Support Worker

Change Grow Live; Poole; On-site; GBP 25,000 - 27,000; Full time

Job summary

A charitable organization in Poole seeks a Support Worker to engage with service users within the prisons. The role entails delivering psychosocial interventions, advocating for users, and encouraging social reintegration. Ideal candidates will have a strong understanding of substance misuse and experience in similar fields. This full-time position offers a salary range of £25,077 to £26,502. The role includes a comprehensive benefits package and opportunities for personal development.

Benefits

25 days holiday (+ bank holidays)

Paid Wellness hour

Pension scheme

Shopping and leisure discounts

Training and development opportunities

Qualifications

• Experience working within substance misuse and criminal justice fields.
• Ability to engage with service users effectively.
• Knowledge of mental health interventions and services.

Responsibilities

• Support service users from entry through their recovery journey.
• Deliver psychosocial interventions within the prison.
• Follow up with service users who miss appointments.

Skills

Understanding of substance misuse issues

Excellent communication skills

Good IT skills

Proactive and self-initiative

Interpersonal skills

Time management and prioritizing skills

Job description

Overview

Change Grow Live are a charity dedicated to the belief that we can make a difference to our Service Users lives, offering support and respect in a safe environment, treating each user as an individual and working with them to find the right treatment and care options. Our core values are ‘Be open, be compassionate and be bold’ and our team members apply these daily to achieve our mission of helping people change the direction of their lives, grow as individuals, and live life to its full potential. We are currently recruiting a Support Worker to work as part of the Southwest Prisons service delivering psychosocial interventions to service users across HMP Portland and HMP The Verne. Our ideal candidate will have the skills and experience to assess and engage with our service users, ensuring that they access the right intervention at the right time, in a way that best meets their needs. This is an excellent opportunity for someone with experience of substance misuse issues, looking to take the next step in their career with a charity that will support your continued personal and professional development. This position may include evenings, weekends and bank holiday working.

Where: HMP Portland and HMP The Verne, Southwest Prisons

Hours: Full time, 37.5 per week

Full Time Salary: £25,077.00 - £26,502.53 (Pro Rata for part time). Please note: Full-time hours at Change Grow Live are 37.5 hours per week. For part-time roles, the salary and payments will be pro rata based on contracted hours.

Responsibilities

About the role:

• Support service users from point of entry into the service and through their treatment/recovery journey
• Deliver psychosocial interventions as part of the Drug and Alcohol Recovery Service within the prison estate
• Work in partnership with other healthcare providers as part of an Integrated Health and Wellbeing model
• Advocate on behalf of the service users who are unwilling or unable to engage in treatment
• Proactively follow up with service users that miss appointments to increase opportunity of engagement
• Contribute to risk management processes, including prison ACCT process as appropriate
• Work with service users to support social (re)integration, enabling them to lead meaningful and purposeful lives: promoting recovery, resilience, peer support and self-determination

About you:

• Have a strong understanding of substance misuse issues and experience of working within a similar field ideally within prison/criminal justice
• Be an excellent communicator, both verbal and written with good IT skills
• Proactive and able to work on own initiative with excellent time management and prioritising skills
• Have a good working knowledge of mental health interventions, services, and good practice
• Be a supportive team player with strong interpersonal skills with the ability to work in partnership with a wide range of professionals, agencies, and internal/external stakeholders
• Ability to manage change successfully in a way that prioritises the needs of service users
• Understand the importance of information governance processes and commit to follow and apply all necessary safeguards
• Seek out learning opportunities to improve and broaden your professional knowledge and skills and to contribute and oversee the learning and development of others
• Able to travel between sites

What we will give to you:

• 25 days holiday (+ bank holidays) rising by 1 day for each years’ service (pro rata for part time)
• Paid ‘Wellness’ hour each week along with a ‘Wellness’ hub and Employee Assist Programme
• Contributory pension scheme
• A great selection of benefits incl. discounts for shopping, cinema, holidays, etc.
• A friendly and supportive team
• Training, career development & progression opportunities
• Refer a Friend scheme.

Please ensure that when completing your application form and supporting statement, you reflect on the details outlined in the job description. This will help us understand how your skills and experiences align with the requirements of the role.

Direct applications only — we will not be engaging agencies for this vacancy.

Please note: This role is not eligible for visa sponsorship. Applicants must already have the right to work in the UK at the time of application. For applicants with time-limited visas, unfortunately, we are unable to support new visa applications or extensions.

We reserve the right to close the vacancy early if we receive a high number of applications, so we encourage you to apply as soon as possible.

Salary Range (pro rata if part time)

CGL points 19 to 21 (£25,077.00 - £26,502.53)

ILW / OLW /Fringe

N/A - Outside London Weighting Area

Interview Date

16/2/2026

Closing Date

6/2/2026

Questions

If you have any questions on this opportunity that you would like to talk through please contact us using the below details:

Haydn Evans | [e-mail]

This post is subject to a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check at an enhanced level.