Programme Manager

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an experienced youth work professional with the skills, energy, and passion to engage with young people and youth organisations in local communities across England. You will be supporting our strategic priority to ensure the voices of young people are heard, amplified, and fully represented in their communities and throughout our organisation.

This is a new role that will be fully informed and led by the young people you are engaging with. We will expect you to take a collaborative approach to the work with young people, involving them in design and delivery whenever possible. This work will be with people aged 16-24 years old, including university students and those from marginalised and underrepresented communities.

Over the course of the 3 years you will be building on the foundations set with our pilot work last year, strengthening our relationships with youth organisations and building new ones in three new locations per year spanning regions throughout England. Through these connections, you will get to know the areas and young people who wish to actively engage with their communities and make a positive change around crime prevention, personal safety and community building. You will also build relationships with our volunteers who are working with young people.

You will recruit, plan and run Action Groups with young people focused on community action and crime prevention in each of these areas, with the support of local volunteers and the Head of Fundraising. Using previous learning and your experience you will shape and implement 3-4 future place-based models of engaging with young people, co-developed and shaped by young people. You will also be overseeing a newly created Youth Council, and coordinating the relationship with the external agency for The Lookout, our digital magazine created by students for students.

The aim of this work is to ensure Neighbourhood Watch is supporting young people to:

• engage with their communities
• address their concerns around crime and personal safety
• improve their mental health and wellbeing
• build confidence and self-esteem
• work through challenges constructively
• help prepare young people for their next steps in life with newly gained skills and experiences for their CVs and future

WORK CONTEXT

This is an exciting time to be joining Neighbourhood Watch Network (charity no. 1173349) as the trustees and staff team demonstrate their commitment to growing and developing our work with young people and underrepresented communities over the coming years. We are committed to ensuring young people are heard and represented within Neighbourhood Watch, their communities and wider society. We want to better understand and listen to how we can best support and work alongside them to create a more holistic, engaging and reflective proposition and space for young people at the organisation.  

Neighbourhood Watch is the largest crime prevention community in the UK. Neighbourhood Watch Network (NWN) is a registered charity (CIO) and is the umbrella organisation that supports local schemes throughout England and Wales. The Board of Trustees are responsible for the governance of the organisation and our small staff support team are employed to act as the strategic voice for the movement and supports volunteers and members across England and Wales to work with their communities, the police and other agencies to build safer, connected and resilient neighbourhoods.

Current estimates suggest that 2.3 million households are involved in the movement, with 60,000 active volunteer Coordinators running schemes across England and Wales. The strength of Neighbourhood Watch is in the engagement of local people to be active within their communities.

MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE POST

The post holder will develop and oversee the delivery of this new initiative as follows;

1. Understand that safeguarding practice must always come first and no young person to be knowingly put at risk. Any safeguarding concerns to be raised immediately

2. To engage with local youth organisations and relevant agencies and community map in the designated Action Group areas, getting to know the community assets supporting young people

3. Support designated local volunteers to assist with the development work and the in-person Action Groups with young people

4. Engage, enthuse and encourage young people aged 16-24 to attend Action Groups, the Youth Council, and be open to how NWN can best support them to be heard and make changes in their community and around crime prevention

5. Identify best practice when working with young people in a community context and embed it in the project areas

6. Create a comprehensive project plan fully informed and shaped by young people for NWN’s young people programme, building in evaluation and review points

7. Oversee the Youth Council and support the Young People’s Project Lead (London) Worker with the day-to-day management of it, including recruitment of participants, communication and planning of the in-person sessions

8. Work with the Head of Fundraising to ensure the work over the contract is building towards demonstrated impact and can determine a continued future funding case for support

9. Be active in using social and local media channels where relevant to raise awareness of activities and Neighbourhood Watch development

10. Manage relationships and problem solve any issues that arise

11. Provide regular written and verbal updates on the progress of the project

12.  Any other duty appropriate to the post as agreed by the Head of Fundraising/CEO

This role is funded by The National Lottery Community Grant Fund England.