Support Assistant

The Riverside Group; Sittingbourne; On-site; GBP 25,000; Full time

Job summary

Join a forward-thinking organization dedicated to enhancing lives through supported housing services. As a Project Assistant, you'll play a crucial role in ensuring the safety and wellbeing of residents while providing essential support to those in need. Your day-to-day activities will include assisting customers with their healthcare, managing tenancy-related issues, and fostering a safe and welcoming environment. With a commitment to diversity and inclusion, this role offers a unique opportunity to make a real difference in the community. If you're passionate about helping others and eager to grow in a supportive environment, this position is perfect for you.

Benefits

Flexible Working Options

Investment in Learning and Development

Wide Range of Benefits

Qualifications

• Experience working with vulnerable client groups.
• Ability to deliver structured support in housing or social care.

Responsibilities

• Support day-to-day running of supported housing services.
• Assist customers with healthcare needs and tenancy-related matters.
• Log incidents and prepare rooms for new occupants.

Skills

Customer Service

Support for Vulnerable People

Communication Skills

Incident Logging

IT Skills

Tools

Microsoft Office

Job description

Job Title: Project Assistant
Contract Type: Full time, permanent
Salary: £24,627 per annum
Working Hours: 37.5 hours per week
Working Pattern: 8 week rolling roster, shifts are 7.00 am to 3.00 pm and 2.00 pm to 10.00 pm, alternative weekends and some bank holidays
Location: The Quays, Sittingbourne, Kent ME10 3JN

If you share our values and are excited about making a significant impact at Riverside, please ensure you attach a current CV and covering letter. At Riverside we recruit to potential not just on skills and experience, so we encourage you to apply even if you don't meet all the essential criteria on the job description.

The difference you will make as a Support Assistant

You will be key in the day-to-day running of one of our supported housing services. We don’t run care homes, so there’s no need to provide personal care. The priority in your role includes the safety and wellbeing of everyone in our accommodation, including our customers.

Working with people who have a range of needs, you could be doing any number of things. From supporting customers in conversations with calls from their GP, Social Services, or Benefits teams – to dealing with the emergency services including the Police and Ambulance, when the need arises.

You’ll log all incidents to make sure we have an accurate record of events. And when a customer leaves, you will clean and prepare their room, ready for the next occupant.

About you

We are looking for someone with:

• Experience of working with people in a customer facing environment
• An understanding of supporting vulnerable people – this could include having your own lived experience of homelessness or drug or alcohol addiction

Why Riverside?

At Riverside, we’re a housing association with a difference – enhancing the everyday for all our customers. For 90 years, we’ve been revitalising neighbourhoods and supporting communities by providing the homes they need to live full, fulfilling and rewarding lives.

We have a portfolio of over 75,000 affordable residential and retirement homes across the UK. Our work ranges from homelessness services to social care, employment support to retirement living, and we need the best people on board to help us.

Working with us, you’ll enjoy:

• Flexible working options available
• Investment in your learning, personal development and technology
• A wide range of benefits

Diversity and Inclusion at Riverside:

We are inclusive. At Riverside, we value diversity in all its forms. We foster a workplace where all individuals are respected, empowered, and heard. Our commitment to inclusivity drives our success and enriches the lives of our customers and colleagues.

Riverside is a Disability Confident Employer and operates a Guaranteed Interview Scheme for any applicant who declares they have a disability. If the applicant meets the minimum requirements for the role (as set out in the role profile and/or person specification) they will be guaranteed an interview.

Applications may close before the deadline, so please apply early to be considered.

Role Profile

We use Psychologically Informed approaches and Trauma Informed Care principles to support our customers to make positive choices, develop new ways of thinking and take steps towards independence, by:

• Assisting in the planning and delivery of a range of personalised support and move-on plans
• Understanding the risk management process and assisting the team to organise and undertake regular reviews of support and risk
• Inspiring and motivating customers to meet agreed outcomes and develop life skills
• Assisting customers with day-to-day support and tenancy-related matters
• Assisting the team to identify and promote opportunities for employment, education and training and support customers to access them
• Signposting customers to appropriate external support services, such as food banks and other community resources
• Supporting customers to be ‘tenancy ready’, enabling successful move on
• Supporting customers to be financially independent through budgeting plans and maximising income
• Supporting and monitoring customers’ healthcare needs, ensuring appropriate contact with healthcare professionals
• Empowering customers to move towards self-management of their medication by following Riverside’s medication procedure
• Maintaining and updating clear, accurate and strengths-based records on the appropriate digital platform
• Assisting in the promotion of customer involvement and consultation
• Assisting with the delivery of a range of group work sessions

Deliver a support service:

• Support the delivery of the referral process for new customers
• Contribute to the delivery of a housing management service, including income collection and providing customers with tenancy-related support
• Work with customers to maintain a safe environment, including reporting any repairs or health and safety concerns
• Clean and prepare customer rooms as appropriate
• Resolve difficult and challenging situations in a sensitive and informed way, balancing the needs of the individual with the safety of the service
• Ensure customer safety by following local safeguarding procedures, recognizing and acting on any risks and escalating appropriately
• Contribute to and maintain local partnerships to ensure availability of a holistic range of support for customers
• Carry out day-to-day administration and operational duties
• Maintaining and updating financial administration systems including rent accounts, invoices, petty cash and banking
• Assist in collating and submitting information returns on funding, health & safety and performance
• Act as point of contact on the phone, reception and deal with a range of enquiries

Other Information

• You will be required to work flexible hours to meet customer and business needs, which may not include normal office hours
• Use the Lone Worker system as and when necessary
• Ensure customers are safe at all times - carrying out all of your duties within Riverside’s Policy and Procedure Policy and Procedure framework e.g. health & safety, safeguarding, dignity at work, GDPR opportunities, cash handling, etc
• Deliver your role in line with Riverside company values – “Our Riverside Way”
• Participate in team meetings, attend regular supervisions and reflecting practice sessions.
• Undertake regular training and take responsibility for continuous development to enable you to deliver your role safely
• From time to time, you may be required to undertake additional duties and responsibilities in consultation with your Line Manager

Person Specification

• Experience of working with vulnerable client groups
• Experience of delivering structured support in either housing or social care
• To demonstrate IT Skills to include a basic proficiency in Microsoft Office including Word and Excel as well as a willingness to learn specific IT systems used within Care and Support; and complete relevant IT training where required

About Us

Riverside is one of the UK’s leading not-for-profit social housing and regeneration organisations, owning or managing around 75,000 homes from Irvine to Kent. We are a leading provider of supported housing services, particularly for those affected by homelessness, and our track record of transforming lives and revitalising neighbourhoods dates back over 90 years. We have plans to build over 15,000 affordable homes over the next decade.