Peer Mentor

Fixed term contract until March 2021

Birmingham and surrounds

Closing date: 29th November 2020 at 11.30 pm

Do you have lived experience of mental health concerns and offending and the Criminal Justice System plus an interest in a career helping vulnerable adults with multiple and complex needs? Then join Shelter as a Peer Mentor and you could soon be playing an important role at the heart of a multi-disciplinary team delivering a brand new initiative.

A home is a fundamental human need, as essential as education or healthcare. Yet millions of people across Britain struggle on a daily basis with homelessness, bad housing conditions, soaring rents, discrimination and the threat of eviction. So, we are striving for change — with individuals, in communities, across society – and leading the way to a safe home. We need ambitious, best-in-class individuals who are passionate about our cause to join us at this exciting time. This is your chance to play a part in the fundamental change we are striving to achieve.

Shelter is delivering a Peer Mentor Service in partnership with the Forensic Intensive Recovery Support Teams (Reach Out which is funded by NHS England). Reach Out is a partnership between Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Foundation Trust (BSMHFT), South Staffordshire and Midlands Partnership NHS Trust and St Andrews Healthcare (SAH). Together they form the Accountable Care arrangement for managing and delivering forensic mental health care for West Midlands service users. Right now, they’re busy developing a new and innovative model of care working. Specifically, the new model will introduce a more personalised intensive outreach service and provide comprehensive and responsive support in the community that will focus on aiding recovery, enabling earlier discharge and reducing the likelihood of readmission to hospital.

About the Role
Shelter is responsible for delivering a Peer Mentor Service in partnership with the FIRST Teams that work with service users leaving Men’s medium and low secure services. These service users have been identified as being safe for early discharge or developing pathways for those “stuck” in secure care provision. Your role will be to support those going through the criminal justice system who are experiencing mental health concerns and enable them to achieve their personalised support outcomes. Along the way you’ll get to develop skills in working with clients with a variety of social and health needs, build relationships of trust and understand the importance of empowering them.

*The Equality Act 2010, Schedule 9, Part 1, Paragraph 1 applies to this post. We are unable to accept applications if the individual is still on license for a previous offence.

About you
A great opportunity to gain experience working with a lead provider of homelessness and housing advice and support while part of an exciting new programme, you’ll need relevant live experience that has included accessing support services. You’ll also need a good understanding of how these experiences have affected you. Indeed, we’ll rely on you to tap into your own experiences to identify barriers and gaps in services, how they could be improved and to identify good practice. Someone who has achieved goals that you have set in relation to multiple needs in order to reach your current level of stability, you’re client focused, enjoy working collaboratively and value others opinions. Basic computer skills and a desire to develop and learn new ones, are also required.

Benefits
We offer a wide range of benefits, including 30 days of annual leave, enhanced family friendly policies, pension and interest free travel loans. Our employees also have access to a tenancy deposit loan, payroll giving, cycle to work scheme and an employee assistance programme.

Shelter helps millions of people every year struggling with bad housing or homelessness through our advice, support and legal services. And we campaign to make sure that, one day, no one will have to turn to us for help. We’re here so no one has to fight bad housing or homelessness on their own.

To find out more about the role and the benefits of working for Shelter please visit our website. Apply to be part of our team and be the change you want to see in society.

Safeguarding is everyone's business. Shelter is committed to protecting the health, wellbeing and human rights of those we support, and enabling them to live free from harm, abuse and neglect. All our staff will be expected to observe professional standards of behaviour and conduct their work in line with our Safeguarding Policies.

Shelter promotes equality, diversity and inclusion in our workplace. We make employment decisions by matching business needs with skills and experience of candidates, irrespective of age, disability (including hidden disabilities),gender, gender identity or gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, or sexual orientation. We also encourage applications from people, who have been homeless or have been at risk of homelessness. We are facing diverse problems, so need diverse people to tackle them.

We are happy to talk about flexible working, personal growth, and to promote a workplace where you can be yourself and achieve success based only on your merit.

Shelter does not accept unsolicited CVs from external recruitment agencies nor accept the fees associated with them.

If you are interested in the role, we are holding a virtual drop in session with Shelter and the FIRST Teams on Monday 16th November 2020 at 2pm. If you would like to attend, please contact Christine Grover at Christine_Grover@shelter.org.uk