Individual Placement and Support (IPS) Volunteer in Bristol

Locations: Easton Business Centre, Felix Rd, Easton, Bristol BS5 0HE

Timings: 15 Hours per week / 2 Days per week

About Waythrough

Waythrough provides specialist support across mental health, alcohol, drugs and related areas. We deliver high-quality, evidence-based services designed around the real needs of the people we serve. Every year, we support around 125,000 people through over 250 services - and it's all made possible by our 3,500 brilliant staff and volunteers.

Make a real difference in your community

Are you passionate about helping others live safer, healthier, more independent lives? Join our team at Waythrough and support people facing challenges around mental health, substance use, housing or domestic abuse. This is more than just a job – it’s a chance to build meaningful relationships and create lasting change. We value our volunteers and seek to ensure their diverse roles are rewarding and beneficial to all.

The role:

Individual Placement and Support (IPS) offers intensive, individually tailored support to help people to choose and find the right job, with ongoing support for the employer and employee to help ensure the person keeps their job. IPS uses a personalised and strength-based approach to support people to find a job of their choosing. IPS aims to help people find paid jobs within just weeks of being referred to the service. Then it continues to work with both employer and employee to sustain the job placement for as long as possible, or to help the client into a different job. IPS directly tackles the lack of integration of healthcare and employment services and the disconnection of different specialists by integrating employment specialists into health teams.

This is a new volunteer role within the BNSSG service.

Tasks may include:

• Providing administrative support to IPS Employment teams in BNSSG.

Responsibilities may include:

• Carrying out a range of admin duties for example but not limited to sending out letters, data entry, maintaining IPS spreadsheets etc.
• Occasional minute taking in e.g. manager meetings etc.
• Managing post into the service.
• Collating and managing employer contacts with Employer Network Manager.
• Supporting Service Leads / Team Managers with audit and reporting functions.
• Potential to support clients before they engage in the IPS programme where waiting lists are in place with contact and resources.

Personal qualities:

• Professional, honest and committed.
• Approachable and motivated to engage with clients and clinicians.
• Able to demonstrate empathy and compassion.
• Able to demonstrate good written communication skills and record keeping.
• To be prepared to work creatively and flexibly.

Desirable:

• Previous experience of supporting people.
• Working knowledge of the secondary and primary care mental health services.
• Experience of liaising with or knowledge of relevant statutory services e.g. NHS or DWP.
• Knowledge or experience of working with Voluntary and Community Sector partners.

Skills we would like you to bring to the role:

• Confident IT skills – aside from any IT skills required for the role, some of our mandatory training is done online through eLearning modules.
• Non-judgmental towards people with lived experience.
• Good time keeping.
• Able to work as part of a team, on own initiative and to instruction.
• A genuine interest in being part of the mission, vision and promise of Waythrough.
• Ability to maintain professional boundaries, adhere to Waythrough policies and media guidelines, engage in supervision, and complete relevant training.

What We Offer

We value the people who make a difference every day. Alongside meaningful work, you’ll enjoy:

• Discounts from various schemes.
• Training and personal development.
• A chance to make a real difference in people’s lives.
• Free induction and role-specific training.
• Support from experienced staff and regular supervision.
• Opportunities to meet new people and develop your confidence.
• Reimbursement for travel and agreed expenses.
• Valuable experience that can support your personal or career development.

Inclusion and accessibility

Waythrough is proud to be an equal opportunities employer. We welcome applications from all backgrounds and communities, especially those with lived experience of the issues we support. We have signed up to the Disability Confident Scheme - all applicants are welcome, and adjustments can be made to enable fair participation. If you need adjustments or support to apply, please email our recruitment team.

How to apply

If you’re viewing this advert on an external platform such as Indeed, please click ‘Apply via company website’ to view the full job description and submit your application. Please note that while this role has a stated closing date, we reserve the right to close the advert early should we receive a high number of applications.