Job Title: Independent Mental Health Advocate
Service: Coram Voice
Contract: Permanent – Part Time
Hours: 18 hours per week
Salary: £11,755.54 - £13,351.88 per annum (FTE £22,858 - £25,962), Subject to IAQ or IAP IMHA Qualification
Location: North East (Homebased with travel to Morpeth and Prudhoe in Northumberland)
About Coram
Coram is committed to improving the lives of the UK’s most vulnerable children and young people.
We support children and young people from birth to independence, creating a change that lasts a lifetime.
Coram is the UK’s oldest children’s charity founded by Thomas Coram in London helping vulnerable children and young people since 1739. Today, the Coram group helps more than one million children, young people, families and professionals every year by providing access to the skills and opportunities they need to thrive.
About Coram Voice
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 exists to enable and equip children and young people to hold systems to account, to challenge and support them to do their jobs properly and to uphold the rights of children and young people to actively participate in shaping their own lives.
Coram Voice strives for a society which recognises, and willingly accepts, its responsibilities to children and young people, where the inequalities and discrimination they currently face have been eradicated. Where those children and young people are fully engaged in all decisions that are made about their lives. Where the views, needs and feelings that they express are at the core of those decisions.
Our Advocacy services we provide advocacy direct to children and young people in a variety of situations. 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.
About the Role
We are looking for an Advocate to join our team in the North East. We are seeking applicants who have transferable skills, a willingness to learn, a desire to promote the rights of children and young people and
- already have an IAP City and Guilds Level 3 or IAQ City or Guilds Level 4 in Advocacy, who have completed the specialist unit in Independent Mental Health Advocacy, or
- a wiliness to undertake the IAQ City or Guilds Level 4 in Advocacy.
You will work to empower and support children and young people to ensure their voices are heard within decision–making processes that effect their lives.
You will be a capable ambassador for Coram Voice with the ability to engage effectively with professionals, carers, other stakeholders and most importantly children and young people with a mental health needs.
If you have the necessary experience and skills and a commitment to promoting the rights of young people, we would like to hear from you.
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 and 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
Our Children’s Rights Managers will undertake Shortlisting. Successful candidates will 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: 12pm, Tuesday 1st October 2024
Interview Date: Tuesday 15th October 2024
General consideration for applications
- DBS checks: all posts are subject to an enhanced Disclosure and Barring check.
- Training: All successful candidates are required to complete our compulsory training programme which includes training in Advocacy (Being a Voice) Safeguarding and Diversity
- Conflict of interest: the independence of the service is important to Coram Voice. Prospective applicants need to raise any other potential conflicts of interest when initially contacting Coram Voice about this post.
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, Asian, African, Caribbean and other minority 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.
We are a leading children’s rights organisation. We champion the rights of children and get young voices heard in decisions that matter to them.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
About the role
Our passionate Regional Casework Coordinators are SSAFA’s front line of support for members of the armed forces community in need. They are the first point of contact for all beneficiaries into the Regional Office, assessing needs and allocating the case to one of our volunteer caseworkers.
You will sometimes handle complex problems from individuals who may be distressed, identifying the presenting and potential underlying needs to determine the best way to support the beneficiary. You will have ownership of cases from beginning to end, coordinating the casework process in a timely manner and ensure that the beneficiary journey is at the centre of the Service. You will have the opportunity to shape processes and procedures within the office which will lead to improvements in the service offered to clients.
To help you establish yourself in this new post you will receive excellent training and induction to SSAFA.
Whilst the post is homebased, to be eligible for this role you are required to live in the Greater London areat. There will be occasional travel around the Greater London region, and you will be required to travel for quarterly face to face team meetings.
About the team
The team work remotely and pride themselves in maintaining a close working bond which ensures the smooth operation of the office. You will work closely with volunteers from the eight SSAFA branches in the South West, supporting them to administer casework for SSAFA beneficiaries. The successful candidate will work as part of a larger team of 10, which includes two Regional Casework Managers and a Regional Operations Manager.
About you
To carry out this role successfully you will have a track record of providing welfare advice in key areas such as housing benefits, debt, disability, mobility or immigration issues. You will have knowledge of safeguarding and GDPR and experience in dealing with sensitive information and people in vulnerable situations. You will be able to provide excellent customer service by telephone, e-mail and face to face. You will have used Microsoft Office 365 to a high standard. It is important that you have experience of planning and managing your own workload, with minimal supervision.
It would be advantageous if you have an understanding of the way of life for today’s Armed Forces, veterans and their families and if you have experience of recruiting and supporting volunteers. An understanding of the voluntary sector and preferably the military charity sector landscape across the London area would be valuable
About SSAFA
SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity is a trusted source of support for the Armed Forces community in their time of need. In 2023 our trained teams of volunteers and employees helped more than 53,000 people, including veterans, serving personnel (regulars and reserves) and their families.
SSAFA understands that behind every uniform is a person. And we are here for that person and their family, any time they need us and in any way they need us.
Diversity and Inclusion at SSAFA
SSAFA exists to support a diverse range of beneficiaries within the armed forces community, and we believe diversity within our teams is key to ensuring we can deliver our services effectively. We thrive on differences and believe it is critical to our success as a worldwide charity. SSAFA is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace that seeks to recruit, develop and retain the most talented people from a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. We therefore encourage applications from all genders, races, religions, ages and sexual orientations, as well as parents, veterans, people living with disabilities, and any other groups that could bring diverse perspectives to our business.
SSAFA is committed to using the Disclosure & Barring Service to ensure we, as an employer, safeguard those we serve.
No agencies please. Any unsolicited submissions from agencies will be accepted as a direct application from the candidate and no fees will be payable.
Closing date: Midnight on Tuesday 27 September 2024. SSAFA reserves the right to close the vacancy early if we receive a high volume of suitable applications.
Interviews: 8 and 9 October 2024
This is a new role, and an exciting time to join our well-regarded and high performing team.
You will have a strong background in advocacy and strategic communications at a senior level, with related skills and abilities, and have a good understanding of human rights in the UK, including our everyday rights.
Please read the application pack, and submit a CV together with an application form, detailing how you meet the person specification.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.