Relief Support Worker

Information

The people who use our services tell us we’ve changed their lives.  Our employees tell us they’re supported, enthusiastic and have opportunities to develop meaningful careers.  We’re looking for someone great to join our team.

 

Our staff have come from all walks of life; some have a faith and some don’t.  We don’t want you to be a cog in a wheel.  We want you to bring your skills and experience either from the care sector or gained elsewhere – we know they are transferable.  Your journey won’t stop there though as, using the strengths of a large diverse organisation, we’ll support you to develop new skills and qualifications and give you the opportunities to put them into practice.

We’re all about the people we support.  We want them to achieve the highest quality of life they can and you’ll be more important in that than you know.  You’ll need to be able to discern the person behind the behaviour and be able to develop strong supportive relationships with colleagues

There’s space to be creative and find ways to help the people who use our services achieve their goals so when you see a problem you’ll need to have the heart to fix it.

Main Function

To work as an integral part of a team providing services through individual and group support to people with mental health problems and their carers.

Main Duties

1. To consult and liaise with service users and to foster collaboration between agencies in developing and implementing the service attempting to meet their identified needs.
2. To work with staff and other professional colleagues to maintain and develop referral procedures for new and potential service users and to administer the operational policy.
3. To ensure that the staff group is made aware of the needs of user groups, material and equipment to run the service effectively.
4. To take part in the monitoring and evaluation of the service and to keep any records in connection with this.
5. To promote the philosophy of user choice, self-help and empowerment at all levels within the project.
6. To work with service users to identify interests, need and potential of individual.
7. To get to know the person and establish the sort of lifestyle they wish to develop.
8. To ensure the service user is helped to make choices and gain skills in a fashion that reflects the dignity, privacy, and uniqueness of the individual.
9. To encourage the service user to build and maintain a natural network of friends, family and neighbours. To connect individuals with others in the wider community with whom relationships may develop.
10. To encourage and support the use of local community facilities.
11. To recruit, interview and select volunteers from local communities according to established procedures.
12. To provide ongoing support to volunteers within the Centre and to those who are part of the outreach projects.
13. To work with volunteers in identifying training needs.
14. To identify potential volunteering opportunities out with the project.
15. To have a working knowledge of CrossReach policies and procedure and implement and adhere to those relevant to the service.
16. To undertake staff development and training in accordance with the policy of CrossReach through its own People Development courses and attend external training courses as required.
17. To achieve an appropriate balance between safety and security within the context of supporting the service user in making choices.
18. To assist in the day-to-day organisation and general operation of Morven Day Services including outreach projects.
19. To attend meetings or local forum as requested by the Service Manager.
20. To receive supervision from line manager on a regular basis.  
21. To undertake other duties deemed necessary to fulfil the aims of the post as directed by the Service Manager.
22. There are different aspects to the support offered by the service, so flexibility is required.  The post holder may be asked to work in Morven Day Centre alongside other staff and/or in the community, with or without other staff and/or to work with volunteers.

Qualifications

Ideally, the post holder will possess an SVQ Level 3 qualification.

Personal

You will be required to have the ability to work as a member of a small staff team as well as on your own initiative.  An ability to demonstrate empathy with our client group is preferred.

As we do our work in Christ’s name you must be respectful of our Christian Ethos and be able to work within it.

This post requires you to be a member of the Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) Scheme and undertake the necessary vetting checks.

Skills and Abilities

Essential:

• Postholder must possess basic computer literacy skills including use of Microsoft Office and the internet.
• Social Work/Social Care or related discipline and a proven ability to work in an interagency setting.

Desirable:

• An understanding of mental health problems and experience of working with people with mental health problems is preferred.