We have an exciting opportunities for a Qualified and/ or Trainee Multidisciplinary Advocates to join our established and friendly Advocacy Team.
We work for Rethink Advocacy, which is part of Rethink Mental Illness a national charity that has been transforming the lives of people severely affected by mental illness for over 50 years.
As an unqualified, inexperienced independent multi-disciplinary advocate, you will be required to enrol on the Level 4 Independent Advocacy Practice qualification and complete the course within a set timescale, using protected study time to focus on this. You will shadow experienced team members and then be observed providing advocacy to those who are eligible for our services until you are able to pick up a caseload of your own. You will receive training in the different remits of advocacy, instructed and non-instructed advocacy and safeguarding and be supported to develop a thorough understanding of the role and boundaries of advocacy. The role involves acting on the instruction of the people you support, empowering them to have a say in their situation, to understand their rights and any options open to them and supporting them towards self-advocacy. When providing non-instructed advocacy, you will ensure that the unique preferences and views of the person are taken into consideration in any decisions made by care providers.
As a qualified and / or experienced independent advocate, you will provide statutory and / or non-statutory independent advocacy to those who are eligible for the service within the community or care settings. This may include secure facilities, hospitals, care homes, supported living facilities and people within their own homes or temporary accommodation.
You will provide statutory and / or non-statutory independent advocacy within the community or care settings. This may include secure facilities, hospitals, care homes, supported living facilities and people within their own homes or temporary accommodation.
Advocacy is having someone by your side, and on your side, when you want to be more involved in decisions about your care, treatment and living arrangements. An advocate can talk through the situation you’re currently in and the options open to you. They can help you decide what you want and then communicate it to people. This is particularly useful if it’s difficult to understand things or to speak up and be heard.
Our Wandsworth and Richmond service provides a range of specialist advocacy services to Adults (and children) as appropriate across a range of disciplines. We provide a range of statutory (instructed or non-instructed) and non-statutory advocacy support in secure units, hospitals, care settings or in the community, working with a range of health and social care partners.
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion
Diversity is important to us and we appreciate difference through difference, inclusiveness and belonging. It gives us a deeper understanding of the world, our society and the diverse communities we’re working with. By including everyone, we are able to draw on the unique experiences and expertise of our people to help shape and enrich our workplace and improve our services. One way we are doing is through our valued staff networks which play a critical and highly valued role in keeping us focused on creating a diverse, inclusive and engaged employer. We recognise and support staff networks and support groups for our ethnically diverse and LGBTQIA+ colleagues. We are also proud to have been awarded Disability Confident Employer status and are a signatory to the Business in the Community Race at Work Charter.
We aim for our workforce to reflect the diversity of the communities we serve; for those who work for us to feel heard, valued and feel they belong; and for our work to help tackle wider mental health inequalities. We therefore actively encourage and welcome applications from everyone, including applicants with lived experience of mental illness, those who are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Questioning, Intersex, Asexual and any other gender identity not expressed here (LGBTQIA+); people who are neurodiverse, have a health condition, or a disability or hidden disability and people from an ethnically diverse background - regardless of your age, religious or spiritual belief, sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status, pregnancy, political view or socio-economic status.
Becoming a truly anti-racist organisation
We have an ambition of become a truly anti-racist employer, campaigning organisation and service provider - and in our efforts to influence policy and wider societal factors impacting on mental health set out in our anti-racist statement . We have designed a multi-year anti-racist programme of work contained in our Race Equality Action Plan which demonstrates our intention to hold ourselves accountable and be judged on our progress on becoming a truly anti-racist organisation. You can read more about our progress here.
We’re Rethink Mental Illness and no matter how bad things are, we can help people severely affected by mental illness to improve their lives.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Discipleship & Faith Formation Officer: Faith at Home
The Vacancy
Are you committed to nurturing faith in children, young people, and across the generations within family life? Do you have a heart for empowering churches and leaders to embrace whole-life discipleship? Are you a skilled educator and enabler who recognises the vital role of home in shaping spiritual journeys and is passionate about equipping others to do the same?
We are offering an interesting and varied opportunity to support the work of the Connexional Team and the wider Methodist Church in developing, providing, and maintaining quality training, resourcing, network organisation, accompaniment, and experiences – in ways that are theologically-rooted, culturally-resonant, inclusive, relational, creative, and compelling for children and young people in their homes, with their families, responsible adults, and/or care providers.
Working alongside the Discipleship Team and colleagues within the Evangelism & Growth Team, you will be developing and communicating with networks around the Methodist Church’s biblically- and theologically coherent vision and strategy for multi-generational Methodist discipleship. As part of this, an important aspect of the role will be supporting the development of a coherent discipleship pathway across different age groups within families and children at home, which will be sensitive to key transitional development stages across generations and life experiences. You will be working with circuits and local churches as well as in partnership with external organisations; in addition, you will be and active part of the development and delivery of key events such as 3Generate.
This is an exciting opportunity to help shape the future of the Methodist Church and enable people of all generations to embark on a life-long discipleship journey.
About You
We are looking for someone who wants to make a positive contribution to the work of the development and delivery of the Discipleship stream outlined in Methodist Church’s evangelism and growth strategy – part of the Church’s commitment to be a growing, inclusive, evangelistic, and justice-seeking Church.
You will preferably have experience in training and project management, and it is essential that you are experienced in children, family and youth ministry. You must be experienced in the development and delivery of teaching programmes and have a good understanding of intergenerational faith development. As a good project manager and communicator, you are able to work with ecumenical and secular partners as well as local Methodist Churches and Circuits. Experience with digital content development and social media would be an advantage.
We are a collaborative team and therefore welcome applications from those who wish to contribute to the work of the team in a positive and proactive way.
A faith is an essential requirement for this role and in accordance with Schedule 9 of the Equality Act 2010 it is and it will remain throughout the life of the employment contract an occupational requirement that the successful applicant is a practicing Christian.
Our Culture, Values and Benefits
Thank you for considering joining our inclusive and welcoming team that strives for excellence and values employee wellbeing.
We value and support all those who join our team through a positive work-life balance augmented by generous annual leave (plus an extra 3 days over Christmas/New Year), TOIL, flexi-leave and an on-site Well-being Adviser service. We offer a generous occupational pension scheme, where the Methodist Church will pay double the employee contribution up to a maximum of 16% employer contribution.
The Methodist Church is an inclusive and supportive employer. We are actively committed to encouraging applications from people of all backgrounds. We welcome applications from people of Black, Asian and other Minority Ethnic groups. We also welcome applications from people living with disabilities.
Closing date: Friday, 7 November 2025
Interview date: Friday, 21 November 2025
The calling of the Methodist Church is to respond to the gospel of God's love in Christ and to live out its discipleship in worship and mission.
Head of Human Resources and Facilities
Location: Hybrid
Salary: £57,000 per annum plus £312 Home Worker Allowance per annum
Hours: 35 hours per week
Vacancy Type: Permanent
Sands are the UK’s leading pregnancy and baby loss charity. We are here to support everyone touched by pregnancy loss or the death of a baby. Always.
We’re creating a community of compassionate and lifesaving changemakers, whose voices inspire change and turn understanding into action.
For more than 40 years, Sands has provided a safe, understanding and caring community for anyone touched by pregnancy or baby loss. We can help, whether your loss happened recently or long ago.
Sands offer many types of support, including our free, confidential telephone helpline, email support, and online group sessions. We have a UK-wide network of local groups offering peer-support in the community, social media groups helping people connect wherever they are, and free resources for partners, siblings, grandparents, and wider family and friends.
The Role
Our Human Resources and Facilities team are responsible for providing a high standard of support to our staff, who are based throughout the UK.
This exciting and high-profile role is responsible for leading on all operational HR & Facilities activity within the charity. This includes ensuring that this activity aligns with Sands’ strategic objectives and meets KPI’s set by the Board. This is a key role which will help us to promote Sands’ vision; a world where fewer babies die and when a baby dies those affected receive the best care and support for as long as they need.
The areas that the team covers include staff learning & development, organisational change management, EEDI, implementation and development of HR policies and procedures, staff wellbeing, recruitment, employee reward and recognition, employment relations, development of HR IT systems and management of our property portfolio.
With significant experience in a Head of HR role, you will have a good understanding of UK employment law and be able to apply this in everyday situations.
You will be confident in advising senior managers in HR best practice, including leading on change management processes.
Experience of developing employee benefit and wellbeing packages, HR policies and information systems is essential. Additionally, you will have demonstrable experience of developing HR strategies including budgets and be able to confidently present to groups of staff and managers.
An excellent influencer and communicator, you will be able to build effective working relationships with staff and managers across the organisation as well as external stakeholders.
With a good knowledge and understanding of employment law and HR best practice, you will be able to manage several work streams simultaneously and meet deadlines under pressure. Excellent organisational and time-management skills are therefore essential for this role. You will also need to be highly numerate and demonstrate good problem-solving ability.
Skills and Qualifications
- CIPD qualification at Level 7 (MCIPD) or equivalent
- Significant experience of working in a Head of HR / People role
- Proven track record of developing and delivering HR strategies, policies, and reports aligned with organisational objectives
- Experience in organisational development, staff learning and training design, and delivery
- Demonstrated experience of introducing and embedding Equality, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EEDI) initiatives
- Experience in HR policy development, implementation, and review
- In-depth knowledge of UK employment law and its practical application
- Experience of managing complex employee relations cases including grievance, disciplinary, and capability matters
- Significant experience of leading organisation-wide change management and transformation projects
- Experience in developing and implementing reward and recognition initiatives
- Experience of introducing and promoting staff health and wellbeing programmes
- Strong working knowledge of HR Information Systems (HRIS), ideally Sage HR or equivalent platform
- Experience of managing departmental budgets and reporting on financial performance
- Proven experience of leading, motivating, and developing a team of HR professionals
- Excellent influencing and communication skills, with the ability to engage effectively at all levels of the organisation
- Ability to build and maintain effective relationships across departments and with external stakeholders
- Exceptional attention to detail and accuracy in all aspects of work
- Ability to manage a demanding workload, prioritise effectively, and meet tight deadlines
- Excellent organisational and time management skills
- Sound knowledge of data protection and GDPR legislation as it relates to HR practice
- Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities with a pragmatic approach to complex issues
- Confident, assertive, and able to make sound judgements and decisions when required
- Experience of, or an interest in, facilities management
- Understanding of maternity, neonatal, and healthcare policy and practice across the UK
- Empathy with Sands’ vision, mission, and values
To Apply
If you feel you are a suitable candidate and would like to work for Sands, please do not hesitate to apply.