Peer Support Worker in Portsmouth

Have you ever been arrested, appeared in court on a criminal charge and/or been to prison? Have you ever struggled with your mental health and/or have overcome difficulties with substance misuse? Could you use your experiences to support others? Could you show the people we support in court, custody, and prison that change is possible? If so, we have an exciting development opportunity to grow personally and professionally as part of our award-winning Liaison and Diversion team.

We are experts in employing and supporting people with lived experience, with our work being endorsed by the Lived Experience Charter. Our 18-month development programme will grow your skills and confidence and give you access to a range of accredited training to support your future career in healthcare. Many of our former peer support workers are now permanent members of our team and we have supported others into employment or further training.

We operate across Hampshire, but this post is predominately based in Portsmouth working for Berkshire Healthcare NHS Trust. You will be expected to provide one-to-one practical and emotional support to our clients and encourage them to access services which improve their health and wellbeing. If you are stable in your recovery journey and can show us how you achieved this, this could be the perfect opportunity to start a new career in care.

By using your own experience of going through the Criminal Justice System, treatment and recovery you will be supporting service users with vulnerabilities going through the Criminal Justice System. You will be a positive role model helping to understand, inspire, motivate, guide and support our service users to engage with services and work on their recovery. You will evidence and show visible recovery; showing that change is possible. You will offer emotional and practical support to our service-users by using your own lived experience of the criminal justice system and the challenges and fears this can create which will enable them to achieve a positive future.

Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust is a specialist mental health and community health services trust. Rated 'outstanding' by the CQC, we're committed to providing the best possible care to people across Berkshire. As an employer, we're committed to offering an inclusive and compassionate environment where our people share in a sense of belonging and are supported to flourish.

• Caring for and about you is our top priority
• Committed to providing good quality, safe services
• Working Together with you to develop innovative solutions

Your wellbeing is important to us. Some of the benefits of working for us include:

• Flexible working options to support work-life balance
• 27 days' annual leave rising with service + opportunity to buy and sell
• Excellent learning and career development opportunities
• 'Cycle to Work' and car leasing scheme including electric vehicles
• Access to a range of wellbeing tools and services
• Discounts at hundreds of popular retailers and restaurants
• Staff networks for race, diversity, disabilities, the environment and armed forces community to support equality
• Generous maternity, paternity, adoption and special leave
• Free parking across Trust site

The must haves for this role:

• Must have lived experience of the criminal justice system
• Must have direct lived experience and being stable in recovery from substance misuse addiction, mental ill health or other vulnerabilities. Please make explicit reference to both of these within your written application in order to be shortlisted for either of these roles.
• Must have an awareness of modelling appropriate behaviours, having the capacity to cope when unsupervised; setting clear boundaries and seeking support and guidance to support and protect own recovery, health and wellbeing
• Must have good listening skills and effective communication skills; to be able to engage appropriately with service users, carers, and colleagues, and partnership agencies.

For further information about the role, please see attached job description and person specification. We strongly encourage you to review how you meet the criteria in the person specification and write about this point-by-point in your supporting statement for the best chance of being shortlisted.

We are committed to equal opportunities and welcome applications from all sections of the community. Our commitment to inclusion is reflected in our accreditations: Race Equality Matters Silver Trailblazer, Neurodiversity in Business Corporate Member, Disability Confident Leader, Carer Confident Level 2, and the Armed Forces Covenant Gold Award. Reasonable adjustments will be provided to candidates as needed.

We welcome a conversation about flexibility and any other questions you may have. Please don't hesitate to call: Danielle Forster on 0300 123 5066 or email: danielle.forster@berkshire.nhs.uk who will be delighted to help.

Please note, if we receive a high number of applications, we may close this role earlier than the advertised closing date, so please submit your application as soon as possible.

Previous Experience:

• Lived experience of the criminal justice system a minimum of being arrested and taken into police custody and demonstratable recovery of a minimum of 1 year of no longer being in-contact with criminal justice system
• Required to demonstrate a recovery capital and period of desistance 1-3yrs from misusing substance (inc alcohol) and a minimum of one year completing any licence conditions/requirements
• Having direct lived experience of recovery from substance misuse, mental health or other vulnerabilities.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities:

• An awareness of modelling appropriate behaviours, having the capacity to cope when unsupervised; setting clear boundaries and seeking support and guidance to support and protect own recovery, health and wellbeing
• Willingness to share personal experiences in an appropriate way and maintain clear boundaries
• Empathy, patience, and sensitivity to be able to support people whilst maintaining boundaries.

Additional Requirements:

• To be a UK citizen or have the right to remain status
• Flexibility to travel to all sites
• Full driving licence and access to a car, or working towards obtaining a driving license/car
• To be able to work a minimum of 25 hours per week

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.