Activities and Befriending Coordinator

Allscreens Nationwide Ltd; Folkestone; On-site; GBP 26,000 - 34,000; Full time

Job summary

Allscreens Nationwide Ltd is seeking an Activities and Befriending Coordinator to support Hamlet House residents, helping them engage in life-skills activities and social groups that foster recovery and social integration.

You will design and implement a new befriending service, train volunteers, and coordinate day-to-day operations while collaborating with partner organisations to broaden beneficiaries and outcomes.

Responsibilities

• Plan, implement and manage a befriending service for Hamlet House residents to reduce isolation and promote community integration.
• Transform the breakfast club and social activities into a diverse portfolio of support groups (life skills, mental health, literacy, return-to-work).
• Engage residents to identify needs and collaborate with partner organisations to improve social, educational, volunteering and employment outcomes.
• Promote available activities to Hamlet House residents and across services.
• Train, supervise and support volunteers involved in activities and the breakfast club.
• Design, implement and manage the Befriending Service, matching residents with trained volunteers.
• Coordinate day-to-day running of the Befriending Service and monitor relationships to ensure safety and positive outcomes.
• Retain volunteers by providing support, feedback and ongoing training as needed.
• Promote befriending opportunities to ensure a pool of suitable befrienders.
• Stay updated with best practices and build links with Befriending Network and other stakeholders.
• Keep attendance records and capture client journeys to improve practice.
• Build relationships with partner organisations to broaden service offerings.
• Monitor and evaluate service impact and share client journeys and stories.

Job description

The post holder reports to the Homeless Support Service Manager on a day-to-day basis.

Purpose

This role comprises two parts, and the Activities and Befriending Coordinator is expected to:

Support clients, especially those in Hamlet House, soon to be opened as a 17-bed house for people experiencing homelessness. This support will be through meaningful activities, life skills, and support groups that help them progress in their recovery.

Plan and introduce a befriending service to support Hamlet House residents in overcoming social isolation, building their confidence, and promoting their integration into the community.

Activities and Support Groups

Transform our existing breakfast and social club for vulnerable and homeless people into a vibrant, safe, and welcoming space by planning and delivering a diverse range of support groups and meaningful activities (e.g., life skills (cooking, gardening), mental health, substance misuse, literacy, and return-to-work sessions) tailored to meet the residents’ needs.

You will engage with Hamlet House residents and clients to identify their needs and collaborate with partner organisations to co-create support that improves social, educational, volunteering, and employment outcomes.

Promote activities to Hamlet House residents, all homeless support service clients, and across services.

Manage Volunteers: Train, supervise, and support volunteers involved in activities and in the breakfast club, ensuring their work complies with organisational policies and best practices.

Befriending service

This is a new service; training and support will be provided.

Design, implement, and manage a new befriending service that matches Hamlet House residents with trained volunteer befrienders to reduce social isolation, build confidence, and support community integration.

This involves:

• Training volunteers to become befrienders and then supervising and supporting them, ensuring their work aligns with organisational & safeguarding policies and best practices.


• Matching volunteers with a Hamlet House resident, supervising and monitoring the relationships from both the volunteer and resident perspectives, pre-empting and resolving issues before they elevate to ensure that both clients and volunteers are safe and experience positive outcomes.


• Co-ordinating the day-to-day running of the Befriending Service


• Retaining volunteer befrienders by supporting and checking in on them, gathering feedback, and providing training as needed.


• Promoting befriending opportunities to ensure a pool of suitable, trained befrienders are available to support residents.


• Ensure that we remain up to date with best practices in befriending service management and develop strong links with key stakeholder groups in this field: The Befriending Network.

Other duties

• Keep attendance records in the Inform database and ensure that learning from any work is captured, communicated and used to improve practice.


• Monitor and evaluate the impact of services, capturing client journeys and stories


• Build relationships with partner organisations to expand our offering