SALARY: NJC Scale Points 7-11, starting at £25,584 pa/pro rata
HOURS: 18.5 hours per week
* This role is fixed term up to 31 March 2026
Touchstone is a multi-award-winning mental health and wellbeing charity operating in communities across Yorkshire. Touchstone understands that we can only deliver excellence to the people we serve if the people we recruit are happy, empowered, supported to reach their potential and trusted to lead.
This opportunity is working as a peer support worker within the Liaison & Diversion service. The Liaison and Diversion Service supports people with identified health needs who come into contact with the Criminal Justice system. These identified health needs include mental health issues, learning difficulties and disabilities, homelessness, substance or alcohol use, or any other vulnerability that is having a negative impact on a person’s life.
Information Session
Tuesday 14 January 2025 at 11am via MS Teams
To attend, please contact us or visit the Touchstone website for instructions.
TO APPLY PLEASE VISIT THE TOUCHSTONE WEBSITE FOR AN APPLICATION FORM.
Tasks
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
1. To develop and maintain positive and professional relationships with service users as a peer, appropriately sharing own experiences of recovery to empower service users.
2. To provide emotional and practical support and advice to enable service users to improve their quality of life, develop their skills and make decisions about their future.
3. To support the service and service users to engage in improving the service by engaging service users in co-produced areas of work including promoting attending co-production network groups, participating in planning and decision-making processes.
4. To respond to the needs of service users with sensitivity with regards to their age, culture, race, gender, ethnicity, social class or disability, modifying behaviour to optimise the helping relationship.
5. To work alongside Liaison and Diversion Support Time Recovery Workers and Mental Health Practitioners to encourage, motivate and support service users to engage with appropriate services. Accompany service users to attend external appointments and support networks.
6. To share information regarding support networks and community groups with service users and support their engagement and participation in meaningful activities.
7. To support the development and improvement of the service by sharing knowledge and experience of recovery with colleagues.
8. To respond appropriately to all service user needs to safeguard the wellbeing of all service users and staff.
9. To maintain accurate records of work undertaken with service users around their support, and any other records as required by the Peer and Volunteer Coordinator.
10. To attend and participate in training events, team meetings and other team events.
11. To liaise with external agencies as required.
12. To support service development, such as promoting service user involvement and helping Liaison & Diversion to centre Lived Experience in all aspects of its work.
Requirements
Essential
SKILLS
* Strong communication skills, verbal and written.
* Basic IT skills (typing and email).
* Effectively build rapport and interact sensitively with team members, volunteers, service users, members of the public and representatives from other organisations.
* Support and empower vulnerable people and other volunteers.
* Successfully work alongside other agencies and organisations in a professional manner.
EXPERIENCE
* Lived experience of offending and one or more of the following support needs: mental health issues, substance use, learning disability or learning difficulty.
* 6 months abstinent from custody and substance use.
* 12 months free from offending.
* Personal experience of recovery and support services.
Desirable
SKILLS
* Good level of ICT skills, e.g. Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint).
* Able to prioritise work, meet deadlines and negotiate timescales.
* Effective organisational skills.
EXPERIENCE
* Experience of delivering or receiving peer support.
* Experience of completing records and writing notes.
* Experience of using a Liaison and Diversion service.
Benefits
As an employee of Touchstone, all successful applicants continually benefit from the following:
* Personal wellbeing budget.
* 28 days annual leave (rising to 31 after 2 years) + 8 bank holidays (pro-rata).
* Agile working policy.
* Cycle to work scheme.
* Access to counselling and 24/7 confidential staff Mindful Employer helpline.
* Health and wellbeing and fun organisational staff away days.
* Inclusive maternity and parental policies and pay.
* A full range of staff and peer support networks.
* Excellent staff engagement.
* Lots of learning and development opportunities.
Touchstone is an equal opportunities organisation, a Trans Positive employer and applications are welcome from all sections of the community, particularly, BME and LGBT communities and/or people with disabilities who are under-represented within Touchstone. Further information can be obtained from our equal opportunities policy. Please note that we do not hold a sponsor licence and we do not intend to offer sponsorship for this particular role. You should therefore ensure that you have/will have the right to work in the UK to be able to undertake this role; if appointed, you will be required to provide relevant right to work documents at the point of an offer being made to you.
Closing Date: Sunday 26 January 2025
Interview date: Friday 07 February 2025
For more information about the role, please contact Connor Ashworth at 07442 880 894
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