Breathing Space - Wellbeing Worker

To assist service users to live their best lives by assisting them - directly and through others - to exercise choice in order to:

• improve their mental health and wellbeing;
• reduce loneliness;
• increase social participation;
• work towards goals;
• develop their independence.

Key Responsibilities

• Establish and maintain relationships of trust with service users, in order to build engagement.
• Help service users to set, prioritise and achieve personal goals, to increase hope, motivation and ambition.
• Work flexibly with service users in their homes and/or in the community.
• Value the lived experience of service users and enable them to use that experience to support each other and improve their Together service.
• Help to reach people in the community who are most in need, including those in marginalised or minority populations.
• Carry out assessments and determine urgency of service user needs.
• Work with professionals from other agencies and make onward referrals, linking service users into other community opportunities.
• Carry out risk assessments, in order to keep service users safe and improve the quality of our support.
• Motivate and support service users to maintain safe and secure housing, deal with financial issues, navigate the benefits and education systems.
• Assist service users to manage friendships and family relationships; manage their lives by helping with bills, forms, mail and appointments, accompanying service users to appointments as and when necessary.
• Adhere to the Together policy on lone working.
• Make timely records which are concise, accurate, written for the service user to understand, using Together computer-based systems.
• Write clear word processed and handwritten reports (training provided) and records in English.
• Participate in mandatory and job-related courses and learning activities.
• Maintain professional boundaries in all aspects of work with service users.

Skills, Knowledge & Expertise

Essential:

• Experience in supporting vulnerable individuals gained from paid work and/or voluntary and/or life experience.
• Minimum of GCSE or Level II qualification in English, or equivalent.
• Basic competence in the use of email and word processing software.
• Demonstrate a non-judgemental attitude and able to be empathetic towards service users and create a trusting environment.
• Able to work in partnership with service users and establish and maintain professional boundaries in working with service users.
• Able to establish and maintain a safe environment.
• Willing and able to undertake domestic tasks with, and for, service users as necessary.
• Demonstrate problem-solving skills relating to welfare benefits, education and relationships.
• Open to - and willing to participate in - formal and informal job related learning.
• Willing and able to collaborate with colleagues and other organisations.
• Able to use email and computerised systems for service user records and reports.
• Able to travel; have access to car/public transport.
• Able to work a varying pattern of shifts on a 24 hour 7-day week rota, with notice.

Desirable:

• Lived experience of mental distress.
• NVQ Level II in Health and Social Care, or equivalent.