Mentoring and 121 coordinator

A bit about Active8

Active8 was created in 1990 on the request of a young man with a physical disability. He asked his social worker to arrange for him to meet with other like minded young people who faced similar challenges to him.

A residential programme was started, giving young people with physical disabilities an opportunity to meet up and try a range of exciting, challenging activities. Activities include surfing, sailing, abseiling, disability sports, arts and crafts and music events. Through this programme, young people discover that they can achieve what they never thought possible, and this filters into their everyday lives, where they become more independent and autonomous.

It became evident that once the programme finished, many young people still needed support to continue their journey to full autonomy. Employment, independent living, use of public transport, continued access to friendship and new opportunities were still areas that young people needed support with.

In more recent years we have created a bespoke AQA Accredited mentoring program to develop our older members skills to mentor our younger members. After the success of this we have secured new funding to continue this work and also be able to offer our members more individual support be it around mental health and wellbeing, raising aspirations or just being someone there to talk to.

What it is like to work for Active8

We are a charity that supports the wellbeing and aspirations of young people and consequently the wellbeing of our staff is first and foremost. We welcome flexible working and trust our staff to manage their own time.

No matter what your role is within Active8 we encourage staff to get involved with the youth work delivery and join the activities to see what the hard work behind the scenes is for.

Full time employees are entitled to 28 days annual leave and TOIL for any additional work they do.

The role

This is an exciting chance to really make a substantial difference to the young people we support at Active8.

Ideally we are looking for a candidate with experience of counselling, mentoring, teaching or youth work delivery. Having led on projects, running workshops and 121 delivery.

However willingness to learn, passion for the cause and transferable skills count for a lot and training will be provided if you do not have direct experience but you are creative, good at organising, enjoy building relationships and have an eye for detail.

An average week might involve a residential or day activity with our group. It might be meeting members on a 121 to support them with their individual needs or planning the next exciting event for our mentors and mentees.

As you would expect when working for a small charity no two days are the same and we all ‘muck in’ doing things outside of any job description - which will make working at Active8 so varied and enjoyable.

The post holder will not be expected to provide personal care. The successful candidate may be required where appropriate to support young people with tasks such as eating their food, drinking, pushing people in wheelchairs and supporting them on activities.

Job description

We are seeking an experienced and highly motivated counsellor, mentor, teacher or youth worker who has excellent planning skills, is great at communicating with different groups of people and has the ability to support our members.

Preferably the successful candidate will be able to demonstrate previous experience of leading on successful counselling, mentoring or youth work projects, have experience of 121 and lone working, experience of managing relationships at varying levels, an understanding of disability awareness, have experience leading workshops and qualifications and working to budgets.

The post holder will be required to manage the day-to-day jobs of the project including planning and running workshops, organising members to get to events including transport and adaptations needed and supporting members with 121 support. The candidate will also be responsible for supporting the rest of the team and other projects we run including Acceler8, Illumin8 and our Advocacy work.

We can’t emphasise enough how much we value transferable skills and passion so please do not be put off from applying if you are applying from a different sector/role.

Key responsibilities

• Mentoring program development and delivery in collaboration with the project participants including 1:1 work, group activities, advocacy and residentials.
• Work alongside participant’s families and other professionals who work with them to support participant’s personal development.
• Developing and maintaining communication including Online Social Networking.
• Supporting the work of the Active8 manager and work collaboratively with the other members of staff.
• Record and demonstrate outcomes to support funding application and evaluation reports.
• Producing and working to budget.
• Monitoring expenditure and ensuring correct cash handling.
• Work with and support participant’s families, carers, local community groups and agencies.
• Liaise with and where appropriate joint work with other agencies to develop and/or deliver programmes.
• Ensure compliance with all relevant policies and working practices.
• Performing and ensuring day to day administration is completed.
• To be aware of and adhere to Active8’s ethos and philosophy, Policy and Procedures.
• To maintain confidentiality of information acquired in the course of undertaking duties for Active8.
• To be responsible for your own continuing self development, undertaking training as appropriate.
• To undertake other duties appropriate to the post as required.

Person specification

Desirable experience in

• Facilitating personal development
• Developing training courses to suit groups of people, taking into account their individual and collective needs.
• Teaching or training young people or adults
• Working with people with disabilities
• Delivering outstanding support

Desirable skills, knowledge and abilities

• Excellent communication skills, especially verbal, with experience of running youth work projects
• Ability to develop an understanding of the issues young people may live with because of their impairment / disability
• Good computer and social media skills
• Excellent organisational skills
• Ability to manage multiple tasks and prioritise
• Meticulous attention to detail
• Ability to work with financial figures, budgets and business plans to a high standard
• Proven ability to develop and maintain good working relations both internally and externally
• Ability to differentiate between caring and enabling roles
• Ability to develop people’s strengths and abilities whilst taking into account their impairments
• Working with young people to safeguard their welfare
• Understand the need for personal & professional boundaries in person and online
• Ability to work around the whole of the county
• Designing and developing new opportunities for people with physical impairments
• Ability to develop independent living skills in others
• Facilitating inclusive activities
• Recording young people’s experiences, outcomes and outputs
• Providing information to aid policy, including report writing
• Supporting volunteers and young people
• Promoting a culture of health and safety
• Promoting a culture to safeguard the welfare of young people
• Use systems to safeguard young people and volunteers’ welfare

Personal Attributes

• Highly self-motivated, a pro-active and flexible approach
• Ability to work independently and on initiative
• The ability to work well with other colleagues, seeing the bigger picture and supporting peers and colleagues regardless of their role in the charity
• Ability to see the person first and take account of needs created by people’s impairment

Job Type: Part-time

Salary: £22,000.00-£28,000.00 per year

Expected hours: 21 per week

Benefits:

• Casual dress
• Company pension
• Flexitime
• Free parking
• On-site parking
• Sick pay
• Work from home

Schedule:

• Monday to Friday
• Weekend availability

Work Location: Hybrid remote in St. Austell

Application deadline: 05/04/2024
Reference ID: Mentoring & 121 coordinator