Volunteer Recruitment And Staff Training Manager Jobs in Manchester, Greater Manchester

Job Title: Independent Visitor Co-ordinator

Service: Worcestershire

Reporting to: Children’s Rights Manager

Salary: £7,828.40 per annum (FTE £24,908.54)

Location: Home based (with travel across the region)

Hours:  11 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 Worcestershire.

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. We recognise we are a predominantly white workforce and are genuinely committed to encouraging candidates from diverse communities in order to improve the services to the children and young people we help.

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 Helpline to provide access for children and young people to advocacy and advice, with access to legal advice and links with other national helplines such as ChildLine.

• 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 Worcestershire.

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 up to 25 days’ annual leave plus an additional 3 days paid leave between Christmas and New Year. 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 Martine McFadden, Children’s Rights Manager and Annmarie Ahtuam, Service Manager. 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, you need to address each point of the person specification and demonstrate how you meet it.

•  Applications must be fully completed.

•  If you are a current Coram Voice employee you may submit a supporting statement only addressing the person specification requirements for the post. 

Closing date: Wednesday 20th November 2024 at 12pm

Interview date: Thursday 28th November 2024

Coram is an equal opportunities employer and we 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 seek to 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 encourage them to draw on lived experience as well as professional experience in their personal statement as part of their application.

We are committed to the safeguarding of children and where appropriate will require the successful applicant to undertake a check from the Disclosure and Barring Service.

 Registered Charity No. 312278.

The vacancy

We are seeking to appoint one lay member to replace Claire Minchington who comes to the end of her tenure on 31 March 2025

About the GOC
We are the regulator for the optical professions in the UK. Our purpose is to protect the public by promoting high standards of education, performance and conduct.  For more information about us please visit our website: optical. org

About the Council
The role of Council is to lead on the GOC’s mission to protect the public by upholding high standards in the optical professions.  The Council is composed of six lay members (including the Chair) and six registrant members (i.e. registered optometrists and dispensing opticians).  At least one member of the Council must work wholly or mainly in each of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.  One Council member acts as a Senior Council Member whose role is to carry out the Chair’s appraisal as well as provide a sounding board for the Chair and serve as an intermediary for Council members, Executive and stakeholders as necessary. 

The successful candidate will contribute to Council by exercising oversight, ensuring effective corporate governance, and making high-level policy decisions. They will be able to operate strategically and impartially; listen, communicate, and influence effectively; exercise judgment; and inspire confidence and support amongst our stakeholders. 

Remuneration and time commitment

Council members are remunerated in accordance with our member fees policy (£13,962 per annum plus reasonable travel and subsistence expenses) which is linked in the candidate pack.  The member fee includes time for reading and preparation.

The appointed member will be expected to commit approximately 2-3 days per month.  Meetings will usually take place via MS Teams but may on occasion be held at the GOC Offices at 10 Old Bailey, London, EC4M 7NG. There are occasional online catch-up meetings - these are currently scheduled on a Tuesday evening every 6-8 weeks, from 5.30pm – 6.30pm.

APPLICATION DEADLINE:  midnight on Sunday 17 November 2024.

Online interviews will be held on between Monday 27 – Thursday 30 January 2024.

We would welcome applications from individuals who are disabled and from diverse ethnic backgrounds as these are currently under-represented on our council and committees.

We strive to be as diverse as the public we protect and welcome applications from everyone, regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, ethnicity, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy, maternity and geographical locations outside of London.

If you have any questions, please email them to appointment@optical. org and we will aim to respond to you within 48 hours. 

Together we make a difference, develop and learn, and support each other. Every day with us is different, but our mission remains the same: helping the people we support celebrate along the road to a brighter future. 

• Administrative duties as required to ensure the efficient provision of the service, including setting up case files, ordering resources, attending meetings, taking and distributing minutes. 
• Networking with people we support and commissioners to positively promote engagement with Together Trust services. This may include liaising with school SENCOs and GP practices.
• Managing a sign-out/return system for off-site use of resources within the TSS Team.
• Booking parents onto sleep workshops, inviting them to attend monthly coffee mornings and providing supportive listening.
• Giving advice to parents/professionals on appropriate support services.
• Working closely with TSS colleagues in the preparation of materials and resources to be used for therapeutic purposes and for training, e.g. visual resources, sleep programmes.
• Preparing resource packs for parents and professionals to a high standard.

• Educated to GCSE or NVQ Level 3
• Excellent numeracy and literacy skills
• Experience of supporting families who have children with additional needs, including knowledge and understanding of Autism spectrum conditions and the impact on young people and their families.
• Experience of working in an office-based environment.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office and various IT systems.
• Ability to work independently and manage own workload
• Understanding the significance of safeguarding and demonstrating a personal commitment to safeguarding.

Benefits:

• Annual Leave 27 day holiday plus 8 days bank holidays rising to 30 after 5 years, 33 days after 10 years. Holidays pro-rated on number of hours worked.
• Generous pension scheme and death in service benefit , up to 7% company pension contributions and up to 6 x basis salary death in service 
• Occupational sick pay and family friendly policies including enhanced maternity, paternity and adoptive leave.
• Reward and Discount platform offering discounts at high street shops, travel, insurances etc.
• Cycle to work scheme
• Eligibility to apply for Blue Light card
• Proud to be a real living wage employer
• Refer a friend scheme, be rewarded for recommending a friend to work with us
• Comprehensive training and development opportunities, including apprenticeship qualifications
• Long service awards including cash gifts and extra holiday.
• Promotion of Wellbeing across the organisation including Mental Health First Aiders offering wellbeing support from trained colleague and free weekly yoga session  in person or online
• Access to our Employee Assistance Programme for you and adults at your home

Alongside an incredible team of like-minded peers, you’ll be working behind-the-scenes to support our staff, volunteers, families, and supporters. 

You will be helping our work happen across the charity; enabling us to care for and champion the rights, needs and ambitions of the people we support.