Band 4 Community Support Worker (Recovery) - Weston-super-Mare

Avon & Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust; Weston-super-Mare; On-site; GBP 26,000 - 32,000; Full time

Job summary

Avon & Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust is recruiting a Band 4 Community Support Worker (Recovery) for Weston-super-Mare. The post covers Dorset & Somerset and requires living in the area to support veterans and their families in their recovery journey.

You will form compassionate relationships, conduct needs assessments, help with finances/housing, and empower self-management under clinicians’ supervision. Applicants must have the right to work in the UK.

Qualifications

• Significant experience in mental health settings.
• Ability to form compassionate, recovery-focused relationships.
• Experience promoting recovery and wellbeing within multidisciplinary teams.

Responsibilities

• Form compassionate, recovery-focused relationships with service users and carers.
• Conduct needs assessments including mental state and risk.
• Assist with finances and housing needs.
• Support self-management of treatment, medication, diet and wellbeing.
• Undertake Care Coordinator duties as needed under supervision.
• Maintain confidential records and contribute to reports and referrals.
• Support access to housing, learning, or work opportunities.
• Promote safeguarding and incident prevention.
• Collaborate with carers and families and signpost to services.

Skills

Empathy

Communication

IT skills

Teamwork

Recovery-focused care

Education

Level 5 vocational qualification

Training in allied field (counselling/advocacy)

Training in psychosocial interventions

Tools

Microsoft Word

Job description

Band 4 Community Support Worker (Recovery) - Weston-super-Mare

OP COURAGE: The Veterans Mental Health and Wellbeing Service provides specialist mental health support for reservists, armed forces veterans, and their families across the Southwest of England.

The service provides support through community-based clinics, digital appointments, and outreach work. We are committed to improving access to care, reducing health inequalities, and helping veterans achieve meaningful recovery, wellbeing, and social inclusion.

As a Community Support Worker (Recovery) you will be covering Dorset & Somerset, and need to live in this area,

You will support the Armed Forces community in their recovery journey to inspire hope, build trusting relationships, and support veterans to navigate services, strengthen their resilience and confidence, and achieve their personal goals. You will play a vital role within a compassionate and dedicated multidisciplinary team that values the unique contribution of support workers in promoting recovery and wellbeing.

Right to Work in the UK This position is not eligible for Skilled Worker visa sponsorship. Applicants must already hold the legal right to work in the UK at the time of application, as the organisation is unable to support sponsorship for this post.

Main duties of the job

Forming compassionate, recovery-focused, therapeutic relationships with service users and their carers, supporting them to manage their mental health needs in a community setting.

Engaging in the full range of ongoing needs assessment processes required by the team, including mental state, dynamic clinical risk, spiritual and cultural needs, and emotional, psychological and physical wellbeing.

Supporting service users to manage their finances and / or housing needs.

Empowering service users to self-manage aspects of their ongoing treatment, such as medication, diet and lifestyle, physical health and general wellbeing.

Depending on the team, key activities may also include undertaking the role of Care Coordinator for service users who have been assessed as presenting relatively low to moderate levels of clinical complexity and risk, under the guidance and supervision of registered clinicians.

About us

We are the lead provider of healthcare for people with serious mental illness, learning disabilities and autism across Bath and North East Somerset (BaNES), Swindon and Wiltshire, and Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire.

We aim to provide High Quality, Compassionate Care everywhere, every day. This means our services will be safe, clinically effective and provide a positive all round experience for our patients, families and carers. And we believe passionately in treating everyone with kindness, respect and empathy.

Key to this is providing a supportive and safe environment for our 4,000 staff where we all feel welcome and able to do the best we can for those we support. Our staff and teams work incredibly hard delivering services across more than 90 locations, covering 2,200 miles, to more than 1.8 million people.

At AWP we actively encourage applicants from all backgrounds; we are particularly keen to encourage applications from people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, those with disabilities and from the LGBTQ+ community. We want people to bring their unique blend of experiences, backgrounds, perspectives and knowledge to AWP, as diversity makes us stronger.

Job responsibilities

Promote and champion the rights, values, responsibilities and diversity of people, and act in an open and compassionate way within clear professional boundaries.

Promote and maintain effective communication with people in order to build and sustain positive working relationships with individuals, families and carers, team members and other agencies. This may include accessing translation and interpreting services.

Contribute to the planning, implementation and review of care packages, including implementing specific parts of an individual care plan.

Working autonomously within relevant practice boundaries, under indirect, but not direct, supervision of registered clinicians.

Maintain accurate, confidential records of patient activity, contributing to a range of written documents as appropriate, including reports, referrals and letters. This includes collaboratively working with individuals to complete the Outcome Star and attend training in this tool if required.

Enable people to understand and manage their mental health needs in line with their care plan and relapse prevention strategies. This may include enabling people to manage their own domestic and personal resources, housing needs, and enabling people to access learning / training, or work opportunities.

Support individuals in developing and maintaining their identity and personal relationships, including potentially difficult relationships.

Support people with mental health needs to engage with their own health care, in accordance with their care plan.

Act to protect individuals from abuse and harm in line with local and National policies and procedures (e.g. Safeguarding, Risk Management and Suicide Prevention).

Work proactive with carers and families, identifying carers needs and signposting to appropriate services or agencies.

Proactively develop your knowledge and practice, making use of both clinical and management supervision and available learning opportunities.

Promote, monitor and maintain health, safety and security in the workplace

Please see full job Descriptions for all responsibilities

Education and Qualification

• Possession of, or the ability and willingness to work towards, an appropriate Level 5 vocational qualification (Foundation Degree in Mental Health or Health and Social Care
• Training in an allied field such as counselling, mediation or advocacy.
• Training in psychosocial interventions (e.g. CBT, DBT and Motivational Interviewing).

Experience and Knowledge

• Significant experience of working in a mental health setting.
• Sound knowledge and understanding of mental health issues, taking a positive, non-judgmental approach towards service users, carers, colleagues and members of the public.
• Experience of mental health services, as a user, carer, volunteer or worker
• Sound understanding of the Care Programme Approach and its application.
• Direct military experience or experience of working with veterans and their families/carers etc
• Experience of teaching / training individuals or groups
• Experience of working in a customer care environment, (e.g. an Advice Centre, Telephone Helpline or Advocacy Service)

Skills and Abilities

• Ability to form and sustain a trusting relationship with service users/carers
• Well-developed listening skills and effective verbal communication skills and ability to communicate both face to face, via email and by telephone
• Written communication skills, with the ability to contribute to written reports, maintain accurate records and interpret relevant clinical information effectively
• IT skills: ability to use email, Microsoft word and basic clinical records databases
• Ability to manage own workload in an effective and timely manner
• Ability to use initiative appropriately, making decisions within the context of the role and service.
• Team-working skills, and ability to function effectively and collaboratively within a multidisciplinary setting
• Ability to articulate and demonstrate compassionate, recovery-focused care that values diversity and equality
• Enthusiasm for continual professional development and service improvement
• Flexible and adaptable to change

Other Requirements

• Empathy for individuals who have experienced mental health problems
• Ability to cope with behaviour which may be challenging at times
• Mobile with the facility to move easily across a geographically dispersed, and often rural area with limited access to public transport. This will include attending face-to-face appointments, Trust training and team meetings as required.
• Ability to promote Op Courage at external events as required and on occasional weekends.
• lived with the Dorset / somerset area

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.