Community Support Worker

What difference can NAB make?

Did you know that every day, 250 people in the UK are told they are losing their sight? Within Northamptonshire alone, there are approximately 30,000 people living with a visual impairment.

At NAB, it is our goal that the world sees sight loss differently. Whether that is through community engagement to challenge and educate people’s preconceptions about what life is like as a visually impaired person, or supporting individuals throughout the county to live fulfilling and independent lives, regardless of whether they are newly diagnosed or have long-term experience with sight loss.

No one should have to face sight loss alone. Let’s face it together.

Meet NAB

We are a growing charity devoted to bettering the welfare and circumstance of visually impaired people throughout Northamptonshire. We have 3 hard-working teams that approach their work with humour, fun and compassion for each other and the individuals that we encounter.

This role will see you join our Community Services team, serving as our direct link to our clients. We work closely with our service users to support them in a diverse assortment of positions, including our Children & Families service, our Volunteer Coordinators, and Community Support Workers, and our Eye Clinic Liaison Officers working alongside local hospitals to support individuals at the point of diagnosis, with team members operating in a variety of roles throughout the county.

JOB DESCRIPTION

JOB TITLE: Community Support Worker

RESPONSIBLE TO: Community Team Manager

RESPONSIBLE FOR: N/A

JOB PURPOSE: Seeking an individual located in the north of the county, to work from NAB head office and home: to represent the charity in their local area, provide a range of home and community based support, advice to visually impaired people (clients). To promote the work of the association within the community; e.g., agencies, hospitals, schools and businesses; in order to help people with a visual impairment live full and independent lives.

PRINCIPAL RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Establish and maintain contact with clients in an area of the county by home visiting, telephone or other means as appropriate, offering help, support and encouragement to live and independent lives.

2. Assess client needs and, whilst promoting independence, help them to get assistance and support they need by delivering it personally, through the use of volunteers or referral to others as appropriate. This is likely to cover a range of issues including:

• Coping with everyday tasks such as reading, shopping, correspondence, making appointments, using equipment such as telephones, cookers and IT equipment.
• Entitlement and access to benefits, care, housing, educational or medical services.
• Help with such things as personal finances, maintaining a healthy, active and independent lifestyle, personal safety and coming to terms with sight loss.
• Support for carers/families.

3. Promote the benefits of effective lighting, magnification and other aids and equipment in maintaining personal independence and wellbeing and, where beneficial to them offer to demonstrate, supply and set up products appropriate to their individual needs.

4. Be aware of and liaise with statutory and other services, clubs and interest groups so you can effectively signpost, refer to, represent and join up clients as appropriate.

5. Where client needs are not or cannot be met locally, work creatively with them, colleagues in NAB and elsewhere to try and meet their needs in a sustainable way.

6. Promote the work of the association to clients, their families and groups / businesses in the community to raise awareness of, support for the association and blind and visually impaired people generally; to include fundraising and delivering Visual Impairment
Training.

7. Support clients and/or volunteers by helping them to establish, manage and run social and other groups ensuring they meet client needs and are sustainable. Interact with NAB social clubs, branches on a regular basis including visiting or running sessions as required.

8. See to amicably resolves any problems between clients, staff, volunteers, social clubs and agencies keeping the needs of clients to the fore at all times.

9. Maintain an appropriate level of awareness of the issues facing visually impaired people, including research to enable you to help clients as effectively as possible.

10. Maintain records and monitoring systems using IT, database as may be required to facilitate the above.

11. Identifying the need for client volunteer support, work with NAB volunteering coordinator, to ensure the arrangement benefits everyone involved.

12. To undertake fundraising activities and, if requested, support them through the provision of guidance on such things as planning, delivery and promotion in order to maximize their chances of success.

13. Contribute to the promotional and commercial activities of the charity, for example organising and delivering Awareness Raising sessions to clubs, groups, hospitals and business attending events aimed at promoting NAB.

14. Maintain such records as necessary, ensuring we can (a) demonstrate a process, ongoing support to evidence of the positive impact on clients, (b) provide monitoring information to funders such as the BIG Lottery Fund, (c) financial integrity, (d) sales of equipment.

15. To follow, help develop, and review policies and procedures including: publicity literature, information guides, leaflets, posters. Individual, collaborative and team participation including community team and whole team meetings.

16. Undertake such other reasonable duties and responsibilities that may, from time to time, be required or requested by CEO and Trustees.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Essential

Ability to:

• Be based at the NAB head office; home working and flexible approach to working hours and times including occasional evening and weekend working; this is at the discretion and agreement of the CEO.
• Travel throughout the county and drive your own car, mileage cannot be claimed for commuting to the office.
• Manage client caseloads, plan your own work, use your initiative/judgement to work independently with a wide range of other people and organisations to bring about the best outcome for clients.
• Carry out administrative tasks associated with the role, including the use of standard office equipment and software to compose clear, polite and well-written correspondence and give presentations to a variety of audiences.
• Commitment to equal opportunities, anti-discriminatory practice and personal empowerment.
• Identify client needs, translate them into achievable goals and help them to achieve them.
• Provide basic advocacy, conflict resolution and problem saving support.
• Provide emotional support whilst remaining objective; demonstrate empathy and communicate effectively with people of all ages and abilities.
• Provide practical help on coping with everyday living tasks when visually impaired, e.g., telephones, IT, making appointments, form filing.
• Demonstrate, set up and sell lighting, magnification and other aids and gadgets where appropriate to a client’s needs (this includes some bending and lifting).
• Work within defined processes and procedures where required.
• Build rapport and maintain effective networks / working arrangements with individuals, groups, businesses and organisation, e.g., visiting opticians, hospitals, community businesses.
• Motivate, support and build confidence in others, especially within NAB teams and volunteers.
• Maintain personal, client, employee, commercial and professional confidences.
• Work, act and behave in ways which will enhance the reputation of the charity.
• Identify potential individual / community based fundraising opportunities and help turn them into reality.
• Ask, in an appropriate way, individuals / organisations for help, support and donations.
• Work collaboratively with all team and staff within NAB to meet set objectives.

Desirable

• Numeracy and literacy equivalent to GCSE ‘C’ standard.
• A recent social work qualification.

Experience of:

• Sight loss / impairment and the challenges faced by the blind and visually impaired.
• Working in an empowering capacity with families / carers / clients.
• Using a person centred assessment and processes and managing client caseloads.
• Building and maintaining professional networks.
• Processes, procedures and health / safety obligations.

Skills, Knowledge, Belief

• Belief in equality of opportunity, personal empowerment and NAB’s charitable aims.
• Computer literate (e.g., able to produce documents in Word, input data to database systems and use email systems such as MS Outlook, etc.).
• Possession of a driving licence and use of a car for work purposes.

PAY AND WORKING ARRANGEMENTS

Hours: 37 hours a week, flexible by agreement, some evening and weekend working may be required.

Pay: £14.46 per hour (£27,821 per annum based on 37hrs/week) followed by a 3% performance related pay increase on successful completion of probationary period.

Interviews will take place on Wednesday 22nd May.

Job Types: Full-time, Permanent

Pay: £14.46 per hour

Benefits:

• Company pension
• On-site parking

Work Location: In person