Befriending and Inclusion Worker

Benefits and Allowances

You will also be eligible for an annual Travel Allowance covering zones 2-3.

Role Purpose

Salary: Grade D: £24,705 - £26,064 pro-rata per annum

Hours: 3 per week

Secondment /Temporary- Fixed Term Contract (FTC)

The London Borough of Tower Hamlets Befriending and Inclusion Service are looking for enthusiastic, caring people to become befrienders to disabled children who live in the Borough.

As a befriender, you will be working closely with the children and providing support and guidance to the families. Each child will receive a minimum of three hours care per week. You will be looking after the child and providing support on a one to one basis. You will be expected to plan activities for the child that aim to help them become independent, be included in society and to build friendships. Some of your work will be lone working with the child in the community, such as going to parks, museums, swimming, but there will also be opportunities to engage in group befriending where you will work other staff and meet other children. These sessions will often take place at the Eva Armsby Centre, at local youth clubs or activity/leisure centres.

The children range in age from five to seventeen years of age and have varying disabilities such as autism, cerebral palsy, downs Syndrome, global delay, and visual and hearing impairments. You should be confident in managing behaviours and tantrums that disabled children often tend to display.

This position would suit someone looking to work sessional hours or part-time especially over the weekends. You may have worked in the private care sector with vulnerable individuals, or be a school member of staff looking to increase work hours, or be at university studying towards a career in this field. Whatever your background - previous experience and work with disabled children will be essential. You will need to be caring and be able to demonstrate knowledge of a child centred approach as well a passion for making a difference to the lives of disabled children and their families.

Requirements

You will need to have a very good standard of written and spoken English and be prepared to work flexible hours over weekends. You must be available to work on a Saturday or a Sunday. Occasionally you may be asked to work in excess of 3 hours.

Additional Information

Tower Hamlets is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. An Enhanced DBS disclosure that is satisfactory to us will be a condition of appointment.

Tower Hamlets vision for our borough is that: people are aspirational, independent and have equal access to opportunities; we are a borough that our residents are proud of and love to live in; and we are a dynamic, outcomes-based council using digital innovation and partnership working to respond to the changing needs of our borough. We want people who aspire to our TOWER values: Together; Open; Willing; Excellent; Respect.

Tower Hamlets has a zero-tolerance approach to, and works to eradicate, all forms of discrimination on the basis of race, sex, disability, age, religion or belief, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, marital status, status as a civil partner, gender, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy and maternity and looks to employ a diverse workforce representative of those groups. We recognise that people can also be disadvantaged by their social and economic circumstances, so we will work to eliminate discrimination and disadvantage caused by social class.

We welcome applicants interested in flexible working arrangements and also applicants who live in the borough. 

Application Details

This post is open to the following types of applicants: Redeployees/ Internal/ External

If this role is available to Internal employees only, this will include agency workers but does not include independent contractors or Skills Match trainees

All applications should be made via our online application system, no CV’s or alternative forms of applications are accepted.

Internal employees should apply via the council's Intranet. External applicants apply via the Council's website www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/careers