Youth and Community Practitioner

Suffolk Jobs Direct; Ipswich; On-site; GBP 23,000 - 27,000; Full time

Job summary

A community organization is seeking a Youth and Community Practitioner in Ipswich to engage with young people through various programs. The role involves delivering sessions, mentoring, and empowering youths to achieve their goals. Ideal candidates should possess skills in youth engagement and safeguarding. A competitive salary and benefits like additional leave are offered. Apply with your CV and cover letter to the Head of Services by email. Closing date is 2 January 2026.

Benefits

Extra annual leave

Competitive salary

Free spaces at holiday clubs

Free car parking

Qualifications

• Experience in delivering youth and community work sessions.
• Ability to build trusting relationships with young people.
• Commitment to safeguarding and promoting welfare.

Responsibilities

• Deliver youth and community work sessions across various settings.
• Provide individual mentoring and support to young people.
• Help young people set and work towards appropriate goals.
• Empower and signpost young people through group work.

Skills

Youth engagement

Mentoring

Community building

Communication

Safeguarding

Job description

• Inspire
• Address:Lindbergh Road, Ipswich, Suffolk IP3 9QX
• Salary:£23,810 - £26,444 per annum
• Hours:37.5 hours per week
• Contract:Permanent, required as soon as possible
• Reference:0525

Inspire are seeking a Youth and Community Practitioner to work as part of a frontline team to deliver quality work which engages young people, through informal learning opportunities that provide support, direction and empower participants to achieve their potential.

This role requires you to work across schools and local settings, including open‑access sessions, one‑to‑one support, group work in schools, detached work, and holiday programmes.

You will build purposeful, trusting relationships with young people, supporting their social, emotional, physical, and educational development while helping them set goals and access the right support.

You will lead on creating safe, engaging opportunities that enable young people to influence decisions, develop skills, and take an active role in their community.

You will work to clear programme targets, uphold professional standards and safeguarding requirements, and maintain strong partnerships with families, schools, and local organisations.

Responsibilities

• delivering youth and community work sessions (e.g., drop‑ins, mobile work, 1‑to‑1s, assemblies), including our holiday club programmes (our commitment to youth voice throughout our programmes means this role will include evening work and possible weekends)
• providing individual mentoring and support in schools and community setting
• helping young people set and work towards appropriate goals
• supporting young people’s social, emotional, physical, and educational development, building their skills, confidence, and decision‑making abilities
• empowering and signposting young people through one‑to‑one and group work, helping them overcome challenges and access additional support
• planning and taking part in community projects and programmes that enable young people to express themselves, raise concerns, and explore future options
• championing youth voices, ensuring young people influence decision‑making, programme delivery, and opportunities for leadership
• building and maintaining strong local networks, acting as a key point of contact for young people, families, partners, and community organisations
• ensuring safe, high‑quality delivery, including managing behaviour, maintaining resources, recording data, supervising staff and volunteers, and following safeguarding, health and safety, and data protection guidelines.

Benefits

Join our fantastic Team and enjoy a range of benefits to enhance your own well‑being, improve your work‑life balance and most importantly make a difference to the lives of the young people we work with.

Our benefits include:

• An extra day of annual leave for each year of dedicated service
• A competitive salary that recognises your skills and dedication
• Free spaces for your dependents at our holiday clubs, providing peace of mind for working parents
• Free car parking at our centres for easy access to the workplace
• And most importantly you’ll be making a real difference every day

How to apply

Please submit your CV and covering letter to Jackie Partridge, Head of Services by email at [e-mail].

Closing date

1pm, 2 January 2026.

We review every application carefully and, if we consider your profile a good match, we will contact you to invite you to take part in the interview process. The first part of the interview process will be a telephone interview, and the second part of the process will be in the form of a formal interview.

Shortlisting and interviews will take place while the advertisement is live, which may mean the position is closed early if suitable candidates are found.

We believe in equality, diversity and inclusion. We are committed to welcoming, respecting and valuing people for who they are as individuals, learning from their differences, embracing their uniqueness, and providing a positive workplace for all.

Inspire is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. All appointments are subject to pre‑employment checks including an enhanced DBS check.