experience

• Experienced in supporting adults with complex needs (e.g., addiction, homelessness, mental health).
• Possesses strong organisational skills and is able to work independently.
• Has excellent interpersonal, communication and active listening skills.
• Has up-to-date safeguarding knowledge.
• Is confident in the use of IT and a range of software packages.
• Is flexible, resilient, and adaptable to a changing environment.

Desirable

• Knowledge of trauma-informed care and PIE approaches.
• Understanding of the benefits system and tenancy sustainment.
• Familiarity with In-Form or comparable CRM system.

What We Offer

• A collaborative, inclusive and values-led working environment.
• Ongoing training and professional development.
• Opportunities to contribute to innovation within the Housing First team.
• The chance to make a meaningful difference in people’s lives.

 Arabic speaking Counsellor/Psychotherapist/Psychologist

Salary: £32,076 

Hours of work: 35 hours, 5 days a week

IKWRO –Women’s Rights Organisation (IKWRO) is an award-winning charity founded (as the Iranian and Kurdish Women’s Rights Organisation) in 2002. As testament to its’ success and in response to huge need, IKWRO has expanded and now provides unique and vital support for women and girls from all Middle Eastern, North African and Afghan (MENA) communities who are at risk of “honour” based violence, child marriage, forced marriage, female genital mutilation, domestic violence, sexual violence and other forms of gender violence.  

IKWRO provides direct services including advocacy and professional counselling. IKWRO opened the UK’s first specialist Middle Eastern women’s refuge. IKWRO is regularly called upon to share expertise with government, academics, and media and to train professionals from bodies such as the police, social services and schools.  

IKWRO has led the recognition of “honour” based abuse and “honour” killing as forms of violence against women and girls. Campaign successes include; the first extradition from Kurdistan-Iraq to the UK of perpetrators of “honour” killing of Banaz Mahmod, the UK’s criminalisation of forced marriage, child marriage, virginity testing and hymenoplasty, as well as the first ever national inspection of policing of “honour” based violence. 

The post-holder will help Arabic speaking women who have experienced Forced Marriage, Female Genital Mutilation and “Honour” Based Violence. Working in a confidential setting, counsellors listen attentively to their clients and offer them the time, empathy and respect they need to express their own feelings, to help them overcome their problems and to make appropriate changes to their life.

The post holder must be BACP or UKCP accredited (or equivalent e.g. HCPC) or training to achieve these accreditation.

The above post is open to women only and are exempt under the Sex Discrimination Act 7(2) (d) and (e) and the Race Relations Act 5(2) (d) 1976. No agencies please. 

Main Duties and Responsibilities

• Establishing a relationship of trust and respect with clients;
• To undertake high quality direct (assessment and therapeutic) and indirect (consultative, advisory and evaluative) specialist psychological interventions; making autonomous clinical decisions about own professional practice.
• Develops treatment and guidance methods and give guidance using a variety of therapy and counselling techniques;

· To formulate and implement plans of specialist psychological treatment or management of clients’ mental health problems based on an appropriate multi-factorial understanding of the client’s problems and current evidence-based best practice, taking into account the current NICE guidelines.

• Studies psychological factors in the treatment and prevention of mental illness or emotional and personality disorders;
• Maintains required contacts with education or other health professionals, as appropriate, and recommends possible solutions to problems presented;
• Encouraging clients to talk about issues they feel they cannot normally share with others;
• Accepting without bias the issues raised by clients;
• Helping clients towards a deeper understanding of their concerns;
• Attending supervision and training courses;
• Liaising with IKWRO’s staff, counselors and advisors;
• Working to agreed targets in relation to client contact;
• Undertaking group as well as individual therapy on occasions;
• Keeping records and writing reports.

About the role:

In this role, you’ll be at the heart of a team transforming the lives of people who need support the most. Working alongside the Regional Services Manager, you’ll have the chance to make a real difference in the lives of clients at our Ashley Road, Milton House, and Highbury New Park projects. You will provide vital support to those facing complex challenges, including mental health difficulties, substance use, trauma, and physical health concerns. Your work will directly impact their ability to recover, rebuild their lives, and create a brighter future.

The role is all about using a strengths-based approach within a psychologically informed environment, supporting clients on their journey towards stability and independence. Your day-to-day will involve delivering tailored interventions, guiding clients through their recovery process, and helping them tap into community and statutory resources that can support their growth. With a focus on improving outcomes, your work will empower clients to build resilience, grow their confidence, and achieve lasting change.

As part of a dynamic and collaborative team, you’ll also promote client involvement and co-production, working alongside other agencies to develop programs that reflect the true needs of the community. Whether encouraging social inclusion, running physical health checks, or strengthening partnerships with local services, your role will drive positive change across the borough, creating opportunities for clients to thrive in every aspect of their lives.

About you:

• Previous experience of working with people with complex support needs.
• Ability to manage your time and work across different Services & Teams to promote social inclusion and provide a wealth of Opportunities for our clients.
• A flexible, innovative and creative approach to working with a sometimes hard to engage and challenging client group, is also required.

About us:

Single Homeless Project is a London-wide charity. Our vision is of a society where everyone has a place to call home and the chance to live a fulfilling life.

We help single Londoners by preventing homelessness, providing support and accommodation, promoting wellbeing, enhancing opportunity, and being a voice for change. From supporting people in crisis to helping people take the final steps towards independence and employment, we make a difference to 12,000 lives every year across all 32 boroughs.

We offer you more than a job; we offer you a chance to be part of a compassionate, driven team that's committed to making a real difference in people's lives. You'll have the opportunity to lead, co-create, and inspire change while enjoying a collaborative, growth-oriented environment.

Join us in creating a brighter, more hopeful future for individuals in need. 

Important info:

Closing date: Sunday 8th June at midnight

Interview date: Monday 16th June at SHP Head Office in Kings Cross

This post will require an Enhanced DBS check to be processed (by SHP) for the successful applicant.

Please note applications are reviewed for AI use in application questions. 

Do you believe in the power of communication to change lives? Can you inspire action, build trust, and grow support through powerful storytelling? If so, join us and help raise our profile and income to help Transform Young Lives!

At Northorpe Hall Child & Family Trust, we believe every child deserves the chance to realise their full potential and thrive. We are on a mission to identify, develop and provide support for children, young people, and their families across Kirklees and Yorkshire focusing on mental health and emotional wellbeing.  We are working where gaps or needs exist and in doing so growing our reach, deepening our impact and building partnerships to transform young lives.

To help us deliver our vision, we're looking for a passionate, proactive and creative Social Media & Communications Lead

You will be creative and skilled in producing compelling content that wins the hearts and minds of potential service users, donors and funders.  To enable this, you will be expected to work with staff, volunteers including young people, parents and carers to co-design content that is relevant and useful to our target audience.

Content will also be driven using data to promote and amplify the impact of our services and the benefit to children, young people and families.

You will be a proactive, solutions-focused individual with the confidence and initiative to lead projects that raise our profile and generate vital income. This will include delivering impactful online campaigns, supporting charity-led initiatives/ events and strengthening our presence at external events to raise awareness and support for our work.

Working closely with the Income Generation and Partnership Development Manager you will be expected to work collaboratively across the organisation to help us grow our income, work and impact in a sustainable way.

This role offers the opportunity to make a meaningful difference within a supportive and mission driven charity. If you are a skilled communicator, driven by purpose, enjoy creating compelling content and know how to use creative strategies to generate donations then scroll down for details on this opportunity.

By joining Northorpe you will help transform the lives of children, young people and families.

BACKGROUND

For over thirty years, Asylum Aid has been providing legal representation to some of the most vulnerable people seeking asylum in the UK. Our welfare advice team provide generalist advice on welfare benefits, housing, asylum support and related issues to Westminster residents with refugee and migrant backgrounds who do not have English as a first language and who would otherwise be unable to access vital advice which enables them to avoid destitution, homelessness and food poverty. We deliver this advice as part of the Westminster Advice Services Partnership through a drop in and outreach at local community venues, and supported by local volunteers many of whom speak community languages.

The post of Appeals Support Advisor is a new post established with the benefit of a grant from Westminster City Council. The post holder will support clients with appeals and reconsideration requests in relation to welfare benefits and housing. This will allow us to provide a more comprehensive service for our clients, many of whom struggle to lodge appeals and reconsideration requests, and to gather evidence in support of their appeals without advice, due to language barriers.  The post holder will deliver advice in community languages, including with the assistance of interpreters, to local residents as part of our partnership work. Most of our clients are refugees, people seeking asylum and others with a refugee or migrant background. The Appeals Support Advisor will work with clients referred from Asylum Aid’s Information and Advice Service (including our weekly drop in) and from other partners in the local community. They will also provide training and supervision to the Generalist Advisor and our volunteers. External supervision will be arranged for the post holder.

The ideal candidate will be resident in or near to the City of Westminster and fluent in one or more community languages. In particular, fluency in one or more of the following is highly desirable: Arabic, Bengali, Farsi, Kurdish Sorani/ other Kurdish dialects, Somali, Amharic, Tigrinya.

As this is a new post delivering a specialist appeals and casework service from within our generalist advice team, it offers an exciting opportunity to set up and establish systems for the delivery of this service during the six month fixed term contract, including ensuring that case management processes are established which meet the requirements of our Lexcel quality mark and that clear referral procedures are established with the drop in service and our partners.

Key Duties and Responsibilities

The post-holder will:

· Be part of a generalist advice service, with special emphasis on language support, as part of the Westminster Advice Services Partnership (WASP), a collaboration of advice agencies Asylum Aid, Westminster Citizens Advice, Age UK Westminster, and Deaf PLUS Westminster Advice Service.

· Provide specialist appeals casework and support to clients who do not speak English as a first language and need to challenge decisions, request  mandatory reconsiderations, internal housing reviews, lodge appeals in relation to welfare benefits and housing.

· Provide ongoing casework support up to the Tribunal stage, including helping clients to gather evidence in support of their mandatory reconsiderations and appeals and preparing for hearings (but not including representation at hearings)

· Where capacity allows, help to deliver generalist face to face and telephone advice and information, in a community language and English, to migrants and asylum seekers on issues related to welfare benefits, housing and asylum support in accordance with Asylum Aid’s contract within the WASP partnership, and taking responsibility for the quality of advice given.

· Provide training and supervision to the Generalist Advisor and to volunteers, supporting the development of their advice skills and ensuring the quality of advice delivered throughout the advice service.

· Maintain a high standard of electronic case records (using AdvicePro) for the purpose of continuity of casework, information retrieval, monitoring and evaluation of the service, and to help identify issues to be raised through policy advocacy.

· Ensure that all casework is conducted in accordance with the Lexcel quality standard, including by establishing case management procedures for the delivery of specialist advice which meet the Lexcel standard, and participate as required in annual Lexcel quality mark audits

· Attend external and in-house training organised by Asylum Aid and regular supervision sessions to develop and maintain the skills and knowledge required to help deliver a quality advice service, and to keep up to date with changes in welfare benefits, housing and asylum support law

· Cascade information, changes,  and developments in social welfare law, including learning from external training, to other staff and volunteers who assist with the delivery of the welfare advice service

· Work effectively with partners to provide a seamless service for clients, making and receiving referrals and maintain up to date information about other service providers for the purposes of referrals and signposting. 

· Be responsible for achieving relevant targets for quality and quantity set by the WASP coordinator

· Provide case studies and other information from the work of the advice service to support policy advocacy and strategic legal work in support of Asylum Aid’s vision of fair and dignified treatment of people seeking asylum, refugees and other vulnerable migrants 

· Carry out any other tasks within the scope of the post to ensure the effective delivery and development of the service.

The post holder will need to be able to travel to and within Westminster to deliver advice at outreach locations as well as at a drop-in in or around the Church Street Estate. Travel expenses will be paid to attend locations away from Asylum Aid’s office(s) and the main location of our drop-in service (currently the Church Street library).

Other duties:

• Respect for client confidentiality at all times in line with Asylum Aid’s confidentiality agreements and consent forms. 

• To attend staff meetings as required.

• To undertake other duties which are generally compatible with the functions of the post.

• To comply with the organisation’s policies and procedures, particularly those relating to safeguarding, health and safety, diversity, equity & inclusion, confidentiality and security, as set out in the Office Manual as well the policies of other relevant partner organisations.

Person Specification

Essential skills, knowledge and experience:

· At least 12 months’ experience of supporting benefits appeals through to Tribunal stage and Housing Reviews

· At least 5 years’ experience of working face to face with clients to deliver generalist advice in different areas of law including welfare benefits and housing

· Knowledge on a range of issues on which advice may be sought including health and social care, housing and welfare benefits, including a thorough and up to date understanding of social security and welfare benefits legislation and policy  

· Experience of managing a case load

· Knowledge or ability to understand and use relevant legislation

· Have completed Advice UK’s Learning to Advise training or hold the Citizens Advice Generalist Adviser certificate or an equivalent qualification

· Be fluent in written and spoken English as well as a second language spoken by a substantial proportion of the Westminster population, ideally Arabic, Bengali, Farsi, Kurdish Sorani/ other Kurdish dialects, Somali, Amharic, Tigrinya (to a standard that enables accurate advice to be given in the language)

· Experience of working with interpreters in the delivery of advice

· Able to meet deadlines, work under pressure, meet performance targets and take responsibility for their work, while working flexibly within a team environment

· Able to relate to a wide cross section of clients in a non-judgmental way.

· Able to use a range of IT systems and packages confidently and competently to be able to support and encourage others in using online systems and resources to enable them to self-help.

· Able and willing to learn and assimilate new knowledge in a working environment.

· Able to give and receive feedback objectively and sensitively.

· Able and willing to work both on own initiative and as part of a team.

· Understanding of and commitment to the aims and principles of Asylum Aid service and commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion.

· Good understanding of the needs of migrants and asylum seekers and the issues and barriers that affect them in UK.

Desirable:

· Experience of specialist advice work, including appeals and mandatory reconsiderations

· Friendly, polite, and patient

· Experience of working under a relevant quality mark such as the Advice Quality Standard or Lexcel

· Understanding of the housing and other support available to people seeking asylum who do not have the right to work in the UK

· Experience of working with volunteers

· Experience of supervising other advisers, including volunteers  

· Demonstrable understanding of issues facing vulnerable clients whose English is not the first language and many with mental health problems.

· Lived or learned experience of the difficulties that migrants and refugee communities face when they have to deal with the UK welfare system

· Personal experience and/or Knowledge of the advice process and experience in the areas of either benefits, housing or debt.

· Experience of using interpersonal skills, including sensitive listening, and questioning skills to understand the needs of others,

· Ability to communicate with other organisations, housing, and welfare departments.

How to apply 

The first stage is to complete on our online application form on our website by 9am on 9 June 2025.

The website form will ask you to:

1. Upload a short covering letter. Please tell us why the position appeals to you, and how your

relevant skills and experience, including any voluntary experience and lived experience, matches the listed responsibilities and person specification. Please also state in your covering letter when you would be available to start the role.

2. Upload your current CV

3. Complete an online Equal Opportunities monitoring form – completion of this form will help us ensure that our recruitment procedures operate in such a way as to provide genuine equality of opportunity. The questions are entirely optional and this information will not be available to members of the selection panel.

Selection Process

We anticipate that we will invite candidates to an initial 15-minute online screening meeting week commencing 16 June 2025, followed by shortlisted candidates attending in-person interview week commencing 23 June 2025. We will also ask you to complete a short written task on the day.

We regret that we can only respond to applicants who make it to the interview stage.

Eligibility

Please note that the successful candidate must have the right to work in the UK (as a small charity we do not have the capacity to sponsor work visas).

Successful candidates will also be subject to a basic DBS check. If appointed, you will also be required to give your consent to the charity to receive regular updates on your criminal records status throughout your employment and to disclose any relevant convictions incurred during your time with us.

Adjustments

We are committed to providing reasonable adjustments throughout our recruitment process and we’ll always endeavour to be as accommodating as possible. If you require a different format of the application form, such as large print or Word format, or if you would like to discuss any specific requirements, please get in touch with us.

Changing Faces is seeking a motivated Health Professional Engagement Officer to join our Services Team.

Health Professional Engagement Officer
Contract: Part-time (0.6 FTE, 22.2 hours per week, ideally spread across 4-5 days)
Salary: £31,742.79 to £33,675.92
Location: Flexible working, mainly home-based, with potential for some work / meetings in London
Travel: Regular travel to deliver talks / attend conferences in the UK + staff / team meet ups 
Benefits: 25 days annual leave, plus 8 bank holidays (pro-rata-ed at 0.6 FTE). 6% pension contribution. EAP access

Changing Faces is seeking a motivated Health Professional Engagement Officer to join our Services Team. This exciting part-time role takes the lead in our professional liaison work to educate health and social care professionals regarding the impact of visible difference and raising their awareness of the important work of the charity.

Main purpose of the role

The main purpose is to develop and maintain relationships with HCPs to:

• increase awareness of the impact of visible difference and educate them in how to effectively support patients
• ensure understanding of the Changing Faces service offers and how to access these
• encourage them to sign up to regular updates and news and stay engaged with us.

This will be done by building and retaining relationships with HCPs via NHS departments, organisations and societies within the field of visible difference; finding ways to keep HCPs on our mailing list engaged and interested in our news; and by providing information, meetings, education and talks both in person and online.

We are looking for

• A proven track record of engaging with Health Care Professionals (HCPs) at all levels, in a range of disciplines and building relationships
• Confident, engaging and experienced presenter to a range of audiences – clear, persuasive and authoritative in spoken communication, both online and in person
• High standard of written English, able to write information and presentations clearly, with an understanding of the needs of the HCP audience.
• Proactive, dynamic and innovative in approach, with an ability to be creative, self-supporting, meet deadlines and handle multiple priorities.
• Ability to work effectively, collaboratively, and sensitively with a wide range of senior stakeholders and service users.
• Ability to work effectively, collaboratively, empathetically and sensitively with a wide range of stakeholders and service users
• This role requires willingness and flexibility to travel across the UK and occasional overnight stays.

About Changing Faces

Changing Faces is the UK’s leading charity for everyone who has a mark, scar or condition that makes them look different (a visible difference). Being different in a society where there is such pressure to look a certain way is extremely difficult.

People with visible differences are vulnerable to isolation, loneliness, social anxiety and low self-esteem. They face staring, unwanted attention and even bullying and hate crime. They experience lowered expectations in education, problems getting work and stereotyping in the media. This can have a devastating, and lasting, impact on their wellbeing. Adults often come to us, having never spoken to anyone about the psychological impact of their visible difference before.

Changing Faces provides unique practical, social and emotional support for people affected by visible difference; we challenge discrimination and campaign for a world that respects difference.

Health care professional (HCP) engagement contributes to two areas in our strategy:

• Greater understanding and awareness among HCPs of the impact of a visible difference on mental health and wellbeing
• Increased awareness of Changing Faces services and increased referrals from HCPs.

Changing Faces wants a future where everyone with a visible difference on their face or body has the confidence, support and opportunity to lead the lives they want.

This role is part-time (0.6 FTE, 22.2 hours a week), ideally spread across 4-5 days and requires a highly flexible, motivated individual, with a passion for presenting and building relationships around the UK. We are looking for a start date around mid-August 2025.

Closing date: Please apply by 1pm, Wednesday 4th June 2025.
Interviews: Expected to take place on Wednesday 11th June and Thursday 12th June 2025.

Interested? 

If you would like to find out more, please click the apply button. You will be directed to our website to complete your application for this position. 

This role is subject to an enhanced DBS / PVG Scheme check, with adult’s and children’s barred lists. 

No agencies please.

Role and Responsibilities

Housing and Service Delivery

• Provide strong and effective support to residents in Acorn House that focuses on their strengths and goals, and is delivered in a personalised way and within a framework of active engagement and co-production

• Developing and reviewing support plans that reflect the interests and aspirations of residents

• Induct new residents in line with the service’s policies and procedures and support them to continue in their journey towards recovery from addiction

• Carry out assessments of those referred to Acorn House, and induct new residents

• Ensure the fundamental needs of residents are met including good quality accommodation and facilities, healthy food, advice and guidance around benefits, and alcohol and drug testing (to help maintain an abstinent environment)

• Deal with the immediate support needs of residents as appropriate, providing crisis intervention where necessary

• Support residents in addressing physical and mental health issues, including liaison with primary and secondary health teams

• Ensure residents are supported through court or welfare rulings (if necessary)

• Ensure effective and compliant administration of resident data using a bespoke Salesforce- based platform (In-Form)

• Ensure Housing Benefit and Services Charges are collected and managed effectively 

• Be flexible and responsive to the changing needs of the service, ensuring high quality support is provided

• Ensure each resident’s support plan is written, monitored and reviewed as appropriate to reflect their changing needs and development

• Ensure residents progress and engage with other SCT programmes (when required)

• Ensure conditions and requirements relating to any contracts or management agreements are applied throughout SCT’s services

• Work effectively as part of a team, attending team/ staff meetings and making a positive contribution to the development of the team and wider SCT services

• Effectively control and manage financial records appropriate to the duties of the post (petty cash/rent) 

• Participate in a feedback culture for continuous improvement

• Promote social inclusion, supporting residents to access all benefits available to them

• Support residents with physical and mental health issues, including liaison primary and secondary health care services as required

• Ensure all repairs and maintenance needs are raised

Monitoring and Evaluation

• Maintain accurate records of residents on In-Form

Operational Support

• Comply with Health and Safety, including but not limited to any fire maintenance, risk assessments and complete room checks and raise any risks to the Supported Housing Manager

• Ensure equipment of all applicable facilities is in good working order

• To provide an on-call/out-of-hours service when required

• Carry out other duties as may reasonably be required 

Special Conditions

• This post requires the holder to work varying shifts between 08.00 am and 8.00 pm and participation in the call rota system (for which an additional allowance is paid)

• The post-holder is required to work weekends as part of a rota and Bank Holidays when required

• On occasions you may be requested to change your rota to ensure the requirements of the service are covered

• In accordance with the guidelines on Health and Safety, to accept responsibility for working within these guidelines and reporting any concerns to the Supported Housing Manager

Role Context

The Accelerating Reform Fund is an initiative launched in 2023 by the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) which aims to transform social care services, making them more responsive to the needs of the community. It is a national programme, with 42 regions taking part and contributing to a national evaluation led by Ipsos. Greater Manchester (GM) is one of the ARF regions – we have formed a consortium across the GM Integrated Care System area consisting of the ten local authorities, health and VCSE partners to deliver projects on two themes:

1. Services that reach out to, and involve, unpaid carers through the hospital discharge process. (We have 8 hospital discharge projects across GM currently in the delivery phase across GM)

2. Improving respite options for carers via the community-based care model, Shared Lives through increasing workforce and exploring flexible options to reduce risk of carer breakdowns (Our main, GM wide, projects are delivering a regional communications campaign to raise awareness of Shared Lives and recruit more carers, and developing an early intervention model of Shared Lives supporting people living with dementia).

Gaddum was appointed to provide dedicated infrastructure support to ensure effective coordination and delivery of ARF projects and the GM consortium. This includes secretariat and project management responsibilities, financial oversight, leadership on coproduction, stakeholder engagement, and liaison with national partners.

Role Purpose

The Lived Experience Coordinator will sit within Gaddum’s Coproduction team but work closely with the ARF infrastructure team consisting of Senior Project Manager and Project Administrator and our appointed external marketing and communications partner agency to ensure a seamless, joined-up approach to embedding engagement and coproduction in the ARF in line with the overall project aims and timelines.

The main purpose of the role is to ensure that people with lived experience (PWLE) are enabled and empowered to contribute to project design, steering, evaluation, and decision-making processes in the ARF, thereby driving service transformation and improvement across all ten GM Local Authority Social Care Systems and partner organisations. This will include providing expert advice, information and guidance to project teams on embedding coproduction approaches; establishing and supporting a lived experience steering group for our Shared Lives project, supporting the recruitment and development of PWLE representatives, and fostering inclusive, accessible opportunities for their involvement; and leading on a Community Research project to ensure lived experience voices shape the evaluation and subsequent recommendations.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

Coproduction Support

• Provide specialist information, guidance, and support about service user/carer engagement and involvement to Adult Social Care staff, partners and stakeholders across a range of services and departments in Greater Manchester, either individually to project teams or in our established GM Carers Leads meetings.

• Provide and signpost to best practice tools and resources to support project teams with their coproduction initiatives.

• Compile and share case studies showcasing examples of best practice in coproduction across the ARF consortium to facilitate learning and improvement.

• Maintain records and data and provide regular monitoring reports on outcomes, including end of project evaluation report. Lived Experience Steering group management.

• Set up and provide ongoing management of a new Lived Experience Steering Group consisting of people with lived experience of Shared Lives across GM (carers and service users) ensuring the underpinning principles of coproduction are explained and embedded.

• Manage the recruitment and support of specific members for any additional opportunities.

• Identify and, wherever possible, remove barriers to member participation including but not limited to travel, childcare, carer responsibilities and/or translation costs.

• Ensure Lived Experience Representatives receive inductions and training suitable for their level of engagement and ensure they are properly off boarded when their involvement ends.

• Coordinate regular meetings and events via a hybrid approach of face-to-face and virtual.

• Liaise and collaborate with our external creative agency partner who are leading on the delivery of the Communications and Marketing Campaign for Shared Lives.

• Collaborate with the ARF infrastructure support team (Senior Project Manager and Project Administrator) and relevant ARF subgroups to ensure work is joined up and seamless and feedback loops between the various groups are closed.

• Assist Lived Experience Representatives to capture their experiences into their CV’s or find opportunities in the community where people with lived experience are needed to help develop services, creating links with Gaddum’s Coproduction Management Committee where relevant.

• Maintain records and data and provide regular monitoring reports on outcomes, including end of project evaluation report. Community Research evaluation project.

• Working to an agreed methodology, recruit and support a small group of Community Researchers to lead on ethnographic story collection across the ARF programme to capture on the ground lived experience perspectives.

• Work with key stakeholders across the various ARF project to coordinate the implementation of this project and agree how this will contribute to the overall evaluation of the programme.

• With the group of Community Researchers, lead on the collation and analysis of stories, emerging learning and recommendations, and designing a strategy for presentation of the research for maximum impact.

• Liaise and collaborate with the ARF infrastructure support team (Senior Project Manager and Project Administrator) and relevant ARF stakeholders to ensure project complements other monitoring and evaluation activities and aligns with broader evaluation plans.

• Contribute to Gaddum newsletters, website, and meetings, sharing information and learning form the project.

• Maintain records and data and provide regular monitoring reports on progress and outcomes, including an end of project evaluation report.

• Undertake responsibility for financial procedures related to PWLE remuneration in line with procedures

All staff are expected to work within all Gaddum policies and procedures. This role is subject to a Basic DBS Check.

Do you want to support people with mental health issues in a moment of crisis?

Are you calm, non-judgemental and able to work effectively with people experiencing distress?

If you can embody our values of Hope, Courage, Togetherness, and Responsiveness, and want to help others build resilience and manage their wellbeing, we’d love to hear from you.

Job title: Support, Time and Recovery Worker
Reference Number: 288
Salary scale: £23,800 – £24,500 per annum depending on skills and experience inclusive of Outer London Weighting (OLW)
Reports to: Senior Bounce Back Worker
Contract length: 18 Months
No. of hours: 30 Hours per week (Over a 7 day rota, 11am – 8pm)
Main base/s: Mental Health Urgent Care Centre(MHUCC), Lister Hospital, Stevenage

About the Project

Herts Mind Network (HMN) has formed a partnership with Hertfordshire Partnership Foundation Trust (HPFT) to deliver support in the Mental Health Urgent Care Centre (MHUCC) at Lister Hospital.

The MHUCC provides a dedicated space and service for rapid mental health assessment, intervention, and referral, thereby enhancing the quality of care and optimising use of systemwide resources. It provides 24-hour access to specialist mental health assessment aimed at supporting service users to access the least restrictive care and treatment options. It creates a systemwide response to acute mental health crisis that enables people’s needs to be met with the right care at the right time.

About the Role:

The Support, Time and Recovery (STAR) Worker will be based at the Mental Health Urgent Care Centre at Lister Hospital, promoting joint working and creating a seamless pathway into community support for clients recovering from mental ill health.

The STAR workers will work closely with individuals in a mental health crisis currently in the MHUCC, by using a person-centred approach to ensure that everyone is supported with dignity and respect.

You will have a key role with safe and supportive observations and attending to the service users on the unit. You will provide support for carers and liaise with the wider services to support smooth and timely discharge of service users back to the community.

Key Responsibilities

• To provide a consistent presence in the MHUCC for individuals with mental health needs to access for support.
• To advocate for service users, explaining organisations and pathways.
• To provide immediate information and advice about managing wellbeing, reducing risk and onward signposting and referral into wider HMN services and VCFSE organisations.
• To facilitate a clear and easily accessible pathway into the wider Nightlight Crisis Alternative services for individuals, to support timely MHUCC discharge, as an alternative to statutory crisis intervention, or as a supplement to wider care and treatment plans.
• To gather feedback and evaluation on patient experience in the MHUCC
• To develop sound and extensive knowledge of local resources to support in enabling appropriate referrals where necessary.
• To link in with wider Herts Mind Network services and facilitate referrals
• To ensure that a collaborative approach is used, with effective communication links developed with external professional NHS services and to work as an effective member of any multi-disciplinary team. This will require stringent relationships.
• To support individuals to develop sustainable local social networks, both through our HMN Wellbeing Centres and other community services and resources.

We offer:

• Annual leave entitlement of 25 days per year pro rata, rising in increments to a max. of 29 days after 5 years employment (plus 8 days Bank Holidays)
• An additional day of leave each year for your birthday following completion of probation period.
• Ongoing training relevant to your role.
• An Employee Assistance Programme.
• Cash plan health cover (after 6 months employment) – compensation payment for Optical, Dental, Chiropody and Therapy Treatments.
• Eligibility for blue light card.

Closing date for receipt of applications is Thursday 26th June at 5pm.
Interviews will be held on Monday 30th June at the Mental Health Urgent Care Centre, Lister Hospital.

Interested? 

If you would like to find out more, please click the apply button. You will be directed to our website to complete your application for this position. 

Equal Opportunities 
We welcome applications from all suitably-qualified candidates, irrespective of gender, disability, marital or parental status, racial, ethnic or social origin, colour, religion, belief, or sexual orientation. In addition, during the various stages of recruitment, specific measures can be taken to ensure equal opportunities for candidates with disabilities or special needs.

Hertfordshire Mind Network is committed to the Disability Confident and Mindful Employer charters. We actively recruit staff who have a lived experience of mental ill health. We recognise and value the unique combination of skills, knowledge and perspective that employing people with a lived experience, at all levels across the organisation, brings. We create an environment where the sharing of experiences and vulnerabilities to support others and create positive change is welcomed and work towards breaking down the ‘them’ and ‘us’ culture. The organisation is committed to nurturing peer relationships that allow all staff to thrive.

No agencies please.