Specialist Support Worker

South West Community Chaplaincy; United Kingdom; On-site; GBP 28,000 - 35,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual leave up to 30 days

Generous pension up to 8%

Life assurance up to 3x Pensionable

Discounts via Reward Gateway

Induction programme and training

ILM courses and Apprenticeship Program

Cycle to work scheme

Employee Assistance Programme

Online wellbeing resources

Staff Awards

Free DBS

Job summary

Look Ahead is hiring a Support Worker for their Mental Health Social Care Service in Ealing. The role offers a fixed annual salary of £31,593 and a 40-hour work week, with shifts including early, late, and weekends.

The organisation emphasizes learning, development and a supportive culture, with extensive benefits and opportunities to grow within the team.

Qualifications

• Significant experience supporting young people or adults with complex mental health needs.
• Experience in hospital discharge, step-down or supported accommodation settings is desirable.
• Knowledge of risk assessment, safety planning and safeguarding.

Responsibilities

• Build supportive, trusting relationships with young people and provide psychologically informed support.
• Take the lead on keywork for young people with complex needs and help them achieve recovery goals.
• Contribute to risk assessment and safety planning and escalate concerns appropriately.
• Co-produce support and risk plans with young people, ensuring voice and agency.
• Provide practical support around daily living activities and community links.

Skills

Experience in mental health support

Risk assessment

Safeguarding

Co-production with young people

Team collaboration

Education

Level 3 Health & Social Care or Psychology or Mental Health

Equivalent professional training

Job description

We're looking for a kind, compassionate and resilient specialist Support workers to join our Mental Health Social Care Service in Ealing.

£31,593.00 per annum, working 40 hours per week.

Want to feel like you have an exciting future? You'll feel at home here.

Making you feel at home here means helping you thrive in every way. That's why we offer a wide range of benefits, award-winning Learning & Development and a culture that welcomes all. These aren't token gestures - we've thought long and hard about how best to support our team. After all, our people are doing something amazing: helping to transform lives every day.

Our benefits include:

• Annual leave increasing up to 30 days with length of service
• A generous pension - we will contribute up to 8% and life assurance cover up to 3x Pensionable Salary (T&Cs apply)
• Exclusive discounts and cashback via Reward Gateway® and opportunity to buy a Blue Light Card
• Fully paid induction programme and further training
• ILM courses and Apprenticeship Programmes
• Cycle to work scheme
• Employee Assistance Programme for 24-7 confidential support
• Online wellbeing resources
• Quarterly Staff Awards to reward & recognise our amazing staff's commitment and contribution
• Free DBS

All applicants must be legally eligible to work in the UK by the start of employment as Look Ahead are not able to offer sponsorship.

Oaklands & St Kilda's is made up of two newly refurbished six-bedroom homes, located close to each other in Ealing, West London.

The working pattern for this role Includes: a mixture of early shifts (7:30am-3:30pm or 8am-4pm) and late shifts (2pm-10pm), including weekends, usually around two full weekends per month.

What you'll do:

• Build supportive, trusting relationships with young people and provide psychologically and emotionally informed support, maintaining a calm, consistent and professional presence at all times.
• Take the lead on keywork for young people with more complex mental health needs, using creative and reflective approaches to help them achieve their support and recovery goals.
• Proactively contribute to risk assessment and safety planning, supporting positive risk-taking while ensuring appropriate escalation through safeguarding and clinical pathways when concerns arise.
• Work collaboratively with young people to co-produce their support and risk plans, ensuring their voice, choice and agency are central to all decision-making.
• Provide practical and enabling support around daily living activities - including budgeting, cooking, self-care, routines, attending appointments, and developing community links.

This is not an exhaustive list of all the duties and responsibilities that may be required from time to time and is subject to change in accordance with the needs of Look Ahead.

About you:

• Strong advocate for young people - able to confidently represent their views and best interests in multi-agency and community settings.
• Deeply values co-production - works in genuine partnership with young people to ensure support is personalised and meaningful.
• Strong understanding of how trauma, adversity and systemic inequalities can shape a young person's experiences, behaviour and mental health.

What you'll bring:

Essential:

• Significant experience supporting young people or adults with complex mental health needs, ideally in hospital discharge, step-down or supported accommodation settings.
• Strong understanding of risk assessment, safety planning and safeguarding, with confidence to elevate concerns appropriately.

Desirable:

• Level 3 (or above) qualification in Health & Social Care, Psychology, Mental Health, or related field, or equivalent professional training.
• Experience contributing to multi-disciplinary meetings such as ward rounds, discharge planning or CPA reviews.

About us:

Look Ahead is a leading, not-for-profit care and support provider in London and the South East. Our vision is to build better lives through social care and housing in local communities. As an organisation we deliver over 100 services, providing support to thousands of customers each year. Our mission is to co-design and deliver services that offer innovative social care solutions and support people to thrive. We work across mental health, homelessness and complex needs, young people and care leavers and learning disabilities so there are plenty of opportunities to grow and progress your career with us.

We have a strong social purpose and we live and work by our values:

• We focus on Excellence and innovation.
• We are Caring and Compassionate.
• We are Inclusive and Trusted.
• We work in Partnership and are One-Team.

Look Ahead is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and adults at risk, and expects all employees, workers and volunteers to share this commitment.

If your application for this role is unsuccessful, but we feel that you would be suitable for another role, we may contact you to discuss alternative opportunities. If this occurs you would not need to submit another application for the alternative role.

We reserve the right to close this advert early if we are able to appoint to the vacancy before the advertised closed date.

We are committed to diversity and inclusion at work and are accredited with Silver in the Inclusive Employers Standard 2021. We are a proud member of the Employers Domestic Abuse Covenant and encourage applications from a diverse range of applicants of all backgrounds.

Please see full Job description on our website