Wood Street Mission Services Co-ordinator Job Pack
2 August 2016
Dear Applicant,
Thank you for your interest in the role of Services Coordinator at Wood Street Mission.
Wood Street Mission is a registered children’s charity based in the centre of Manchester. We support children and families living on low incomes by helping meet their day-to-day needs and improving children’s life chances. The numbers referred to us for help has doubled in recent years and we support about 3000 families and 7000 children every year. Earlier this year, we opened a community shop at our central Manchester premises where families can shop with credit allocated on the basis of family size. The pilot has been a big success and we are now looking to develop the project so families using the shop can access a broader range of support.
We want to recruit someone to help run the shop, organise a programme ofpractical workshops and support activities for families using the shop, and importantlydevelop our signposting systems.Candidates should have significant experience working directly with families, be familiar with child poverty issues and support services working with low income families, and have strong organisational skills. Knowledge of child safeguarding and protection issues is a pre-requisite.This is a new post and a great opportunity for someone committed to making a difference to the lives of local children. It is also an exciting time to join the charity in the run up to our 150th Anniversary in 2019.
If you are interested in an informal discussion about the role please contact chief executive Roseanne Sweeney on 0161 834 3140. Candidates should email completed applications and monitoring forms to by 5pm Thursday 25 August 2016. Please note previous applicants to this position need not apply.
For more information about our work go to
Good luck with your application.
Regards
Roseanne Sweeney
Chief Executive
Services Coordinator Job Description and Person Specification
Salary: £20K -£22K per annumdependent on experience
Hours: Full-time 35 hours a week
Responsible to: Chief Executive
Services Coordinator
Core Responsibilities
-Be responsible for the day-to-day running of our community shop ensuring its well-stocked and responsive to families needs throughout the year
-Work in partnership with referrers and other stakeholders in order to develop our signposting systems and provide a broader range of support for families
-Organise a programme of practical workshops and support activities to help meet families’ day-to-dayneeds and promote children’s life chances
-Be the main point of contact for familiesand children accessing poverty relief projects ensuring they are involved in project planning and delivery
-Supervise volunteers working in the shop and Family Room so they are well briefed and able and motivated to carry out their roles
Job Description:
1. Coordinate the delivery of projects providing practical support to families through our community shop and Family Room in Wood Street Mission
2.Be responsible on a day-to-day basis for the smooth running of our community shop ensuring it is well stocked, professionally presented and correctly priced.
3. Research and set up workshops and information and supportactivities for families using the shop to help meet day-to-day needs and improve children’s life chances
4. Develop signposting and onward referral systems to provide more effective and joined up support to families particularly those in most need
5. Effectively implement child safeguarding and protection policies and procedures
6. Promote projects to familiestaking into account the diverse nature and vulnerability of the client group
7.Supervise, recruit and train volunteers to work in the community shop and Family Room to help ensure a high quality of service
8. Be responsible for the development and implementation of monitoring and feedback systems to ensure our projects are informed, evidence based and meeting need
9. Liaise with families to identify unmet support needs and in conjunction with the chief executive develop our services
10. Attend meetings with external stakeholders in order to develop service delivery, build links with other support agencies and keep up to date with good practice.
11. Organise other events if required, including book clubs in outreach locations in partnership with children’s centres, churches and community centres
Person Specification:
1. At least three years’ experience working with families in a frontline support or advice role
2. Strong understanding of the support needs of families living on a low income
3. Empathetic, non-judgemental and practical
4. Knowledge of child safeguarding and protection procedures
5. Experience of inter-agency working includingimplementing signposting systems
6. A good understanding of and commitment to diversity and equality issues
7. Able to organise and supervise a calendar of workshops and activities for families
8. Highly organised, methodical and able to work on own initiative
9. Good interpersonal skills with a wide range of people
10. Experience working with volunteers
11. Able to implement monitoring systems