Peer Support Worker with Lived Experience of Substance Misuse

ABOUT THE ROLE

We are looking for a Support Worker with personal lived experience to join the team which consists of Mental Health Advisors, and an Occupational Therapist within the Adult Community Pathway. The role delivers care and support to those who are mistrusting current services on offer in the community. This role will work alongside South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLAM) who provide the widest range of NHS mental health services in the UK. They also provide substance misuse services for people who are addicted to drugs and alcohol with 4,600 staff serving a local population of 1.3 million people.

You will use your own personal lived experiences and knowledge to build trusting trusting and supportive relationships with our participants, supporting them to reach their goals. You will offer enhanced support to these individuals, offering assertive, and flexible flexible support to individuals to engage with community resources and reduce the need for detention and long admissions. 

Shift Pattern: 37.5 hours per week, Monday to Friday 9 - 5, based out in the community with some flexibility to work from home for admin days

ABOUT YOU

We are looking for someone who has lived experience of substance misuse, you will be able to empower others to make a change, using your own personal experiences to motivate and support our participants to turn their lives around. You will be creative and able to support and implement new ideas and initiatives. You will be a team player, motivated by supporting others to achieve their personal goals, using your own lived experience.

Benefits, including Non-Contractual Perks

• 25 days annual leave, increasing with the length of service
• Training and Development, including access to courses, upskilling, and progression plans
• Medicash includes discount gym memberships, routine optometry care, dental treatments, and physiotherapy treatments
• Employee Assistance Programme, including counselling
• Reflective Practice regular sessions with a therapist provided by an external provider to support Mental Health and Wellbeing.
• Life Assurance Scheme
• Cycle-to-work scheme
• Annual Staff Awards

If you have the passion, creativity, and tenacity to make a real difference in people's lives, challenge stigma and make our communities safer, we would love to hear from you!

OVERVIEW OF KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Support participants to achieve personal goals, focusing and improve engagement and well-being with community services. 
• Ensure service responsibilities and requirements are carried out effectively. This includes but is not limited to welfare checks, risk assessments, support sessions, safeguarding checks, training and development, and other responsibilities required for effective service delivery.
• Support the team and participants with knowledge and past lived experiences, coping mechanisms, and other relevant information and guidance.
• Ensure all participants understand their rights and responsibilities and have access to the right tools and resources.
• Develop, participate in, and encourage participants to participate in the running and development of various projects and activities.
• Empower participants to make decisions and take control over their lives.
• Recognise signs of deteriorating mental health and initiate appropriate interventions to prevent a crisis. 
• Respond to urgent situations, emergencies, or crisis using protocols in place. Complete safeguarding and other referrals where required.
• Attend appointments with participants when required.
• Administration will vary.

Other responsibilities than those described above may be required to be undertaken from time to time and will be expected to be performed to as long as it is within the capability and level of the position. Please refer to the JDPS attached.

KEY CRITERIA

What we are looking for:

• Lived experience – For example personal experience with Mental Health; Alcohol and Substance Misuse; Offending Behaviour; Homelessness; and other life experiences which could be used to support those with Multiple Complex Needs.
• Ability to use, learn and adapt to IT at an intermediate level, including Microsoft and other software programs
• Ability and willingness to show flexibility of working patterns, responding to the needs of the service and residents
• Excellent communication skills both written and oral relationship building
• Ability to manage own workload and determine priorities – time management skills.
• Able to manage emotionally challenging, distressing and potentially triggering situations

What we would like, but not essential:

• Experience coordinating and/or delivering activities and interventions to vulnerable people
• Experience working with complex needs and challenging needs

Further details of the role, responsibilities and key criteria can be found in the JDPS attached.

WORKING FOR US

ABOUT US

Social Interest Group (SIG) believes good care and support improve lives. Our values of ambition, empowerment, transparency, and inclusivity drive everything we do. Our mission is to empower people who are marginalised by building powerful partnerships and creative solutions that bridge gaps in provision and aid recovery, reablement and resettlement.

SIG is a not-for-profit organisation providing thousands of people with good-quality support and care in residential, drop-in centres, community floating support settings (including people's own homes), probation settings, and hospitals awaiting discharge. We do so across London, Brighton, Bedfordshire, Luton, and Kent. We believe in the power of well-planned, well-managed services to make a difference. We work with high standards and external and internal regulatory frameworks.

Want to know how we work? Watch our short Theory of Change video to see how we support people towards a brighter future: Theory of Change

Further details can be found on our website here: Theory of Change - Social Interest Group - Social Interest Group. 

Our Values

Ambition – Eager to succeed and to accomplish as much as possible for our people

Empowerment – Giving staff and the people we support the tools, training, and information they need to achieve their potential

Transparency – Upfront and visible about our actions and open to scrutiny from stakeholders, service users, and staff

Inclusivity – Listening to, understanding, and including all our stakeholders to ensure we make a difference and get things right

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Please note that this job advert may close early due to screening applications on an ongoing basis. We advise applying as soon as possible for your application to be taken into consideration at the early stages.

Additional information on our company policies including Gender Pay, Equality and Diversity, Company Benefits and our Candidate Privacy Policy can be found on our website.

For Recruitment related enquiries, please email recruitment@socialinterestgroup.org.uk