Independent Visitor Coordinator London, England
Job description
Job Title: Independent Visitor Coordinator
Service: Coram Voice, Independent Visitor Services
Contract Type: Permanent
Salary: £27,000 per annum
Hours: 35 hours a week
Location: Bloomsbury, London (Home Based)
Job Introduction
- Are you passionate about supporting and developing volunteers?
- Are you looking for an opportunity to help make positive differences to the lives of children and young people who are looked after or care leavers of the local authority?
- Do you want to work with a leading national independent children’s charity?
Then come join us here at Coram Voice. We have an exciting opportunity for you to become a co-ordinator of our independent visiting services in London.
We are seeking candidates who are equally committed to our objectives for children and young people the organisation and the development of our services. We recognise we are a predominantly white workforce and are genuinely committed to encouraging candidates from diverse communities in order to improve the services to the children and young people we help.
Our work
Coram Voice is a national independent children’s charity established in 1975 and has grown to become one of the leading organisations for children and young people in the UK.
Coram Voice is a leading children’s rights organisation. We champion the rights of children. We get young voices heard in decisions that matter to them and work to improve the lives of children in care, care leavers and others who depend upon the help of the state.
We provide:
- Advocacy services direct to children and young people in care, in need, in custody, are care leavers and children and young people with severe and complex mental health problems. Advocates around the country support children and young people to get their voice heard in decisions about their lives. This may be through the telephone helpline or through an advocate working directly with a child, for instance, to support them at a review meeting or to help them make a complaint about their care. Coram Voice provides visiting advocacy services to most of the secure units nationally, to Secure Training Centres, Juvenile Young Offender Institutions, psychiatric hospitals, residential special schools and children’s homes.
- A National Helpline to provide access for children and young people to advocacy and advice, with access to legal advice and links with other national helplines such as ChildLine.
- Independent Mental Health Advocacy (IMHA) to advocate for young people as qualifying patients under the Mental Health Act, to support them to get their views heard in matters relating to their mental health.
- Independent visitor services offers a child or young person in care an adult volunteer who provides independent, one-to-one visiting, advice and befriending support. Our independent visitors can become the only long-term, consistent source of support throughout a young person's time in care.
- Independent services provide independent person services for complaints by children and for reviewing whether children should be detained in secure units on welfare grounds.
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Policy and campaigning to create a better system for all children and young people looked after by the state, for their care to be more child-centred and to give young people a greater say in decisions about their lives.
- Participation services to ensure children and young people have a voice in the development and delivery of services and campaigns, and through the process, provide the opportunity to develop relevant skills that will be of benefit to them in their future lives.
- Training, development and information for young people, advocates and child care workers, offering courses in advocacy, children’s rights and child-centred practice across a range of areas including the National Advocacy Qualification.
About the Role
You will co-ordinate and deliver a statutory independent visitor service to children and young people in care and care leavers.
You will recruit, assess and train volunteers to become independent visitors, who are volunteer befrienders to children and young people looked after or care leavers. You will manage a cash flow to fund suitable activities for independent visitors to enjoy with the young person. You will manage data and reporting for this statutory service so that service leads and other stakeholders can understand the activity in the service.
We are a child led service; you will not act outside of the young person’s instructions (except in matters of child protection and safety.)You will build strong relationships with the child or young person, independent visitors and other significant adults; you will support Independent Visitors to develop long term, meaningful friendships with the young person.
You will work in partnership with other parts of the service, organisation and external agencies and professionals. This is to ensure there are pathways to attract and retain Independent Visitors in the area and sometimes out of area.
What you will receive
We wish to reward and recognise the valuable contributions our staff make to the organisation and offer an attractive benefits package to do so. Coram Voice benefits package includes a competitive salary, a matched pension scheme up to 5% of salary, generous leave entitlements of up to 25 days’ annual leave and an additional 3 days paid leave between Christmas and New Year. A supportive work environment fostering a good work/home life balance and a suite of family friendly policies, which promote employee wellbeing. You will get a genuine opportunity to make a difference every day.
Recruitment process
Once shortlisting has been undertaken, candidates will be invited for interview. The interview process comprises of a written exercise and a panel interview. Successful candidates will have a further one to one interview in accordance within Warner recommendations. Internal candidates will need to notify HR of their interest in the post and they will provide further information on the internal application process.
Returning your application:
- We cannot accept general CVs. When completing your application form, you need to address each point of the person specification and demonstrate how you meet it.
- All applications must be completed fully.
- If you are a current Coram Voice employee, you may submit a supporting statement only addressing the person specification requirements for the post.
Closing date: Tuesday 11th April 2023 at 10am
Interview date: Week commencing 17th April 2023 – TBC
Please return your application to: Human Resources via Blue Octopus.
For an informal discussion: please contact Stuart Tait, London Lead, Independent Visitor services by email: [email protected]
Coram Voice particularly welcomes applications for this post from people with care experience, and those with disabilities. We are also actively encouraging applicants from Asian, African, Caribbean and other minority ethnic backgrounds to join our teams. Whilst we have a diverse team we recognise we are a predominantly white workforce and are genuinely committed to encouraging candidates from diverse communities in order to improve the services to the children and young people we help.
We are committed to the safeguarding of children and where appropriate will require the successful applicant to undertake a check from the Disclosure and Barring Service and undertake a Warner style interview. Registered Charity No. 312278.
