Community Support Worker

London Borough of Sutton; London; On-site; GBP 33,000; Part time

Job summary

An established local authority is seeking a dedicated individual to provide community support for people with learning disabilities and complex needs. This part-time role involves assisting clients with personal care, planning activities, and maintaining accurate records. The ideal candidate will have relevant experience and a commitment to person-centered care. Join a supportive team that values growth and collaboration, all while making a meaningful impact in the community. With a modern working environment and a range of benefits, this opportunity offers a fulfilling career path in public service.

Benefits

Generous annual leave entitlement

Flexi-time

Volunteering days

Learning and development programme

Local and national discounts

Interest-free season ticket loans

Local Government Pension Scheme

Car parking scheme

Bicycle loan facilities

Free eye tests and glasses contribution

Qualifications

• Six months experience supporting individuals with complex needs.
• Relevant qualification or willingness to complete NVQ Level 2.

Responsibilities

• Provide flexible community support for individuals with learning disabilities.
• Complete reports and maintain records of support provided.
• Plan and lead session activities to promote independence.

Skills

Support for individuals with learning disabilities

Personal care assistance

Record keeping and report writing

Collaboration with professionals

Education

NVQ Level 2 or equivalent

Job description

Length of Employment / Contract End Date: 1 year

Working Hours: Part Time

Grade: 4

Salary Range: £30,630 - £32,454 (£32,931 unconsolidated maximum)

Salary Basis: Per annum, pro rata'd to part-time working hours

Leave Entitlement: 26 days

Application Deadline: 19/01/2025, 23:55

Anticipated Interview Date(s): TBC

About the Borough:

In Sutton, there is much for us to be proud of both as a council and as a borough. This includes high levels of resident satisfaction, the quality of our services, our success in addressing our financial challenges to date, the way that we involve and engage with residents on key issues facing the borough, and the enthusiastic and motivated staff that we employ.

Looking ahead, there are plans for the delivery of new homes and new schools, and the London Cancer Hub is being developed, while the Council is also seen as a driving force within the South London Partnership of five outer south west London boroughs focused on strategic growth, regeneration, and investment.

All of this demonstrates a good track record and an authority that is ambitious and set to deliver more improvements for the borough. We've set out our vision for the future of Sutton in our corporate plan - Ambitious for Sutton. This strategic plan will shape the outcomes we achieve, the services we provide, and the impact we have on residents, to make Sutton a great place to live, work, and raise a family.

Situated in Zone 5, Sutton is less than 30 minutes by train from central London, and south and south west London are easily accessible by public transport. There are 10 train stations which serve key neighbourhoods within the borough providing direct connections to London Victoria, London Bridge, London Blackfriars, and St Pancras International. Sutton also has direct rail connections with Epsom, Dorking, Guildford, and Horsham, as well as Wimbledon for an interchange with the London Underground and West Croydon for the London Overground. There’s also an extensive road network which provides close and easy access to the M25 and M23.

About the Role and our Ideal Candidate:

About the role:

Provide a flexible community support service for people who have learning disabilities and complex needs.

Provide direct support to people that use the service in line with their individual support plans, e.g., assisting with personal care, manual handling, Aquatherapy, Physiotherapy, medication, and eating and drinking.

Act as a key worker and take an active role in helping to make sure the service remains person-centred.

Complete organisational reports and records, e.g., incident reports, medication charts, seizure charts, activity monitoring sheets, and maintain records relating to the support provided to people.

Lead and plan session activities and record outcomes.

Work in partnership with other professionals and specialist learning disability services as required.

About you:

Six months relevant experience (paid or unpaid) of supporting people with complex needs (i.e., complex health needs and/or low/medium level needs that challenge mainstream services).

Relevant qualification, e.g., NVQ level 2 or equivalent, or the ability and willingness to undertake and successfully complete the qualification.

About Us:

The Support and Inclusion Team is part of the specialist Community Support Services provided by the London Borough of Sutton that aim to:

“Support adults with learning disabilities and complex needs, in partnership with others, to promote their independence and achieve their personal goals.”

The Support & Inclusion Team provides a flexible community support service for people who have learning disabilities and multiple complex needs. From its service base at the Sutton Inclusion Centre, the Team enables people to improve their health and wellbeing, maximise their abilities and independence, and integrate into their local community.

Our Offer To You:

As an organisation that values and nurtures talent, we’re committed to helping you fulfil your potential and will offer you a supportive, friendly, and collaborative environment to grow and develop your career and skills. We’re constantly striving to improve our ways of working so putting your ideas across - however big or small - will be fully encouraged and supported by your colleagues and our dynamic and experienced management team.

In addition, we offer a modern and flexible working environment for our staff, supported by our IT infrastructure, including Google Chromebooks and Google Apps. Our Flexible Working - Smarter Working Scheme embraces new ways of working. It provides improved work-life balance for our staff as it allows staff to work from a variety of locations and staff are not required to work within the office 5 days a week.

Employees have access to a wide range of benefits, some of which include:

• Generous annual leave entitlement plus bank holidays (pro-rata if part-time working hours apply)
• Flexi-time (Please note, this applies to roles at grades 1-9 only)
• Three volunteering days per year in Sutton
• Comprehensive learning and development programme
• Local and national discounts for shopping, eating out, and leisure activities
• Interest-free season ticket loans
• Local Government Pension Scheme
• Car parking scheme
• Bicycle loan facilities and cycle to work scheme
• Zip car scheme
• Free eye tests and contribution towards glasses
• Confidential wellbeing and counselling support
• Subsidised gym membership

Application Process:

Please apply online outlining what skills, abilities, and experience you can bring which makes you an ideal candidate for this role. Please ensure you refer to the requirements outlined in the job profile when completing your application.

To support our diversity agenda and reduce the risk of bias in our recruitment activities, our shortlisting process completely anonymises personal information that can identify job applicants, e.g., name, title, etc. Our hiring managers review and shortlist applications based on the information provided as part of your application as to how well you meet the requirements and criteria for the role, as outlined in the job profile.

The closing date is given as a guide. We reserve the right to close this vacancy once a sufficient number of applications have been received. Therefore, it is strongly advised that you complete and submit your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

Additional Information:

We pride ourselves on being a diverse, inclusive, and welcoming Borough and we aim to create a workforce which reflects the community we serve - the key highlights from our recent Equalities Workforce Report can be seen here. We are respectful of difference and realise the positive value of diversity in our workforce. We welcome and encourage job applications from people of all backgrounds and particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic candidates and disabled candidates, as these groups are currently under-represented in our workforce. As part of our Disability Confident Committed status, we guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum/essential criteria for the role.

We offer a range of family-friendly, inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements, staff engagement forums, and inclusive staff networks who help drive our diversity agenda.

The UK has introduced a new points-based immigration system affecting EU and Non-EU workers and sponsorship requirements. We advise checking the GOV.UK website for right to work guidance.