Support Worker

Protective Care Group; Darlington; On-site; GBP 32,000 - 37,000; Full time

Job summary

Protective Care Group seeks dedicated Support Workers to provide trauma-informed care to children and young people. Join a compassionate team focused on stability and understanding, where your presence can make a genuine difference. No prior experience necessary; we value your unique qualities and offer comprehensive training and support.

Benefits

Paid annual leave

Sick pay

Company pension

Comprehensive training

Fully funded qualifications

Ongoing professional development

Wellbeing support

Counselling access

Qualifications

• No previous care experience required, focus on personal qualities.
• Must possess a full UK manual driving licence.

Responsibilities

• Build trusting relationships with young people facing challenges.
• Manage aggressive or high-risk behaviour constructively.
• Support emotional regulation and trauma responses.

Skills

Empathy

Resilience

Flexibility

Curiosity

Job description

At Protective Care Group, we provide specialist, trauma-informed support to children and young people who have faced significant adversity. We’re looking for dedicated Support Workers who want to do meaningful work in a well-supported environment where your presence makes a genuine difference.

Why work with us?

This isn’t just another care job. At PCG, you’ll be part of a team that prioritises quality, consistency, and compassion. Our young people have complex emotional needs and have often experienced significant trauma. They don’t just need care, they need stability, understanding, and safe adults who won’t give up on them.

Every day brings challenges, but also the opportunity to support real progress.

What the role involves …

As a Support Worker, your role is to build consistent, trusting relationships with young people who may be struggling with:

• Aggressive or high-risk behaviour (verbal, physical, absconding, self-harm, etc.)

• Emotional regulation and trauma responses

• A lack of belief in themselves or the adults around them

Your approach will need to be calm and patient, with a focus on helping young people develop new ways of coping, relating, and thriving.

Let’s not forget the incredible progress some of our most challenging young people have made, have a look at our case studies to find out more https://protective-care.co.uk/portfolio_category/young-people/

What we’re looking for in you:

You don’t need previous care experience - we’re more interested in the qualities you bring. We’re looking for people who are:

• Empathetic, curious, and able to engage with young people in a supportive, age-appropriate way

• Resilient and able to manage challenging behaviour constructively

• Flexible and able to work a varied shift pattern (including day shifts, waking nights, and sleep-ins – this could be for the whole of your rotation, so be prepared to stay away from home if needed)

• You may be placed in any of our teams across the North East. We carefully match Support Workers to the young people and teams where they’ll be the best fit, which means your placement might not be the one closest to home

• In possession of a full UK manual driving licence

It’s important that you understand all aspects of the role before of applying, like the working hours, possible working locations and the types of challenges you may encounter. Please follow this link to find out more: https://protective-care.co.uk/careers/careers-faqs

Benefits

Salary: £32,000 + shift uplifts and sleep-in payments

Benefits:

• Paid annual leave, sick pay, and a company pension

• Develop yourself – we offer comprehensive training and fully funded qualifications

• Consider this a long-term career – we can give you ongoing professional development and clear progression routes

• We will support you – with regular supervisions and access to wellbeing support, including counselling

• A workplace culture that values teamwork, professionalism, and consistency

Ready to Be Part of Something Unique?

This is your opportunity to join a team that isn’t just about doing a job it’s about shaping lives through specialist care. If you're passionate about providing the highest level of care in a role that’s far from ordinary, we want to hear from you.