Home Careers Peer Network Mentor- Peterborough and Cambridgeshire
Peer Network Mentor- Peterborough and Cambridgeshire
£16 per hour | 3 hours per session | Sessional Worker | In person | up to 4 positions available
The role at a glance
Hours
3 hours a session
Pay
£16 per hour
Contract
Sessional
4
Location
Peterborough and Cambridgeshire
Start date
As soon as reasonably possible
Application closes
18th August Midnight
Interview date
26th August
We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, identities and lived experiences, and we particularly recognise that traditional recruitment processes can create unnecessary barriers for disabled and neurodivergent candidates.
Curiously Divergent has been awarded funding from The National Lottery Community Fund to deliver two peer mentoring groups each month for neurodivergent people in Peterborough.
The groups will create regular, accessible spaces where people can connect with others who may have similar experiences, share practical strategies, build confidence and feel more connected to their local community.
This is not about standing at the front of a room and delivering a lesson.
We’re looking for someone who can create the conditions for good peer support: making people feel welcome, encouraging connection, gently facilitating conversation and ensuring people can participate in ways that work for them.
What you’ll actually be doing
As a Peer Group Mentor, you will help plan and deliver two peer mentoring groups each month in Peterborough.
Your role may include:
- Welcoming participants and helping people feel comfortable when they arrive.
- Creating a calm, accessible and low-pressure group environment.
- Facilitating informal discussions, activities and shared conversations.
- Supporting participants to connect with one another.
- Encouraging participation without putting pressure on anyone to speak or share.
- Adapting communication and activities around different access needs.
- Helping people identify strengths, interests and personal goals.
- Sharing practical strategies and resources where appropriate.
- Supporting confidence and self-advocacy.
- Signposting people towards useful local services, groups and opportunities.
- Helping participants identify manageable next steps where they want to.
- Keeping appropriate attendance and session records.
- Following safeguarding and escalation procedures where concerns arise.
- Working collaboratively with the wider Curiously Divergent team.
What a typical session might look like
Each session will be structured enough that people know what to expect, while remaining flexible enough to respond to the people in the room.
A session might begin with a relaxed welcome and a simple introduction to the theme for the day.
From there, the group may include:
- Informal conversation around a shared topic.
- Small group or paired discussions.
- Practical exercises or reflective activities.
- Sharing strategies that people have found useful.
- Exploring local resources or opportunities.
- Time to ask questions.
- Space to talk through a challenge.
- Identifying a personal next step.
- Quiet participation for people who would prefer to listen.
There will be no expectation for everyone to participate in the same way.
Someone might contribute throughout the session. Someone else might mostly listen. Another person might need time to become familiar with the group before they feel comfortable joining conversations.
All of those are valid ways of taking part.
What we’re looking for
You might be a good fit if you…
You do not need to have followed a traditional career path to be right for this role.
Relevant experience may come from:
- Community work.
- Youth or adult support.
- Coaching.
- Facilitation.
- Advocacy.
- Lived experience.
- Supporting neurodivergent people informally or professionally.
We are particularly interested in someone who:
- Understands neurodivergence from a neuro-affirming perspective.
- Non-judgemental.
- Can build trust without taking over.
- Communicates clearly and respectfully.
- Can adapt when people participate in different ways.
- Understands that silence, movement, reduced eye contact or needing time to process are not signs of disengagement.
- Is reliable and consistent.
- Is comfortable asking for support when something falls outside their role.
- Can work independently while remaining connected to a wider team.
Lived experience is valued
Curiously Divergent is led by lived experience, and peer-informed support is an important part of how we work. Our wider delivery model combines professional knowledge with lived experience so that services are practical, trusted and grounded in real-world need.
You may be neurodivergent yourself, have experience supporting neurodivergent family members or communities, or have gained your understanding through professional practice.
A formal diagnosis is not required.
You do not need to know everything about neurodivergence before you join us.
You do need to be willing to work from a neuro-affirming perspective.
We do not see neurodivergent people as problems to be fixed.
We look at what is creating a barrier, what environment helps someone participate, what strengths they bring and what adjustments could make things easier.
That means our peer groups should be flexible, accessible and welcoming of different ways of communicating, processing and taking part.
There should be no expectation to make eye contact, speak in front of the group, sit still, socialise in a particular way or disclose personal information.
Not sure whether you should apply?
Job descriptions can sometimes make people rule themselves out unnecessarily.
If the role interests you and you think you could do most of what we’ve described, we’d encourage you to apply.
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