Sport And Youth Mental Health Project Coordinator

About the Active Essex Foundation

The Active Essex Foundation is an independent charity that has been set up to use physical activity and sport to engage and support the most inactive communities and tackle the inequalities that exist across Essex. We work with locally trusted organisations to support them in their work engaging with the most at risk in their communities.

We use Sport and physical activity to:

• Inspire communities to become more active, therefore Coordinating healthier, happier, more positive lives.
• Raise aspirations, confidence, skills, and knowledge, improving employability and enabling individuals to reach full potential.
• Strengthen, unify, and improve community cohesion, breaking down barriers and addressing inequalities.
• Improve physical and mental wellbeing.
• Impact on the reduction of crime and anti-social behaviour
• Use Physical Activity to intervene, help cope and aid recovery of poor Mental Health.

How do we do this?

• We work with locally trusted organisation to increase opportunities for people to take part in physical activity and sport in their community.
• Taking asset-based community development approach, working with communities and local partners so that we can respond directly to local insight and need.
• Grow capacity locally to sustain activities beyond the life of projects.
• Work with agencies in the sector to access resources for the benefit of the population of Greater Essex County Council Build and support networks of locally trusted organisations so that we can work together to tackle inequalities across the county.

The opportunity

Active Essex Foundation are looking to recruit a passionate and skilled person to support our Sport and Youth Mental health Project across Essex. The Essex Sport and Youth Mental Health project is a new 3-year project that has been funded through the National Lottery Reaching Communities programme and the Sport England Local Delivery Pilot.

The role of the Essex Sport and Youth Mental Health Coordinator is to support the Essex Youth Sport andMental Health Project Lead to deliver the project plan and support the network of Locally Trusted Organisations (LTOs) who use Sport and physical activity in order to support young people who may be suffering ill Mental Health.

The postholder's main role will be to coordinate the comprehensive project training programme, incorporating a core training offer for all LTOs, as well as the bespoke training run individually for the LTOs which is over and above the core training programme. Initially, sixteen locally trusted organisations have signed up to work on this project. The aspiration is for more locally trusted organisations to become engaged with the project over the three years.

The role will involve working closely with Believe Perform and StreetGames who are the specialist Mental Health training organisations for the project, to develop effective training programmes and effective measurement of the impact of the project.

The role will be employed by the Active Essex Foundation and formally line managed by the Essex Sport and Youth Mental Health Lead.

Who are we looking for?

The Active Essex Foundation are looking for passionate candidates with experience of working with local voluntary and community organisations to co-design and deliver Sport and physical activity programmes for young people.

You will have a good understanding of the Mental Health services landscape, key agencies and possible referral pathways.

You will have a good understanding of the different youth sport delivery programmes across Essex, and the training that underpins the provision.

You will have knowledge of the broader community sport system, including the role of Active Partnerships and Sport for Development organisations.

You will have excellent networking and relationship building skills with the ability to apply these to a range of organisations, especially local voluntary and community organisations that serve disadvantaged communities.

You will have strong communication skills, both written and verbal.

This role is offered as a full-time post.

Main duties and responsibilities:

• To support the development and delivery of the comprehensive project plan and support the reporting of the project progress.
• To coordinate a programme of high-quality training for the locally trusted delivery organisations to enable them to provide sport effectively to prevent young people from experiencing poor Mental Health.
• To work closely with the expert training organisations Believe Perform and StreetGames to create an impactful core training offer for all 16 LTOs in the first year, with a view to continually growing the network over 3 years.
• To support the initial sixteen LTOs to embed practice that empowers young people and ensures that their views influence project development and where appropriate, young people are involved in the direct delivery of training and interventions.
• To grow the network of LTOs who are engaged in the programme and using Sport and physical activity to engage and support young people who are suffering poor Mental Health.
• To co-ordinate the implementation and delivery of project interventions across Essex, including testing and delivering some innovative sport-based initiatives, and using Mental Health sector resources to support local delivery to help create sustainable provision.
• To ensure the examples of good practice are shared internally, within the network and with other organisations across Essex.
• To support the collection and analysis of project data and insight in collaboration with the project external evaluation partner, Centre for Mental Health.
• To be aware of policy changes in relation to Sport and Youth Mental Health.
• Represent the project at different forums and networks.
• Maintain a sound administrative function including good record keeping, finance records and the production of regular update reports.
• Maintain a flexible and agile approach to respond to the changing contexts and environments at an operational level.
• Link this work with colleagues from Active Essex Locality teams.

Other responsibilities:

• Take responsibility for personal professional development.
• Work closely with the other colleagues to improve operational practices and effectiveness.
• To work in partnership with the Active Essex Foundation Sport and Youth Crime Prevention team to ensure partnership work with locally trusted organisations
• Attend Active Essex Foundation Trustee meeting as directed by Trustees.
• Attend Active Essex team meetings as required.

Active Essex Foundation general duties:

• To adhere to existing working practices, methods, procedures, undertake relevant training and development activities and to respond positively to new and alternative systems.
• It will be necessary to work with information technology and associated systems in accordance with Active Essex Foundation policies.
• To co-operate with the Active Essex Foundation in complying with relevant health and safety legislation, policies, and procedures in the performance of the duties of the post.
• To carry out the duties and responsibilities of the post in compliance with the Active Essex Foundation equity and safeguarding policies.
• To maintain confidentiality and observe data protection and associated guidelines where appropriate.
• To carry out any other reasonable duties and responsibilities within the overall function, commensurate with the grading and level of responsibilities of the post.

The experience you will bring:

Qualifications

• Level 3 qualification or equivalent

Experience

Experience of (or demonstrable ability):

• Co-ordinating community sport projects/programmes within a grant funded landscape
• Working within sport, physical activity, and Youth settings
• Working in a multi-agency environment
• Collecting and analysing data and insight
• Building relationships across partnerships
• Undertaking training needs analysis's
• Co-designing training programmes

Knowledge and skills

• Good understanding of the Mental Health services landscape and key agencies including possible referral pathways
• Knowledge of Active Essex strategic priorities and implementation targets.
• Good understanding of the risk and protective factors in relation to young people.
• Excellent interpersonal skills to enable the development of positive relationships with locally trusted organisations.
• Ability to prioritise and manage workloads and competing priorities and meet deadlines.
• Strong communication and presentation skills
• Proven networking and partnership building skills.
• Ability to utilise a full range of standard office IT software/packages.

Personal qualities

• Proactive 'self-starter'
• Ability to seek out innovation and creative solutions.
• Ability to work as part of a team to achieve objectives.
• Promote diversity and racial equality.
• Commitment to continuous professional development.

What you should do next

Please email your CV alongside a covering letter which outlines why you are suitable for you the role and how you meet the person specification to administration@activeessex.org using the title 'Essex Youth Sport andMental Health Project Coordinator' in the subject line. If you have any questions relating to this post, please contact: Louise Voyce - louise.voyce@activeessex.org.

Applications will open on Tuesday 2nd January 2024 . The closing date for applications is Sunday 21st January 2024.

Shortlisting will take place week beginning 22nd January with successful applications being offered an interview slot by Friday 26th January 5pm , with interviews being held on 31st January and 1st February 2024.

If you know you will be unavailable on the dates above, please state this on your application form. Interviews will take place face to face in Chelmsford. If for any reason this does not suit or you would need any additional requirements, please also state this on your application form.

The Active Essex Foundation is fully committed to the principles of equality of opportunity and is responsible for ensuring that no job application, employee, volunteer or member receives less favourable treatment on the grounds of age, gender, disability, race, ethnic origin, nationality, colour, parental or marital status, pregnancy, religious belief, class or social background, sexual preference or political belief. The Active Essex Foundation is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults, and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment.