Support Worker

About The Role

Job Location: Bideford and Barnstaple

Salary: Between £26,208 - £27,310.40 based on 40 hours per week, 52 weeks per year, plus potential sleep-in allowance

Contract Type: Permanent

Are you looking to join a team that’s passionate about making a difference and changing the lives of children in Barnstaple and Bideford? They say it takes a village to raise a child—join our “village-like” community, providing safe and supportive homes where children truly feel they belong.

Be the person who brightens a child’s day after challenges, offering encouragement and guidance as they build confidence, develop their abilities, and overcome obstacles. This is more than a job; it’s a chance to nurture potential, create moments of happiness, and leave a lasting impact. Simply being present and dependable can mean more than you realise.

You’ll become a role model, motivator, and trusted support. Whether you’re baking together, exploring local attractions, or lending a listening ear, your presence will make a difference. While some days will be challenging, your resilience and support will provide the stability these children need to thrive. Your role is about creating a warm, home-like environment—helping with morning routines, exploring the park, or enjoying creative activities. You’ll assist with homework, prepare meals, and ensure the home feels welcoming. Evenings and weekends are for fun, from playing games to exploring new adventures.

Our children face social and emotional challenges related to their lived experiences and sometimes neurodiverse needs including Autism, ADHD, or trauma. On tough days, your understanding and encouragement will make their good days shine even brighter. Over time, you’ll witness the incredible impact of your care as they grow, flourish, and find joy.

Yes, there’s paperwork and planning, but supporting these children is never boring. The days may be long, but they fly by—and the work truly matters.

A day in the life of a Support Worker will involve:

• Supporting children to have the best quality of life possible. Whether it be through baking at home, fun days out, or going on holidays with them. You could be doing anything from making sure they have a healthy diet to going to Saunton Sands.
• Ensuring our children are kept safe and their plans are suitable for their needs. We’ll need you to help monitor their development by keeping our systems and records up to date. Don’t worry though, you’ll get all the training you need.

To be a successful Support Worker, you’ll need:

• Patience, compassion, and resilience – The children you’ll support may have experienced trauma, which may have an impact on their behaviour.
• Great communication skills – Both verbal and written communication is important in this role as you’ll be speaking to a lot of different people at different times and need to be able to update the children’s plans.
• A driving licence – Our children love to be out in the community. We need you to be able to drive them to where they need to go. We have the cars, you just need the licence.
• To be flexible – You’ll need to be able to sleep at the home during your shifts. The children need support 24 hours a day. This does mean you’ll be able to work your full week in 2-3 days!
• If you don’t already hold a qualification in residential childcare, we will pay for this. It’s key that you have this within your first 2 years of working in the sector, but you’ll have our support along the way.

In return for your time, you’ll get:

• Holidays – You’ll get 28 days annual leave. You’ll still need to work on bank holidays if the rota requires. You’ll also get an extra day off for your birthday after your first year with us.
• Pension scheme – Our pension scheme is based on you paying in 5%, and us adding 3%.
• Learning & Development Opportunities – We provide comprehensive learning opportunities for team members to develop themselves.
• Discounts – You’ll have access to brilliant discounts through the Blue Light Card and our own employee benefits platform.
• Wellbeing Support – Your wellbeing is always our priority. You’ll have access to mental health and wellbeing support. On top of this, our therapies team offers a monthly confidential check in clinic, and group reflective practice sessions.
• Cycle2Work - The cycle to work scheme enables you to buy a bicycle at a discounted rate.
• DBS – As this role required you to have an enhanced DBS carried out, we will cover this cost.
• Sleep-in Allowance – You have the potential to earn up to an additional £6,183 per year, based on completing 10 sleep-in shifts per month - but these are not guaranteed.
• After 12 months service – You’ll also be eligible for our Medicash scheme which covers a wide range of medical, health and wellbeing expenses (Including immediate access to a GP!). You’ll get life assurance paid at x2 your annual salary, and even more high street discounts.

In line with safer recruitment guidelines, we will run an online check on the successful candidate. This can and may include any public social media profiles.

At Phoenix Learning and Care, we pride ourselves on our diverse workforce, and ensuring we have an inclusive environment for all our team members. We remain committed to ensuring our teams can bring their true selves to work without risk or fear of discrimination.