Job Title: Support Worker
Contract Type: Permanent
Full Time: 37.5 hours per week
Working Pattern: 3 week rolling rota including weekends and bank holidays
Salary: £22,898
Location: Based in Bristol

Want to make a real difference to the lives of people? For over 90 years, The Riverside Group has been providing affordable housing across the UK to people as well as care for the elderly and support for those who face homelessness.

The difference you’ll make

You’ll be working from one of our supported services and you’ll support a number of different people.

You’ll support our customers in a variety of ways. For example, linking them in with employability coaches and other support agencies, helping them manage their money, signing up for benefits or to move on to a more permanent home.

It’ll be your job to help boost their confidence and support them on their journey as they rebuild their lives.

Through all of this you’ll need to keep records of everything, so there is some admin to do.

So, who are you?

At times this role is tough but most of the time it can be incredibly rewarding. You will need to be resilient, empathetic, and able to leave your work at work and not take it home with you.

As a minimum requirement you’ll need:

• Experience of working with vulnerable people

• Experience of delivering structured support and risk management

• To be a team player with a caring, empathetic, flexible and have a resilient, can-do attitude

Ideally, you’ll also have:

• An understanding of supporting vulnerable people – this could include having your own lived experience of homelessness or drug or alcohol addiction.

You will be required to work flexible hours to meet customer and business needs, which may not include normal office hours and may include Lone Working

Enjoy the rewards

Working with us, you’ll enjoy competitive pay, 28 days holidays plus bank holidays, a wide range of benefits, flexible working, and the chance to learn valuable new skills. We empower our people to do great work by investing in learning, personal development, and technology.

If you’re the kind of person that wants to do a really great job and make a difference to our customers, we think you’ll love it here. Sound like a challenge you’d like to take on? Then get in touch and let’s talk about how you can help us transform lives and revitalise neighbourhoods.

We encourage applicants from all sections of the community so that we can truly reflect the neighbourhoods in which we work.

Job Profile

Supporting Customers:

We use Psychologically Informed approaches and Trauma Informed Care principles to support our customers to develop new ways of thinking and to make steps towards independence, by:

• Leading on Co-producing bespoke support and move-on plans, involving key stakeholders (e.g. family/other support providers), where appropriate.
• Organising and carrying out regular planned reviews of support and risk plans, or following an incident/significant change in a customer’s circumstances.
• Engaging customers to meet agreed outcomes and develop life skills.
• Assisting customers with day-to-day support and tenancy-related matters.
• Identifying and promoting opportunities for employment, education and training and supporting customers to remove barriers to accessing these opportunities.
• Signposting customers to appropriate external support services, including interventions such as food banks and other community resources.
• Supporting customers to be ‘tenancy ready’ to enable successful move on.
• Supporting customers to be financially independent through budgeting plans and maximising income.
• Supporting and monitoring customers’ healthcare needs, ensuring appropriate contact with healthcare professionals.
• Empowering customers to move towards self-management of their medication by following the medication procedure.
• Leading on support initiatives including Group Work.
• Ensure the safety of our customers by following local safeguarding procedures, recognizing and acting on any significant risk, and escalating appropriately.
• Record and update clear, factual, accurate, strengths based customer information on the local or appropriate digital platform.

Service Delivery:

• Facilitate the referral process into the service and assess potential new customers.
• Contribute to the delivery of a housing management service, including income collection and providing customers with tenancy-related support.
• Work with customers to maintain a safe environment by reporting repairs and health and safety concerns
• Clean and prepare rooms as appropriate.
• Resolve difficult and challenging situations in a sensitive and informed way, balancing the needs of the individual with responsibilities for the safety of the service
• Develop and maintain local partnerships to provide a holistic range of support for customers.
• Carry out day-to-day administration and operational duties.

Other Information

• You will be required to work flexible hours to meet customer and business needs, which may not include normal office hours.
• You will be required to travel to different properties within the defined area as and when required.
• Use the Lone Worker system as and when necessary.
• Ensure customers are safe at all times - carrying out all of your duties within Riverside’s Policy and Procedure Policy and Procedure framework e.g. health & safety, safeguarding, dignity at work, GDPR opportunities, cash handling, etc.
• Deliver your role in line with Riverside company values – “Our Riverside Way”.
• Participate in team meetings, attend regular supervisions and reflecting practice sessions.
• Undertake regular training and take responsibility for continuous development to enable you to deliver your role safely.
• From time to time you may be required to undertake additional duties and responsibilities in consultation with your Line Manager.

Person specification

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

Essential

• An understanding of the barriers faced by vulnerable and diverse customer groups and individuals with complex needs.
• Experience of delivering structured support and risk management.
• Be a team player with a caring, empathetic, flexible and have a resilient, can-do attitude.
• Previous experience in positively resolving incidents.
• Demonstrate initiative and confidence to make and act on decisions.
• Competent administrative and IT skills (to be able to produce reports and other communications)

Desirable

• Knowledge of Psychological or Trauma Informed approaches to support.
• Experience of working in challenging environments with the ability to plan, prioritise, organise tasks to achieve results.
• Knowledge of current benefit systems.
• Experience of working in a care and support environment.