Living Well Peer Support Worker

Join Our Team as a Living Well Peer Support Worker

Location: Derbyshire (Field Based role)

Part-time role available - 14 hours per week

About Derbyshire Recovery & Peer Support Services and Living Well

Derbyshire Recovery & Peer Support Services offer friendly, recovery-focused support to people living in the community. We help individuals build confidence, connect with others, and work towards long-term wellbeing through peer-led groups, practical support, and community activities.

As part of this, we also deliver the Living Well service in partnership with the local NHS Trust. Living Well is built on the values of peer support, shared experience, and co-production. Our local service managers lead teams of Wellbeing Coaches - many with their own lived experience - to provide supportive, person-centred help across Derbyshire. Together, we create safe, welcoming spaces where people can receive the right support, at the right time, from people who truly understand.

We're looking for compassionate people with lived experience of mental health challenges to join us as Living Well Peer Support Workers. In this vital role, you'll use your own recovery journey to offer hope, empathy, and practical support to others in the community.

Working as part of our VCSE team within the Living Well service, you'll support individuals alongside a range of professionals, helping promote wellbeing and empowering people in their recovery.

Your role will be to:

• Provide compassionate companionship, encouragement, and peer support to people experiencing mental health difficulties.
• Use my own lived experience of mental health challenges and recovery to build trust, offer hope, and help individuals regain confidence and control in their lives.
• Model self-awareness, personal responsibility, self-belief, self-advocacy, and hopefulness in my daily practice.
• Support people to engage with the service, including welcoming them and helping with first conversations.
• Offer emotional and practical support one-to-one and in groups, helping individuals build skills, confidence, and the ability to self-manage their wellbeing.
• Help people access community services and opportunities, such as housing advice, financial support, education, and social activities.
• Maintain strong knowledge of safe, accessible community spaces that can support people's recovery.
• Co-facilitate peer-led and recovery-focused groups within the community.
• Work collaboratively as part of a multi-agency team, sharing information appropriately to safeguard individuals and support their recovery journey.
• Participate in team huddles and multi-disciplinary meetings.
• Contribute my lived-experience insight to service design, co-production, and continuous improvement.
• Create lived-experience-informed resources and materials that support the delivery of the service.
• Support individuals to transition onward from the service when they are ready.
• Provide helpful feedback on my role and activities to aid ongoing service development.

Essential Skills and Experience:

• Lived experience of mental health challenges and recovery, used to encourage and inspire others.
• Commitment to making a positive difference in local communities.
• Active engagement in my own self-care and recovery.
• Understanding of mental health difficulties and their impact on daily life.
• Willingness to learn about mental health systems, trauma-informed practice, safeguarding, and confidentiality.
• Openness to ongoing training and development.
• Ability to maintain professional boundaries and work safely.
• Good communication skills and ability to work well within a team.
• Basic IT skills and confidence using digital systems.
• Ability to reflect on my work and use supervision constructively.
• Willingness to travel across the local area.

Why join Rethink Mental Illness?

We believe people do their best work when they feel supported, valued and able to be themselves. You'll benefit from:

• An inclusive culture, with colleague-led staff networks for Disability & Neurodiversity, Race & Ethnicity, LGBTQIA+, Gender Equality and Menopause.
• Flexible working and 25 days' annual leave (plus bank holidays and your birthday off), with the option to buy or sell leave.
• Wellbeing support including our Wellbeing Hub, Employee Assistance Programme, Wellbeing Champions and Unmind.
• Learning and development opportunities to help you grow your career.
• Financial and family benefits including a contributory pension, enhanced family leave and travel schemes.
• Recognition and rewards including discounts, cashback offers and a Blue Light Card.
• Referral bonus where you can earn up to £300 for introducing someone to our team.

Our commitment to inclusion

We're proud to be a Disability Confident Employer and a signatory to the Business in the Community Race at Work Charter. We're also committed to becoming a truly anti-racist employer, campaigning organisation and service provider supported by a multi-year equity, diversity and inclusion programme of work. For more information please view https://www.rethink.org/media/hdtjjy5b/revised-edi-plan-rethink.pdf

We actively encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and experiences and want everyone to have the opportunity to demonstrate their skills and experience. If you need reasonable adjustments during recruitment or when in your role, please let us know and we will work with you to understand what support you need.