Mental Health Group Facilitation Co-Ordinator - FTC until 31/03/2027 - East Kent

A unique opportunity to shape and deliver a new integrated group programme supporting people with co-occurring mental health and substance misuse needs across East Kent and Medway. This is a full-time role (35 hours per week), offered on a fixed-term basis until 31/03/2027.

We are looking for a motivated and collaborative practitioner to coordinate and facilitate psychosocial group interventions, ensuring service users receive joined-up, person-centred support that responds to complex needs. You will play a key role in bringing services together, strengthening joint working between mental health and substance misuse teams, and improving outcomes for those we support.

What you will be doing:

• Coordinating and delivering a regional group programme across East Kent and Medway
• Facilitating psychosocial drug and alcohol group sessions
• Assessing suitability for group interventions and reviewing referrals
• Maintaining contact with service users before and after group work
• Working closely with mental health providers and partner agencies
• Supporting evaluation, reporting, and continuous service improvement

Who this role supports:

You will be working with adults (18+) who may:

• Experience co-occurring mental health and substance misuse needs
• Be involved with criminal justice or social care services
• Require coordinated support from multiple services and agencies

What we are looking for:

• Experience in mental health, substance misuse, or psychosocial support
• Confidence in facilitating group work and delivering 1:1 interventions
• Strong partnership-working skills across multidisciplinary teams
• Ability to assess risk, manage referrals, and prioritise effectively
• A reflective, proactive, and solution-focused approach

This is a highly collaborative role where integrated working is essential. You will need to build strong relationships across services, support continuity of care, and contribute to a developing group programme that makes a real difference to people's lives.

About Us: We are The Forward Trust, the social enterprise with charitable status that empowers people to break the often interlinked cycles of crime and addiction to move forward with their lives. For more than 25 years we have been working with people to build positive and productive lives, whatever their past. We believe that anyone is capable of lasting change. Our services have supported thousands of people to make positive changes and build productive lives with a job, family, friends and a sense of community. We are committed to our cause and the work we carry out as a charity.

Benefits:

• Flexible working
• Training and development opportunities
• Simply Health Cashback Scheme (optional)
• Season Ticket Loan Scheme
• Cycle to work scheme
• Crisis Loan Scheme
• Electric Car Scheme
• 3 x Wellbeing Days (pro rata'd for part time employees)
• Access to Blue Light Card
• 25 days (rising to 30 with length of service) Annual Leave plus Bank Holidays
• Contributory Pension Scheme - Employer matched contributions of up to 6% in the first two years service and up to 9% thereafter
• Death in Service Payment (2x annual salary)
• Critical Illness Insurance (subject to qualifying criteria)

Please note that we may close this vacancy early if we receive a high volume of suitable applications.

Diversity at Forward Trust: The Forward Trust commits to providing opportunities to everyone. We want to ensure we have a diverse team with a range of lived and professional experiences. This includes those with Lived Experience of addiction, offending, or homelessness. When we recruit, we welcome applications from everyone. This is inclusive of age, gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion and/or belief, marriage and civil partnerships, pregnancy and maternity and socio-economic background. Where operationally possible, we will consider flexible working requests and make reasonable adjustments for all roles.

To find out more about Forward's commitment to being an inclusive employer and our current EDI strategy, please let us know.

Employee Screening and Eligibility to Work: Dependent on role you may be required to undertake a Disclosure and Barring Service Check, details of which will be shared with you at interview. If successful in your application, you will be required to provide eligibility to work evidence in line with the Eligibility to Work in the UK requirements.

Our Commitment to Safeguarding: We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people, and adults at risk. Forward Trust follows safer recruitment practices and supports a culture of openness and accountability.