Specialist Support Worker

We’re looking for a kind, compassionate and resilient Specialist Support Worker to join our Mental Health Service in Redbridge.

£29,500.00 per annum, working 40 hours per week. Benefits include 25 days Annual Leave, pension schemes, staff discounts, healthcare and career progression.

Want to feel like you’re making a difference? You’ll feel at home here.

Making you feel at home here means helping you thrive in every way. That’s why we offer a wide range of benefits, award-winning Learning & Development and a culture that welcomes all. These aren’t token gestures – we’ve thought long and hard about how best to support our team. After all, our people are doing something amazing: helping to transform lives every day.

Specialist Support Workers provide information, social inclusion, and vocational opportunities to support people to recover and stay well; exercise choice and control in their care and lives; and participate on an equal footing in the community. Support is also provided to develop a model of re-enablement towards self-advocacy, self-management and empowerment, incorporating the principles and practice of recovery, co-production and peer support.Specialist Support Workers within Look Ahead are required to have either an extra dimension of experience or a higher qualification level as determined relevant for the particular post.

Well House is a crisis house supported accommodation service that supports individuals for between 14 and 28 days as an alternative to requiring hospital admission for their mental health needs. The service works closely in partnership with a multi-disciplinary team in order to meet individual needs, manage risk and support individuals to achieve positive outcomes. The service operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to ensure members of the local community are able to access critical mental health support at all hours. The service receives referrals primarily from a local hospital emergency department and crisis lines, and may receive these referrals at anytime of day or night.

This role involves shift working including weekends, evenings and bank holidays.

All applicants must be legally eligible to work in the UK by the start of employment as Look Ahead are not able to offer sponsorship.

What you’ll do:

Building supportive, trusting relationships with customers and creating a positive atmosphere
Carrying out holistic assessments of new customers which incorporate relevant statutory referral information
Conducting regular key work sessions that are innovative and engaging in order to achieve Support Plan goals
Create support plans for providing appropriate services based on on-going assessment and reflecting the services and resources available to enable customer to progress in their recovery
Ensuring ongoing assessment and management of risks associated with customers within an attitude of ‘positive risk taking
Provide support and access to relevant services to enable customers to continue their recovery and empower customers to self-manage their medication regimes through individual re-enablement programmes and informed decision making
Undertake support work in partnership with external stakeholders to compliment their interventions

About you:

Plans and encourages involvement in local activities.
Approachable and open behaviour
Prefers working as part of a group or team
Is fundamentally calm and emotionally resilient in the face of challenging situations
Confident in the completion of regular paperwork and is well organised
Flexible
Open to feedback and self development
Thrives on change and enjoys dynamic diverse environments

What you’ll bring:

Essential:

Up to NVQ Level 2/3 or equivalent or experience supporting people with their mental health

Specialist knowledge relevant to supporting people with a Mental Health diagnosis

Desirable:

We welcome and value applicants with lived experience of mental health services in our communities

About us:

Look Ahead is a leading, not-for-profit care and support provider in London and the South East. Our vision is to build better lives through social care and housing in local communities. As an organisation we deliver over 120 services, providing support to around 6000 customers each year. Our mission is to co-design and deliver services that offer innovative social care solutions and support people to thrive. We work across mental health, homelessness, young people and learning disabilities so there are plenty of opportunities to grow and progress your career with us.

We have a strong social purpose and we live and work by our values:

We focus on Excellence and innovation.
We are Caring and Compassionate.
We are Inclusive and Trusted.
We work in Partnership and are One-Team.

Look Ahead is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and adults at risk, and expects all employees, workers and volunteers to share this commitment.
If your application for this role is unsuccessful, but we feel that you would be suitable for another role, we may contact you to discuss alternative opportunities. If this occurs you would not need to submit another application for the alternative role.

We reserve the right to close this advert early if we are able to appoint to the vacancy before the advertised closed date.

We are committed to diversity and inclusion at work and are accredited with Silver in the Inclusive Employers Standard 2021. We are a proud member of the Employers Domestic Abuse Covenant and encourage applications from a diverse range of applicants of all backgrounds.

Please see full job description on our website

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