Out of School Service – 555 Support Worker in Farnham

Employment Term: Time, Permanent

Salary: £13.45 per hour

Location: Farnham

Hours: Up to 30 hours a week, Minimum of 2 days per week 9am – 3pm (Term Time Only)

Benefits:

• Work for an organisation that truly considers work‑life balance and has high expectations for outcomes for both service users and teams.
• Free training courses, including Disability and Inclusion Awareness, Medication Administration, Safeguarding, First Aid, Makaton and more.
• Free DBS checks, as all staff are required to have a DBS before they start.
• Pension & Health Care Cash Plan – access to a NEST pension and Simply Health care plan.

About Us:

Challengers is a voluntary sector organisation providing play and leisure services to disabled children and young people across Surrey, Hampshire and in Richmond, Kingston, and Chichester. Our 555 Service offers urgent support to families of disabled young people aged 5 – 18 who are currently out of education. This may be due to awaiting a suitable school placement, because the young person has been excluded, or because their current school place cannot provide the appropriate support. We offer a fun, safe space at Challengers during the day where our highly trained staff help young people build their confidence, and prepare them for a successful return to school.

Duties & Responsibilities:

• Be part of the 555 Project Team, providing a high quality, fun and friendly service for young people aged 8‑18 years, many of whom may be extremely vulnerable or have been excluded from school settings. Some may display behaviour that challenges.
• Assist the Scheme Manager and Deputy in all aspects of caring and supervision of children and young people who attend Challengers, encouraging and supporting them to fully realise their abilities and providing a safe and happy play environment.
• Conduct yourself and represent the Charity in a manner that reflects all the values and principles of The Challengers Approach and act as an advocate for disabled children and young people at all times, including on social media.
• Provide all aspects of one‑to‑one, two‑to‑one or three‑to‑one care, personal, medical and intimate care, manual handling tasks and positive behaviour support for the young people who attend. This includes toileting, feeding and ensuring all care needs are met.
• Support in delivering fun and inspiring ‘play’, by setting up structured activities and encouraging ‘free play’ amongst the groups. This includes going out in the community to help young people develop life skills.
• Ensure that the children and young people at 555 are supported physically and emotionally as required. They are often in difficult and stressful situations, and you will need to support them, showing appropriate physical and emotional affection at all times.
• Work as part of a team – this includes communication, sharing information and passing on your skills to the team; as well as physical team work such as setting up the site, cleaning at the end of the day, running activities and supporting colleagues with physical tasks.
• This is a physically and emotionally demanding post, and the holder must be resilient, adaptable and able to carry out the physical aspects of the role, such as physically supporting children on and off equipment, during personal or intimate care, lifting and chasing in an emergency.
• Be confident in coping with a busy and noisy environment.
• Demonstrate enthusiasm and energy that children require of their playmates – be prepared to “let go” and have fun.
• Work well within a team in an informal working environment, while being adaptable and disciplined to ensure the needs of the young people are met; willingness to travel to other schemes as required.
• Commit to developing high quality, interesting, fun and creative play opportunities for disabled children, including those with behaviour that requires extra support, and provide activities that include all children on scheme.
• Motivate young people to play, using skills such as arts, music, sport, drama, gardening, computing and many more.

Challengers is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. The successful candidate will be subject to an enhanced DBS Check and satisfactory references. We follow equal opportunities so however you identify and whatever your background you bring with you, please apply if this is a role that would make you excited to come into work every day.