Part time Vocational Support Worker

NHS; Milton Keynes; On-site; GBP 12,000; Part time

Job summary

Join a forward-thinking organization as a part-time Vocational Support Worker, where you will play a crucial role in empowering individuals with mental health conditions. This position allows you to make a significant impact by supporting the daily operations of an on-site café, training service users, and fostering a positive community environment. Your responsibilities will include planning menus, ensuring high-quality service, and facilitating cooking courses that promote skill development. With a commitment to professional growth and a supportive team, this role offers a unique opportunity to contribute to the well-being of others while advancing your career in a dynamic setting.

Benefits

Annual salary of £11,356

33 days annual leave including Bank Holidays

Free meals

Free parking

Wellbeing support

Career development and training

Pension contribution

Life Assurance

Enhanced Maternity Package

Retail discounts

Qualifications

• Experience in mental health and food service industry is essential.
• Strong communication skills and ability to support a diverse team.

Responsibilities

• Support day-to-day running of the café and train service users.
• Plan menus and develop food products for the café.
• Facilitate cooking courses and support service users' recovery goals.

Skills

Verbal and written communication skills

Supervising staff

Support and mentoring

Knowledge of special dietary requirements

Experience in a similar environment

Education

Level 3 food hygiene certificate

Job description

This part-time Vocational Support Worker role at Chadwick Lodge in Milton Keynes offers an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of people with mental health conditions. You will be responsible for supporting the day-to-day running of the on-site cafe, providing training, support, and supervision to service users, and contributing to the overall wellbeing of the community.

Main duties of the job

As the Vocational Support Worker, you will be involved in planning menus, sourcing ingredients, developing and leading the production of food products, ensuring high-quality customer service, and coordinating the cafe staff. You will also facilitate cooking courses, provide individual training support, and work collaboratively with patients/service users to identify and work towards their recovery-focused goals.

About us

Elysium Healthcare is an established, stable, and agile company with over 8,000 employees and a unique approach to the delivery of care. With a network of over 90 services across England and Wales covering Mental Health, Neurological, Learning Disabilities & Autism, Children & Education, there is opportunity for you to grow and move within the organization.

Job responsibilities

As the Vocational Support Worker, you will be responsible for supporting the day-to-day running of the silver lining café/shop which is run by service users. You will be involved in working alongside our service users and providing training, support and supervision for service users to ensure skill development and satisfaction in their role.

Working 16 hours a week, you will co-produce with the vocational lead and service users, menus for the café, support and develop food-based events including initiatives to build awareness and contribute to positive wellbeing through the café's menu as well as contributing to training courses for service users and projects.

Working as part of a multidisciplinary team, you will be supported regionally and will have access to a variety of training and online courses to support your career development and growth.

As a Vocational Support Worker, you will be:

• Planning menus, sourcing ingredients in line with the café ethos.
• Developing and leading the production of food products for sale in the café.
• Ensuring a professional level of customer service is always delivered by all café staff.
• Developing and managing relationships with customers, workers, and suppliers to ensure the efficient running of the café and to create a warm and welcoming environment.
• Coordinating the café workers to ensure the café is adequately staffed.
• Facilitating cooking courses for workers.
• Providing individual training support for café workers and provide an induction for all new café workers.
• Working collaboratively with patients/service users to identify and work towards their recovery-focused goals.
• Maintaining adequate records, entering details in the service user healthcare records.

To be successful in this role, you will have:

• Experience in a similar environment & Mental Health.
• Verbal and written communication skills.
• Level 3 food hygiene certificate or willingness to work towards.
• Previous experience in the food service industry.
• The ability to support a team with varying talents and skills and work on own initiative.
• Experience of supervising staff.
• Strong interest in, or knowledge of special dietary requirements and wholesome food.
• Ability to support, mentor and encourage workers to develop new skills and confidence and prepare for the workplace.

Where you will be working:

Location: Chadwick Drive (off Saxon Street), Eaglestone, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, MK6 5LS

You will be working at Chadwick Lodge and Eaglestone View, a medium and low secure services providing specialist treatment programmes for service users who have been detained under the Mental Health Act (1983) and have a history of offending behaviour.

The service offers a broad spectrum of evidence-based therapeutic interventions, involving service users at every stage. The hospital’s consultant-led multidisciplinary team has a wealth of clinical and research experience in forensic psychiatry. All programmes are designed to reduce the risk of re-offending and to maximise the potential and enhance the quality of life of each service user.

Chadwick Lodge secure services care for service users with complex and enduring mental illness who need to achieve stability in order to benefit from multidisciplinary interventions, helping them move on to community settings whenever possible.

What you will get:

• Annual salary of £11,356 (16 hours a week).
• The equivalent of 33 days annual leave (including Bank Holidays) – plus your birthday off!
• Free meals and parking.
• Wellbeing support and activities to help you maintain a great work-life balance.
• Career development and training to help you achieve your career goals.
• Pension contribution to secure your future.
• Life Assurance for added peace of mind.
• Enhanced Maternity Package so you can truly enjoy this special time.

There is also a range of other benefits including retail discounts, special offers, and much more.

About your next employer:

You will be working for an established, stable, and agile company with over 8,000 employees and a unique approach to the delivery of care. With a network of over 90 services across England and Wales covering Mental Health, Neurological, Learning Disabilities & Autism, Children & Education, there is opportunity for you to grow and move.

Elysium Healthcare is part of Ramsay Health Care with a global network that extends across 10 countries and employs over 86,000 people globally.

Elysium Healthcare follows safer recruitment of staff for all appointments and is a Disability Confident employer, committed to inclusive and accessible recruitment. It is a requirement that all staff understand it is each person’s individual responsibility to promote and safeguard the welfare of service users. All candidates will be subject to a DBS disclosure.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• You will need experience in a similar environment and mental health, verbal and written communication skills, a Level 3 food hygiene certificate (or willingness to work towards it), previous experience in the food service industry, the ability to support a team with varying talents and skills, experience of supervising staff, and a strong interest in or knowledge of special dietary requirements and wholesome food.

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.