Title:Building Connections Groups Coordinator

Job Description

Title:Building Connections Groups Coordinator

Responsible toService Manager, Building Connections

Hours35hrs per week, including evenings

Salary Grade(pay band care worker + 3 points) £24,525pro rata

Contract:Permanent

About Us

Hammersmith and Fulham Mind Building Connections facilitate a variety of groups and activities for people with mental health problems who live in the borough. Our service aims to be socially inclusive and recovery focused.

We are looking for a dynamic and creative individual who can take a lead in coordinating a service to support people to engage in community activities.

Our activities have a therapeutic, creative and wellbeing focus. We strive to build partnerships with external organisations, thereby breaking down barriers, de-stigmatising mental health and easing the move-on of service users to mainstream activities. A primary part of this role is to develop these partnerships, reaching out to other organisations within the community, further developing the recover focused and socially inclusive model which we work to.

We provide a time-limited service that empowers service users to discover or rediscover interests, skills and experiences that can help them build a positive sense of identity and self esteem; helping them to get well and stay well. We also support our service users to move on to mainstream socially inclusive activities, including training, volunteering and employment.

We are looking for someone with experience of coordinating a team of volunteers, building up partnerships and working with people with mental health problems in a socially inclusive and recovery-focused setting.

Job Purpose:

To coordinate the day-to-day running of theBuilding Connections Groups service at Hammersmith and Fulham Mind. To provide support to volunteers facilitating groups as well as to service users. To build up and maintain partnerships and further the development of the service in order to achieve the best outcomes for service users.

Job Detail:

Volunteer coordination

1.To recruit, train and coordinatea team of volunteers to facilitate groups, carry out one-to-one work and administration.

2.To provide support to volunteers to stay in their roles, including providing support in their own development.

3.To identify gaps in service delivery and work with partners to find solutions to these gaps, making full use of volunteers to take up any roles identified.

4.To build up partnerships with other agencies to ensure a sufficient inflow of volunteer applications such that service delivery is maintained to a consistent high standard.

5.Working with other projects within and outside Hammersmith and Fulham Mind, to encourage peer volunteers (people with lived experience, including current/former service users) in particular to take up voluntary positions, and to support these accordingly.

6.To provide day-to-day direction and supervision of volunteers, with the support of the Service Manager.

Partnership working and service development

7.To build up and strengthen the partnerships which underpin the working model at Building Connections.

8.To establish new partnerships with other groups, individuals and organisations that provide creative, wellbeing and vocational activities for service users to move onto once they are finished at Building Connections.

9.Working with the service steering group, Service Manager, team and partners, to find ways to continuously develop the service modelso that it achieves the best possible outcomes for service users.

10.To find innovative ways to develop the service model so that it works to its full potential in terms of co-production, recovery and social inclusion.

11.To work with the Service Manager to ensure that the service is working to full capacity in terms of attendance and activity.

12.To ensure Building Connections is linked in closely with HF Mind’s other projects and services.

13.To keep up-to-date knowledge of good mental health practice including models of recovery and social inclusion.

Referrals and Inductions

14.To engage positively and professionally with referrers in order to maintain and/or increase the take-up of services offered by Hammersmith and Fulham Mind.

15.Working with volunteers and the team, to process referrals in a timely manner, ensuring risk assessments are completed and to liaise with other healthcare professionals where necessary.

16.To maintain clear systems to organise the processing of referrals, making full use of the Views database.

17.To keep up-to-date records of communication with service users and referrers.

18.To coordinate and carry out inductions of new service users. To establish good rapport and communicate clearly about the service.

Ongoing support for service users

19.To build positive, supportive, effective and boundaried relationships with service users.

20.To coordinate and carry out review meetings with service users as required, ensuring effective goal-setting is taking place.

21.To support service users engaging with Building Connections Groups in voluntary or work placement positions.

22.To encourage service users to engage in the programme using positive measures and boundaries where appropriate.

23.To follow up any concerns regarding the wellbeing or health and safety of service users with appropriate health professionals, and to communicate this with the team and Service Manager, ensuring accurate records are kept appropriately.

24.To keep accurate registers of attendance and use this information for review purposes.

25.Working with volunteers and the team, to encourage and inspire service users to move on from Building Connections Groups.

Groups

26.Working with volunteers and partners, to create engaging and dynamic groups in accordance with the aims of the service.

27.To communicate the boundaries of each group clearly to service users and other relevant professionals, ensuring that volunteers do the same, e.g. time limits, expectations of attendance and appropriate move-on options.

28.To ensure there is a group atmosphere that enables service users to reflect, learn and develop.

29.Working with volunteers, topositively manage group dynamics, including setting and maintaining appropriate group boundaries and managing any unacceptable behaviour.

30.To plan and carry out outings, maintaining health and safety measures including carrying out risk assessments.

31.To ensure volunteers running groups are aware of and follow the above.

Team work

32.To work as a team with Building Connections staff, including assisting the Service Manager in coordinating theteam.

33.To work as a team with the staff of the Service.

34. To work as a team with the wider projects and staff of HF Mind.

Administration

35.To maintain professional levels of administration in accordance with office protocol, making full use of the Views database.

36.To assist in the monitoring of the activities, progress and outcomes of Building Connections as may be required by line management, funders, or the executive of Hammersmith and Fulham Mind.

Service Development

General

37.To work in accordance with Hammersmith & Fulham Mind’s equal opportunities policy.

38.To carry out such reasonable duties as may from time to time be delegated by the Service Manager

39.To attend supervision sessions with the Service Manager and group supervision sessions with fellow staff members.

40.To attend such meetings as may be reasonably directed by the Service Manager or the executive.

41.To attend such training courses as may be specified under the training policy of Hammersmith & Fulham Mind.

42.To work with the Service Manager to ensure that the service operates within pre-determined budgets.

43.To adhere to Safeguarding of Vulnerable Adults procedure and ensure all concerns are correctly reported.

44.To adhere to health and safety policies and deal with any concerns as appropriate.

45.To adhere to the policies and procedures of Hammersmith and Fulham Mind, including confidentiality.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Essential

Skills and Knowledge

• Excellent knowledge and understanding of the principles of the recovery model and social inclusion.
• Experience and knowledge of the barriers faced by many people with mental health problems engaging with community activities.
• Ability to coordinate and motivate a team of volunteers running groups that have a creative, wellbeing and vocational focus.
• Ability to establish and maintain win-win partnerships with individuals, groups and organisations across the private, public and voluntary sectors.
• Ability to motivate people with mental health problems.
• Ability to maintain accurate written records appropriate to the work.
• Ability to communicate clearly in writing and orally.
• Ability to work in a small team and independently.
• IT skills – Word, Outlook, Excel.
• Able to assist in the evaluation and development of a service.
• Excellent organisational skills.
• Ability to prioritise and manage a busy and varied workload.
• An interest in creative, wellbeing and vocational activities.

Attitude

• Flexible attitude to working times to ensure the needs of the service are met.
• Willingness to learn and develop professionally in the interests of the service.
• Willingness to undertake appropriate training when necessary.
• Understanding of equal opportunities issues in mental health and a commitment to the core values of Hammersmith & Fulham Mind.

Desirable

• Skills and experience inthe delivery of creative,wellbeing and vocational activities, e.g.art, music, mindfulness, etc.
• Knowledge of appropriate creative, wellbeing and vocational opportunities, both mainstream and supported, for people in Hammersmith and Fulham.
• Lived experience of mental health issues.

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Building Connections Coordinator/JD/Nov 2014