Peer Supporter

Job Title: Peer Supporter

Salary: £11,111 pro-rata (£22,222 FTE)

Working Hours: 17.5 hours per week (Monday, Tuesday, Friday 09:00 – 15:00)

Contract: Fixed Term until 31st March 2027

Location: Lancashire (Central and East) community based with some limited home working.

Benefits: NCT membership with access to exclusive benefits, pension scheme, 30 days annual leave plus 8 bank and public holiday.

About us at the NCT

NCT is a charity with a clear mission: to support people as they become parents, through pregnancy, birth, and early parenthood.  

With a 65-year history of transformative change, we are a vibrant community of volunteers, practitioners, peer supporters, members and advocates. We are the largest parenting charity in the country and over the decades we’ve supported millions of people on their unique journey into parenthood.   

While many know us for our antenatal classes, we also do much more. We campaign on issues that matter to parents, provide infant feeding support, and run thousands of free community events and activities led by our amazing volunteers. We also support families facing challenges like social isolation, feeding difficulties, and poor mental health. We offer support in communities, in hospitals and online.  

 NCT is committed to social justice and equity. We are dedicated to being an anti-racist charity and believe that inclusion is everyone's responsibility. Being there for every parent requires bold action to challenge inequalities. By creating inclusive spaces and services that are built on collaboration and trust, we welcome and celebrate diversity and strive to meet the needs of the pregnant women, new parents, families and communities that we serve.  

As the world changes and new challenges are thrown up for parents, our charity must change too. Join us now and be part of this journey, and ensure that every parent feels connected, confident and safe. 

About the Role

Our Lancashire Infant Feeding Support project is commissioned by Lancashire Council, to offer infant feeding support across the region in both community and hospital settings. The support is delivered by staff and volunteer peer supporters.

We are seeking a capable Peer Supporter who will support parents at Royal Preston Hospital and on occasion East Lancashire Hospital Trust or Ormskirk District General Hospital as well as community groups and home visits in Central and East Lancashire. This role will mainly be based at out in the community, with some homeworking. Expenses will be reimbursed to/from a base (Royal Preston Hospital).

You will be responsible for offering breastfeeding support for parents within Royal Preston Hospital and on occasion East Lancashire Hospital Trust and Ormskirk District General Hospital and the community.

Some of the key responsibilities of the role include:
 

• Providing breastfeeding support to families on the wards at the hospitals, in service user homes and community settings within Lancashire.
• Support in delivering inductions for volunteer peer supporters. 
• To report any concerns or additional support needs of women to the NCT management team and/or Infant Feeding Lead for referral onto partner agencies as appropriate.  
• To attend regular supervision/support sessions. 
• Having a good working knowledge and understanding of the local demographics in the Lancashire area and ensuring all support is accessible and inclusive.
• Ensure that data collection and feedback is collected in a timely manner in an inclusive way.

You must have good communication skills and be able to build relationships and create a rapport with a wide range of people easily. This is a large project and covers multiple locations so you must be able to confidently prioritise your own work, be highly organised and able to work independently.

Being able to make decisions and respond appropriately to our staff, peer supporters and parents and other external stakeholders is essential, alongside good IT skills– including Outlook, Word and Excel – and you must have good attention to detail.
 
It is essential for this post that you undertake the training to become an NCT Breastfeeding Peer Supporter. This requires breastfeeding experience of at least 3 months. The training can be undertaken within your working hours.

The role is 17.5 hours per week which will be worked Monday Tuesday, Friday 09:00 – 15:00. This will be split across the two hospitals, in service user homes and at community settings across Lancashire, however there is also some home-based working required.

About you

• Are you within easy commuting distance around the Lancashire Central and East region?
• Are you willing to undertake our Peer Supporter training? (Requires minimum 3 months Breastfeeding Experience)
• Can you work at pace and juggle a number of different priorities?
• Are you passionate about supporting families to reach their parenting and feeding goals and contribute to their positive wellbeing?
• Do you want to join an amazing Charity that supports parents across the UK?
• Would you like to be part of an amazing team of passionate staff?

What we offer

We are taking positive action to increase diversity throughout our organisation, at all levels, and to nurture a culture of inclusion for all our people and the parents and families that we support.  More details about our Equity, Diversity and Inclusion action can be found here.

We are committed to zero discrimination both internally and externally regardless of visible or invisible difference such as sex, sexual orientation, age, race, ethnicity, disability, impairment, learning difference or long-term condition, religion or belief, gender identity, economic class, marital/civil partnership, family status including single parents, socio-economic background and pregnancy and maternity.   We provide reasonable adjustments and are committed to an inclusive and accessible recruitment process. 

We welcome and actively encourage applications from all candidates including those from under-represented groups within NCT such as individuals from Black, Asian or minority ethnic backgrounds, LGBTQI+ people and people with a disability. 

The welfare and safety of individuals is at the heart of everything that we do. NCT is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and adults and expects all staff to share this commitment.

Closing date: 21st April 2025