Children & Families Worker

At Hestia, we are guided by our core values and are dedicated to fostering an equitable, diverse, and inclusive organisation. Our mission is to empower individuals to rebuild their lives and achieve independence. Right now, we are looking for a Part time Children and Families Worker to play a pivotal role in our Domestic Abuse Service in Merton.

The role focuses on building positive and supportive relationships with women and their children, empowering them to work towards their goals through a strengths-based approach. This includes creating, implementing, and reviewing personalised support plans in collaboration with service users and external agencies, while also advocating on their behalf when needed.

Key responsibilities involve:

• Assisting mothers with parenting skills
• Signposting them to appropriate services
• Offering targeted support to families facing issues such as domestic abuse
• Ensuring the safeguarding of children and maintaining confidentiality at all times
• Working within relevant policies and procedures
• Providing educational, recreational, and interactive play opportunities both during term time and holidays
• Encouraging service users and children to actively participate in shaping projects through consultations, feedback, and creative engagement
• Promoting community involvement by networking, fundraising, and collaborating with statutory and voluntary organisations

Ultimately, the work contributes towards the five key outcome areas: being healthy, staying safe, enjoying and achieving, making a positive contribution, and achieving economic wellbeing.

You'll need to be able to demonstrate the core skills this role requires as well as match our values and mission. You don't have to tick all the boxes right away; the important thing is that you're willing to learn. We also value lived experience of the areas we support, so if you feel comfortable, please do mention this on your application.

This role is restricted to female applicants under Schedule 9 (1a) of the Equality Act 2010 due to the nature of the work. It requires someone who can bring optimism, resilience, and a non-judgemental, anti-discriminatory approach when supporting women and children. A calm manner, empathy, and compassion are essential, particularly when working with service users who have experienced trauma or domestic abuse.

The role demands the ability to engage directly with families in a supportive, constructive way, while maintaining professionalism and confidentiality at all times. In addition, the post holder must be skilled in partnership working with statutory, voluntary, and community agencies to achieve the best possible outcomes for families. Strong problem-solving abilities, accuracy in processing and sharing sensitive information, and a clear understanding of safeguarding responsibilities are vital. The role also requires flexibility to travel between service premises and to accompany clients when necessary.

Success in this position relies on being able to manage responsibilities effectively within a structured and often pressured environment, while always keeping the wellbeing and empowerment of families at the centre of practice.

We keep our interview process simple, so you know exactly what to expect:

• Shortlisting call: We have a team of dedicated recruitment specialists who will speak to you about your experience, motivations and values.
• Face to face interview: You will have a face to face interview with the hiring manager. Our interviews are value and competency based.

Our commitment to Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion: Our services users come from all walks of life and so do we. We hire great people from a wide variety of backgrounds because it makes us stronger. We are committed to creating and maintaining a diverse and inclusive workforce and value the skills, abilities, talent and experiences different people and communities bring to our organisation.

Hestia is proud to be a disability confident employer, dedicated to the employment and career development of individuals with disabilities. We offer a guaranteed interview scheme for all applicants with disabilities who meet the minimum criteria for the role they have applied for. We also provide reasonable adjustments during the selection and interview process, and throughout your employment with us.

Hestia is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of adults, children and young people who are potentially at risk, and we therefore expect all staff and volunteers to do the same. We require all staff to undertake internal and external safeguarding training throughout their employment with Hestia.

If your application is successful, please be aware that you will be required to undergo pre-employment checks before a formal offer of employment can be confirmed. We reserve the right to close this job advert early should we receive a high volume of applications or if the position is filled before the closing date. We encourage interested candidates to apply as soon as possible to ensure their application is considered.