Independent Advocate

Job Title: Independent Advocate

Service: Coram Voice

Contract Type: Permanent

Hours: 21 hours per week

Salary: £13,380.60 per annum (£22,301 FTE)

Location: Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole (BCP) - Home based with travel across neighbouring counties

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 Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole. We are seeking applicants who have transferable skills, a willingness to learn, a desire to promote the rights of children and young people or already have an IAP City and Guilds Level 3 or IAQ City and Guilds Level 4 in Advocacy.

You will work directly with care experienced children and young people and those on Child Protection Plans providing them with advocacy support in the community and a variety of settings.

You will empower and support them 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.

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: 1st December 2024 at 23:30

Interview date: 17th December 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.