Family Support Worker - Essex Care Team

Overview

This Best Companies Top 100 mid-sized organisation and Top 20 Charity is looking to appoint a Family Support Worker, on a full time basis (35 hours per week), to deliver a high-quality family support service as part of our Essex Care Team. Reporting to the Family Support Manager of the Essex Care Team and working in partnership with health, education and social care professionals, you will take responsibility for providing needs-led emotional, social and practical support to families where a child/young person has a life threatening or terminal illness. Having worked in a stressful and emotional environment you have a genuine interest in building supportive relationships and helping people; and having provided bereavement support to families, you understand processes of grief, loss and change – and how best to help others deal with its impact.

Responsibilities

• Provide needs-led emotional, social and practical support to families where a child/young person has a life-threatening or terminal illness, in partnership with health, education and social care professionals.
• Engage with families to build supportive relationships and help them navigate grief, loss and change.
• Maintain a warm, inclusive approach to achieving goals quickly and accurately.
• Apply knowledge of child protection, information sharing and data protection guidelines; work within established guidelines and lead by example.
• Work at a fast pace while maintaining accuracy; be a confident user of IT (including MS Office).
• Communicate persuasively and openly; collaborate with your team and volunteers to deliver a high-quality service and support fundraising colleagues by writing case studies and family updates.
• Demonstrate practical knowledge of diversity issues affecting children, young people and their families; be responsive to others’ needs and concerns.
• Flexible working arrangements and a full valid driver’s licence to support team and family needs; enhanced DBS disclosure is required for this post.

Requirements / Qualifications

• An experienced child health, education or social care professional; applications are welcome from those with community experience and those with a recognised qualification in education, health or social care.
• A warm, inclusive approach to achieving goals quickly and correctly.
• Experience in safeguarding, information sharing and data protection practices.
• Practical and people-oriented with ability to work at pace and maintain accuracy; proficient with IT (MS Office).
• Strong communication skills and ability to work collaboratively with team, volunteers and fundraising colleagues.
• Awareness of diversity issues affecting children, young people and their families.

Additional Details

There will be a requirement for flexible working and a full current driver\’s licence to accommodate team and family needs. An enhanced DBS disclosure will be required for this post.

About Rainbow Trust

Rainbow Trust Children\’s Charity enables families who have a child with a life-threatening or terminal illness to make the most of time together, providing expert, practical and emotional support, where they need it for as long as it is needed. For families living with childhood illness, time is everything. Right now, there are too many families coping alone with no support, no time to think, no time to make memories and no time for each other. We believe that no family should go through this alone, so we are here to change that.

Benefits

• Flexible working hours to balance home and working life
• Employee Assistance Programme with access to remote GP, counselling, physiotherapy, resources to support mental health and financial wellbeing, plus a 24/7 helpline via Help@Hand
• Company car for front line care posts
• 25 days of annual leave plus public holidays rising with service length
• Time off in lieu
• Access to Blue Light Card Scheme and other rewards and discounts
• Bike to work, season ticket loan and payroll giving schemes
• Recruitment bonus scheme
• Family friendly policies and wellbeing initiatives
• Pension scheme with employer contribution (5%) and employee contribution (at least 3%)
• Option to buy/sell annual leave and extra leave for birthday, wedding/civil ceremony, and Christmas shopping
• Robust training and development programmes