Programme specialist jobs

About St Peters West Molesey & Bridge the Gap

St Peters West Molesey is one of twelve VCSE partners delivering Surrey’s Changing Futures / Bridge the Gap service. Bridge the Gap supports people experiencing multiple disadvantage—including homelessness, rough sleeping, mental and physical health challenges, substance use, domestic abuse, offending behaviours, and other safeguarding concerns.

Using a holistic, trauma-informed and person-centred approach, we walk side by side with clients to help them stabilise their lives, regain control, and achieve meaningful change.

The Role

We are looking for a compassionate, motivated Bridge the Gap Practitioner to provide intensive outreach support to single people who are rough sleeping, homeless, or at risk of homelessness. Each individual is unique, and your work will reflect their personal goals, strengths, hopes, and aspirations.

You will build trusting relationships, co-produce person-centred plans (“My Story, Strengths and Hopes”), and offer practical, emotional, and advocacy support. Alongside system partners and multi-agency teams, you’ll help clients access the services they need to move towards stability and wellbeing.

This role includes reflective practice and clinical supervision with our resident Clinical Psychologist, ensuring your own wellbeing is prioritised.

Key Responsibilities

Engagement & Support

• Build relationships with people who are rough sleeping, homeless, or at risk of homelessness

• Provide intensive, flexible outreach support

• Develop co-produced, person-centred support plans

• Support clients to improve physical and mental wellbeing

• Assist with life skills: budgeting, tenancy sustainment, accessing services, education, employment, community living

• Accompany clients to appointments and services (“walking shoulder to shoulder”)
   

Housing & Practical Support

• Work towards securing and sustaining stable accommodation

• Support clients with benefits, daily living tasks, and referrals to specialist services

• Coordinate multi-agency involvement based on client needs
   

Safety, Risk, and Compliance

• Complete and implement positive risk assessments

• Assess client safety and welfare on an ongoing basis

• Maintain accurate, timely case notes and database records

• Follow all St Peters West Molesey and Bridge the Gap policies

• Contribute to a safe, respectful service environment
   

Professional Practice

• Manage your own caseload and workload

• Attend weekly one-to-one meetings and provide activity updates

• Participate in group supervision and reflective practice

• Work collaboratively with internal and external partners

• Keep up to date with organisational and service developments
   

About You

You’ll be someone who is passionate about tackling poverty, supporting those facing multiple disadvantage, and working in a trauma-informed, compassionate way.

Required

• Degree-level qualification or equivalent experience

• Experience supporting and motivating people from diverse backgrounds

• Experience working/volunteering with adults facing disadvantage

• Confident managing challenging behaviours, conflict, or distress

• Able to plan, prioritise, and organise workload effectively

• Experience with dynamic risk management and accurate record-keeping

• Computer literate (email, documents, spreadsheets, online systems)
   

Desirable

• Qualification in mental health, counselling, or community support

• Experience in community development or poverty reduction

• Experience coordinating referrals and raising safeguarding concerns

• Clean driving licence
   

Key Skills & Attributes

• Empathy, compassion, and emotional resilience

• Ability to work independently and unsupervised

• Adaptability to changing client needs

• Strong advocacy and motivational skills

• Honesty, integrity, and alignment with St Peters West Molesey’s mission and values
   

What We Offer

• Thorough induction and trauma-informed training

• Regular supervision and reflective practice with a Clinical Psychologist

• The opportunity to make a profound difference in the lives of people with multiple disadvantages

• A supportive, values-driven team culture

Policy Specialist (children and young people)

Are you interested in improving the lives of children and young people with a learning disability? Can you turn complex ideas into evidence-based policy? Are you a skilled communicator able to influence decision-makers? If so, we would love to hear from you!

We are currently looking for a Policy Specialist to join Mencap. This position sits within the Policy and Public Affairs teams of Mencap’s Campaigns, Advocacy and Activism Directorate (CAA). You will work closely with our influencing, information and advice, campaigning, and research work, as well as sector partners like the Disabled Children's Partnership.

This is an exciting new role to deliver policy change and enhance the rights of children and young people with a learning disability. At a key time to influence Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) education reform, we are seeking a policy specialist to shape policy work that reflects the needs and experiences of children, young people, and their families. Working within the policy team, you will be responsible for developing evidence-based policy work and influencing decision-makers. 

This is a full time position (37.5 hours per week). We are flexible with your work location, but there may be some occasional travel needed to our London office or Westminster.

You will:

· Translate complex work into clear and persuasive policy briefings, consultation responses and reports.

· Work within wider coalitions of charities, building collaborative relationships and ensuring that the needs and priorities of our community are addressed.

· Develop and expand Mencap’s ‘Policy Shapers’ work, ensuring our work reflects the experiences of children and young people with a learning disability and their families.

· Support our information and advice team, briefing them on important developments, inputting into casework discussions relevant to your areas of work, and supporting the creation of public information resources.

· Represent Mencap at meetings and events, with MPs, civil servants, and sector partners.

· Identify and analyse relevant research to develop evidence-based policy recommendations.

You will bring to this role:

· Experience of working on public policy issues.

· Strong communication skills: experience tailoring your messaging to a variety of different audiences and representing an organisation.

· Experience building positive relationships and working collaboratively to achieve outcomes; able to positively challenge, negotiate and compromise.

· The ability to work on your own initiative while contributing to team priorities and sustain enthusiasm under pressure.

· Experience analysing evidence to develop recommendations.

· Knowledge the issues facing children and young people with a learning disability and/or the SEND system, as well as the wider parliamentary system.

· Passion about making the world a better place for people with a learning disability.

If you're passionate about driving meaningful change for children and young people with a learning disability and you're ready to use your policy expertise to make a real impact, please apply now with an up-to-date CV. This advert has been extended and will now close on Sunday, 4th January, 2026. Interviews are scheduled to take place via Microsoft Teams during the week commencing 12th January 2026.

Benefits

Here at Mencap, we offer an impressive range of benefits designed to support and reward our employees to ensure that our teams feel valued and appreciated.

Our benefits package offers 32 days of paid holiday (including bank holidays, pro rata), along with a range of perks such as discounts at leading high-street retailers, access to health cash plans, interest-free loans, and many more exciting offerings.

For more details on what we have to offer, please see the attached document outlining all the fantastic benefits available to you as a member of our team!

About Mencap

Our vision is for the UK to be the best place in the world for people with a learning disability to live happy and healthy lives.

We're here to support people with a learning disability, their families and their carers. We fight for a kinder, fairer and more inclusive society for people with a learning disability to live in.

At Mencap, everyone works with people with a learning disability either providing support or advice, or alongside one another as colleagues.

Belonging at Mencap is for everyone, every day, everywhere.

· Everyone is expected to treat people well and make Mencap an inclusive organisation.

· Every day we grow and learn. It’s okay to make mistakes but we learn from them and make changes

· Everywhere people will feel respected, valued, and safe to be themselves.

We have Belonging network groups that meet online and are open to all colleagues. The groups include people who identify as Black and Asian, LGBTQIA+, disabled or with a long- term health condition, women, parents and carers, and their allies.

We want to encourage everyone to apply to work at Mencap and we offer a variety of different contract types and working patterns. We’re not looking for specific experience. It is your personality and values that will make you a great colleague. We will train and develop you to succeed in the role you’re applying for.