Peer Support Worker | South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust

South West London and St Georges Mental Health Trust; Wallington; On-site; GBP 23,000 - 28,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading mental health organization in Wallington seeks a dynamic Peer Support Worker to assist in developing their Autism service. The role involves supporting individuals diagnosed with Autism, providing both practical and emotional support while collaborating with a Specialist Occupational Therapist. The ideal candidate will engage with service users and promote positive feedback within the team. Opportunities for professional development and training are available. Join us to make a difference in the lives of individuals in our community.

Benefits

Flexible working

Career development opportunities

Positive work environment

Qualifications

• Ability to engage and model peer support effectively.
• Experience in providing emotional and practical support.
• Strong communication skills to enhance service user engagement.

Responsibilities

• Support service users through 1-1 sessions and group settings.
• Provide practical and emotional peer support.
• Engage in learning events and promote feedback.

Skills

Peer support

Communication skills

Empathy

Motivational approach

Job description

We are seeking a dynamic, highly motivated individual to join us in developing our Autism service. You will be an integral member of the team with a role supporting a Lead Occupational Therapist to design and deliver Post Diagnostic support to individuals diagnosed with Autism.

Under the guidance of the Specialist Occupational Therapist, you will:

• Promote and model peer support in this role
• Provide both practical and emotional peer support, co‑producing and delivering a Post Diagnosis Support Service for autistic people alongside a Specialist Occupational Therapist
• Engage and participate in learning events when required
• Encourage and amplify feedback from autistic people accessing the service
• Ensure clinical records are regularly updated in accordance with Trust policy

Peer Support Workers will be supported to complete accredited Peer Support Worker training and will have access to ongoing personal and professional development. This may include opportunities to progress into senior peer roles, specialist peer posts, or training and facilitation roles within the Trust. Development plans will be agreed through regular supervision and appraisal.

Under the guidance of the Specialist Occupational Therapist you will:

• Work autonomously to support services users referred to the service
• Promote and model peer support in this role
• To support service users through 1‑1 sessions and, with colleagues, in a group setting
• Provide peer support for service users. Duties will include practical as well as the emotional support of service users, with a specific focus on co‑producing and delivering a Post Diagnosis Support Service for autistic people
• Engage and participate in learning events when required
• Promote and encourage service user feedback within the team
• Ensure clinical records are regularly updated in accordance with Trust policy

We are Proud to Belong at South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust.

We have expert services, a rich history and a clear commitment to providing the best quality care for those with mental ill‑health. The Care Quality Commission already rates our services as “good” – we aspire to be “outstanding”.

This is a great time to join us. We are transforming the way we care for our communities to support our mission of Making Life Better Together. We have built two brand new mental health facilities at Springfield University Hospital, which are amongst the best in the world. More developments are planned across our sites and services as we invest a further £120m to upgrade and modernise our estate by 2027.

We are inclusive and diverse and strive to be actively anti‑racist. We want to attract people from all backgrounds and experiences to enrich the work we do together. We are proud to co‑produce and involve our local communities in all that we do.

We offer flexible working, career development and a variety of benefits to enable a positive, welcoming environment in which our people and their careers can thrive.

Come and join our inclusive teams and help our patients on their recovery journey.

Key responsibilities and support tasks

• To use personal, experiential knowledge and to share lived experience as appropriate in the role
• Attending and actively participating in team meetings/care plan review meeting and team training as appropriate
• To use a motivational approach to working with people
• To assist people in understanding their options for support, their entitlements, and rights
• To maintain extensive knowledge and links with the community resources
• To provide practical support that helps people to become aware of and navigate community resources
• To provide support where needed with advice on self‑management approaches and healthy living. This could include several different things ranging from supporting people accessing the service to attend/access health appointments, through to arranging physical health activities with the service user for e.g. finding a local walking or running club and porting them to attend
• To involve carers, family members and supporters where this is the person’s preference to support the process of reporting allegations of harm or exploitation of people accessing the service or carers
• To undertake such tasks and duties as may be necessary to provide appropriate support to people accessing the service, i.e. listening and talking time, writing reports, updating support plans, filing paperwork
• To help people accessing the service to access information on health promotion
• To assist in the development and implementation of educational and peer facilitated support groups
• To identify service user’s strengths and assist them to recognise and use them
• Support people to explore and build on their strengths, interests and personal goals

This advert closes on Wednesday 10 Dec 2025