| This description issues on: | March 2025 |
| Duration: | Permanent (to December 2027) |
| Hours: | 18.5 hours/week (job share with existing coordinator) |
| Salary: | £27,711 per annum pro rata (£13,855 actual) |
| Probationary Period: | 3 months |
| Based at: | Connex Community Support Office, Buxton |
| Area Covered: | Buxton and surrounding areas of the southern High Peak |
| Reporting to: | Chief Operating Officer |
Purpose
Together with the existing Service Coordinator and partner organisations across
the High Peak, coordinate and contribute to the development of Connex’
Befriending activities. Enable people to become socially connected through
support in their own home and opportunities to meet others in the community.
Duties & Responsibilities
- To organise and run the agreed activities of the service. Ensuring that they meet the relevant objectives for service users, funders, Connex Community Support and other stakeholders.
- Ensure effective working together with the existing Service Coordinator and relevant staff from partner agencies, in order for Connex to fulfil its obligations within the delivery partnership.
- Proactively develop and maintain effective referral links and mechanisms to a wide network of other services and organisations, particularly from the health sector, ensuring the service can be accessed easily by those in need.
- Be the first point of contact for service users, making sure
- a) their needs are sensitively and correctly assessed, including any risks and
- b) the appropriate support is arranged through the befriending service, another Connex service or that of an external organisation.
- Recruit, induct and supervise volunteers to help deliver the service, ensuring they are supported at all times and have opportunity for development through training.
- Assign the appropriate volunteer in line with their skills and interests and the client’s needs, monitoring the client/volunteer relationship thereafter.
- Provide regular communication and organise occasional thank you events for volunteers so they feel engaged and rewarded.
- Engage frequently and methodically with service users, volunteers and other stakeholders to ascertain feedback on the service and to what extent their expectations and needs are being met.
- Assist with the promotion of the service and of volunteering opportunities using all available options, including print, online, networking, events and talks to external audiences.
- Contribute to the development of the service by working with the manager as well as partner organisations in the reviewing of the service, scoping of new opportunities and the collation of information for meetings or future funding applications.
- Collate all monitoring data required to demonstrate the outcomes and quality of the service and prepare required information or reports for partner organisations, other funders or stakeholders, internal as well as external.
- Ensure that service user data is processed and recorded as required and in line with agreed procedures and policies.
- Ensure the service is delivered within the allocated budget and that all expenditure as well as service user cash is correctly handled and recorded.
- Undertake risk assessments for the range of social activities delivered by the service, taking appropriate action with regards to any identified risks.
- Comply with all Connex Community Support’ policies, procedures and relevant statutory requirements.
- Carry out other appropriate duties as may be required from your manager from time to time.
Person Specification
1. Essential Qualities
- A team player with very good interpersonal skills and experience of working with a wide variety of individuals and organisations.
- Outgoing and proactive in establishing and maintaining professional networks.
- Empathetic individual who is able to demonstrate sensitivity towards vulnerable older people and their needs.
- Calm and patient with the ability to identify the right support options for people in need, including the matching with a volunteer.
- Enjoyment of working with volunteers and ability to enthuse them for becoming involved, trained and engaged with clients as with the organisation overall.
- Self-motivated, able to take responsibility and organise time efficiently, including conflicting work pressures.
- Very good listening, written and oral communication skills.
- Self-sufficient IT skills, including a very good command of general Microsoft applications, specifically Word and Excel.
- Good with numbers and diligent at recording information.
- Understanding of and commitment to Equal Opportunities.
- Must be able to travel around the area with either own transport or a suitable alternative.
2. Essential Qualities
- Experience of working in a social care capacity or in a charity.
- Awareness of the statutory requirements relevant to volunteering and befriending activities.
- Ability to design materials on Canva, Publisher or similar.
3. Flexibility
- We are a small office team, therefore, we require all our staff to be flexible in what they are willing to do.
- We aim to be flexible regarding the timing of each staff member’s hours, within the constraints imposed by the services that we provide.
4. Disclosure and Barring Service Certificate
- The direct services operated by Connex Community Support work with elderly, disabled and vulnerable people. We, therefore, require all staff to obtain a certificate of enhanced disclosure issued by the Disclosure and Barring Service.
- If your application to this post is successful, and you do not currently hold a certificate, Connex Community Support can assist you in obtaining one. However, we cannot confirm your appointment until a disclosure certificate has been issued.
