Short Breaks Link Workers

Golearnleicestershire; East Midlands; On-site; GBP 34,000 - 37,000; Part time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working

Pension scheme

Incremental salary progression

Job summary

Nottingham City Council is recruiting for Short Breaks Link Workers to support children and young people with disabilities to access the community, build independence and friendships. The role is community-based within Nottingham City boundary, with weekend and some evening work and a pro rata salary for part-time hours.

You will plan person-centred sessions, work 1:1 or 2:1 as needed, complete written records, and participate in training. DBS enhanced check is required.

Qualifications

• Knowledge and/or experience of supporting children and young people (ideally in similar roles and 1:1 situations) and those who can display behaviour that challenges.
• Ability to work weekends and evenings, maintain flexibility and a proactive approach.
• Ability to complete written records and use IT tools as part of routine duties.

Responsibilities

• Plan person-centred sessions with young people to enable independence and community participation.
• Provide 1:1 (and 2:1 where required) support in home or community settings.
• Support children and young people with disabilities and complex needs within the Nottingham City area.
• Carry out duties with dignity, promote safety and respond appropriately to challenging situations.

Job description

Contract Type:Permanent -There are various positions available for Short Breaks Link Workers. Permanent (annualised hours) contracts to workup to18.5 hours per week, with an option for additional hours in school holidays. Plus casual (usually to cover sickness/emergency requests and annual leave - not guaranteed hours).

Working Hours:Various - predominantly at weekends and some evenings. The hours may be flexible from week to week (where this also meets service needs), however a fixed schedule is mostly required as part of an annualised hours contract, with options for term-time or school holidays only and other working arrangements.

Worker Type:Mobile Worker

Salary:Starting Salary is £33,673 (Level one) rising through increments to £36,581 (Level four) per annum(pro rata for part-time)

Location:Team base is at Loxley House, Station street Nottingham, NG2 3NG. Role is community based within the Nottingham City boundary.

We’ve got an exciting opportunity available for talented individuals to join our workforce - perhaps this is the opportunity you’ve been looking for? Read on to find out more…

Working for Nottingham City Council has great benefits. As well as competitive pay, great leave entitlement and access to a generous pension scheme, we strive to create an innovative, inclusive and progressive work culture where everyone is supported to do and be their very best.

In return, we are looking for people like you - people who are innovative, driven and committed to serving and improving Nottingham. So, if you are passionate about making a difference to the lives of those who live and work in our city, we want to hear from you.

* You can read more about the different benefits offered to colleagues working for Nottingham City Council here.

About the Role

An exciting opportunity has arisen to join our Short Breaks Link Work Team. Our team supports children and young people (from 5 years up to 18th birthday) with disabilities and complex health needs to access their community, develop friendships, gain independence and more. The Short Breaks service is all about enabling young people to live their very best lives, exploring their potential and giving them the very best opportunity to have a meaningful and beneficial break. It’s also about ensuring families and full time carers are able to find the time for themselves, which can include doing their housework, shopping, or just having a rest!

As part of the Short Breaks Link Work team you will have the opportunity to access a wealth of training in order to develop your skills and work as part of a supportive team to deliver the best services possible to the young people we support. We want you to recognise the potential in all the young people we work with; to enable, rather than limit them – so we expect link workers to plan person centred sessions with our young people, rather than for them, and focus on the child's voice. This gives you the unique opportunity to explore the local community and support them to try new things – for example climbing, board-gaming, or even eating a new healthy snack for the first time! The role offers the opportunity to become an important part of young people's lives and enable them to achieve their aspirations. As their allocated link worker, you will support young people on aregularscheduled basis aiming to achieve identified outcomes and developing independence, by planning and taking part in a variety of fun and exciting activities.

Working with young people with a variety of disabilities such as Autism, Learning Disabilities, Physical Disabilities, complex health needs and children and young people who do not use spoken language to communicate. Successful candidates will be supported to develop their knowledge to become all round experienced support workers. The role supports Children and Young People who live within the Nottingham City area and the post holder will offer direct support and care both in the young person’s home (where appropriate) but mainly in their community. This support will be on a 1:1 basis; however, our more complex children and young people may require 2:1 support (based on their assessed needs).

Some of our young people may require personal care, or support with their mobility needs for example, and it’s important that this is managed with their dignity in mind. Compassion, patience and understanding is a must. There may also at times be challenging situations on link work sessions, as we do support some young people who can display behaviour that challenges, so the ability to think fast and react appropriately – and sensitively – is also essential.

We are a Care Quality Commission (CQC) registered service and we currently hold aGOODrating.

Candidates should ideally have their own mode of transport, or be able to use public transport for the efficient performance of duties in line with service requirements.

Candidates should have the ability to complete written formal records, inclusive of using IT. It is part of the role and responsibilities to complete regular paperwork and ensure deadlines are met.

About You

Please ensure that you include a personal statement in your CV (or separate document) that demonstrates the following:

• Knowledge and/or experience of supporting children and young people (ideally in similar roles and 1:1 situations), and those individuals who can display behaviour that challenges. They must have a proactive 'can do' approach and the ability to think creatively when planning sessions and have experience of identifying and supporting others to deliver positive outcomes for children and young people.
• Candidates should be physically able to carry out all the duties of the role; i.e. supporting complex needs, challenging behaviours and delivering active sessions and be able to work weekends and where needed, evenings.
• The ability and knowledge of recognising signs of abuse, and how to respond promptly to incidents that may have child protection implications and referring concerns appropriately to line manager.
• Sensitivity to a diverse range of service users and evidence of responding to their different needs, along with the ability to remain calm and think clearly under pressure whilst remaining focussed on the task.
• An ability to communicate well, inclusive of verbally and non verbally with those who do not use spoken language as their form of communication.

A DBS enhanced check for a regulated activity is required for this post.

* You can find the job description for this post here.

At Nottingham City Council we believe that work is what you do, not where you do it. We offer different working arrangements, depending on the role, including hybrid working. Further information on Worker Types and what these mean in terms of how and where you work can be found on the additional information for applicants page.

For informal enquiries please contact Natalie Davies (Short Breaks Team Coordinator), by telephone on 0115 8762745 or by email at [e-mail]

Closing Date: 15th November 2026

Interviews will be held:From the week beginning 23rd November onwards.