Transition Worker – Supporting Young People Leaving Care

In this busy role, no two days will be the same as you support Young People to live independently in the community.

As a Transition Worker for Break Charity – Staying Connected Service, you’ll work with numerous agencies to help make a difference to the lives of young care leavers in the community. Working both within the Young Persons home and in a variety of other settings, you’ll develop personal, flexible and realistic support packages based on people’s individual circumstances.

Ultimately, this role is all about helping young people to realise their full potential, so you’ll develop strength-based plans, complete risk assessments and identify opportunities for them to get involved in their communities.

That means you’ll also build relationships with the Young People. Delivering support to all young people to make a positive transition into adulthood, improve young people’s chances to progress successfully through education to employment, helping them to acquire the skills to live independently, whilst supporting them to make positive, informed choices about their lives

This position will be based in Norwich but will involve regular travel across various locations within Norfolk.

The ideal candidate will be enthusiastic, creative and motivated with a professional, caring and calm approach. You will need to be able to demonstrate commitment, flexibility and imagination. You will also need to be creative in problem solving and be able to work well using your own initiative and within a team.

If you are interested in enriching the lives of the people we support, especially those who are living within the Norfolk area, please take a look at the Essential Job Information and apply.

We pride ourselves on being an inclusive and supportive employer and recognise that working with young people, although incredibly rewarding, is not without its challenges. Therefore, we want you to feel appreciated for the life changing work you are doing.

You will receive comprehensive training, company pension scheme, have excellent career progression opportunities, and be working in a warm and welcoming work environment – amongst many other things.

Essential Information:

Salary: The current salary scale for this post is £20,500 - £21,525 per annum, depending on qualifications. (The maximum job rate potential is £22,550 which is performance related). 

At appointment: The actual salary will be £20,500.

Hours: 38 hours per week
 
Closing Date: 24th January 2021
 
Interview Dates: Interviews have been scheduled to take place on 1st and 2nd February 2021

Interviews:  The first interview which will be a Safe Care/Warner style interview, will be held virtually via Microsoft Teams.  If successful after the first interview, candidates will then be expected to attend a formal interview, also virtually via Microsoft Teams.  We anticipate that each interview should last around 60 minutes.

Please note, all invites to interview will be sent via email. Please regularly check your emails, including any spam folders, for further communication from us. Failure to attend an interview may result in your application being withdrawn.

To comply with the Immigration Asylum & Nationality Act 2006 and additional amendments, and UK Border Agency (UKBA) requirements, all prospective employees will be asked to supply evidence of eligibility to work in the UK. We will ask to see and take a copy of an appropriate official document as set out in the UKBA guidelines. Do not send anything now, further information will be sent to you should you be invited to interview.

We are committed to equality of opportunity. Your current immigration status will not be taken into account when assessing your application against the selection criteria for the post.  We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds.

For more information on this job opportunity, please initially email or call the People Resources Team via the contact details found on our website.

 Full details and application documents here

We are seeking a highly credible Governance and Compliance Manager to be responsible for a portfolio that covers Trustee governance, regulatory compliance, legal agreements, policy development, data protection and risk management.

At Break, we put relationships at the heart of what we do so we need an engaging, enthusiastic person to join our ambitious and innovative team. We expect the appointed candidate to work collaboratively across all departments within the organisation to embed a culture of compliance.

About you
The successful candidate will have proven experience of working in a governance position, supporting stakeholders or senior managers and Trustee committees to ensure compliance with regulations. You will have a robust ability to test internal systems, manage significant amounts of data and have the confidence to operate at all levels throughout the charity.

You will have the ability to respect and adhere to existing Break policies, empathising with our aims, objects and values whilst acknowledging some of the challenges we may face. We are seeking an individual with a strong problem solving mind-set and a pragmatic approach to making improvements. 

If you feel you have the skills, experience, drive and enthusiasm to join this dynamic and successful charity we would like to hear from you as soon as possible.

In return, we will offer you a supportive work environment with a fantastic team, and a smarter working approach to nurture your career with us.

About us
Break has 47 Charity shops, with a wide geographical spread, which are a vital source of non-statutory funding, together with outstanding fundraising operations.

Break employs around 450 staff and 900 volunteers, the majority of the latter in its shops. The staff are located primarily in Norfolk, with the main administrative offices in Norwich.

Break is Investors in People Gold accredited and has featured in the Times Best Companies list on three occasions.

For over 50 years our work has positively changed young lives, that's why we need you. Join us at this pivotal time for the organisation, we can't wait to hear from you.

Interviews will take place virtually on Thursday 14th January 2021

Please contact Mike Hudson  mike.hudson@break-charity.org if you would like to discuss the post further.

Full details here

The Foster Care Co-operative (FCC), has taken part in ground-breaking research committed to removing barriers that could prevent disabled people from becoming foster carers. The National Lottery-funded research, Mutual Benefits: The Potential of Disabled People as Foster Carers, marked the first user-led disability research programme in the world.

Gail Granger, one of FCC’s Senior Social workers, lent her experience to the two-year landmark project which was in collaboration with the University of Worcester and Shaping Our Lives (a national network of disabled service users), which concluded that disabled people could contribute to the pool of foster carers, to care and provide homes for vulnerable children. 

Inaccessible buildings, information systems, support structures and medical assessments were highlighted as the key barriers for people with disabilities.  However, training sessions delivered to fostering agency staff as part of the research resulted in a change of attitude and approach – and it is hoped that other organisations within the fostering sector will follow suit.

Steve Field, Director of Child Care at The Foster Care Co-operative, said: “From the get-go, as a not-for-profit ‘co-operative’ fostering agency, we adopted an ethical and inclusive approach, from foster carer recruitment right through to staff recruitment. It is important to recognise skills and competences across a diverse population, including people from different ethnic backgrounds, sexual orientations, religions and, as this research has quite rightly pointed out, from people with disabilities. We are very proud of the contribution that Gail has made to this project, and we fully embrace and support any changes required to help encourage more people with disabilities towards fostering”.

According to The Fostering Network, one of the UK’s leading fostering charities, an additional 8,600 new foster carers are needed across the UK this year alone, to help make a difference to children’s lives.

Source:
https://www.fostercarecooperative.co.uk

Senior Transition Worker – Supporting Young People Leaving Care

In this busy role, no two days will be the same as you support Young People to live independently in the community.
 
As a Senior Transition Worker for Break Charity – Staying Connected Service you will work closely with the Deputy Manager, providing leadership and guidance to a team of support workers. Leading by example, you will perform a key role in supporting the team to embed a trauma-informed approach to practice. In addition to holding keywork responsibility for a number of young people you will be responsible for deputising for the deputy manager in their absence and will have ongoing responsibility for providing support and supervision sessions to an agreed number of support staff.

This position will involve regular travel across various locations within Cambridgeshire and Peterborough with flexible bases including temporarily working from home.

The ideal candidate will be enthusiastic, creative and motivated with a professional, caring and calm approach. You will have a thorough knowledge of social care practice, particularly in relation to care-experienced young people, staff support and development skills.
 
You will need to be able to demonstrate commitment, flexibility and imagination. You will also need to be creative in problem solving and be able to work well using your own initiative and within a team.

If you are interested in enriching the lives of the people we support, especially those who are living within the Cambridgeshire/Peterborough area, please take a look at the Essential Job Information and apply.
 
We pride ourselves on being an inclusive and supportive employer and recognise that working with young people, although incredibly rewarding, is not without its challenges. Therefore, we want you to feel appreciated for the life changing work you are doing.

You will receive comprehensive training, company pension scheme, have excellent career progression opportunities, and be working in a warm and welcoming work environment – amongst many other things.

Essential Information:

Salary: The current salary scale for this post is £22,808 - £25,374 per annum, depending on qualifications. (The maximum job rate potential is £25,910 which is performance related). 

Hours: 38 hours per week
 
Closing Date: Friday 6th November 2020

Interviews: The first interview which will be a Safe Care/ Warner style interview, will be held on Thursday 12th November. If successful after the first interview, candidates will then be expected to attend a second formal interview also scheduled to take place on Friday 13th November. We anticipate that each interview should last around 60 minutes.

To comply with the Immigration Asylum & Nationality Act 2006 and additional amendments, and UK Border Agency (UKBA) requirements, all prospective employees will be asked to supply evidence of eligibility to work in the UK. We will ask to see and take a copy of an appropriate official document as set out in the UKBA guidelines. Do not send anything now, further information will be sent to you should you be invited to interview.

We are committed to equality of opportunity. Your current immigration status will not be taken into account when assessing your application against the selection criteria for the post

For more information on this job opportunity, please initially email or call the HR Team via the contact details found on our website.

To comply with the Immigration Asylum & Nationality Act 2006 and additional amendments, and UK Border Agency (UKBA) requirements, all prospective employees will be asked to supply evidence of eligibility to work in the UK. We will ask to see and take a copy of an appropriate official document as set out in the UKBA guidelines. Do not send anything now, further information will be sent to you should you be invited to interview.

We are committed to equality of opportunity. Your current immigration status will not be taken into account when assessing your application against the selection criteria for the post. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds.​

Full details and apply here

A mobile coffee van business, launched by Break in September 2020, is giving our young care leavers the chance to gain real work experience and new skills to improve their job chances.

Our new Coffee Break project supports young people who have either recently left or are about to leave the care system and live independently for the first time.  And it is helping our young people to learn new skills, boost their confidence and give them the best possible chances of securing jobs after leaving care.

Currently based in Norwich two days a week, the coffee van serves hot and cold drinks, sweet and savoury snacks, and is staffed and managed entirely by our young care leavers. All the young people involved are benefitting from some brilliant training and guidance from our project manager, Joe Walden, or ‘the coffee van man’ as we like to call him!

Today everyone at Break is celebrating our Hidden Heroes. The people who go that extra mile and make a huge difference in the work we do. There were so many to choose from so here are the two we'd love to share with you...

Mark Edwards
Mark Edwards began his career at Break eight and a half years ago. He is our Maintenance Coordinator but so much more…

Mark has always worked hard to be approachable and friendly towards all the young people in our care. He has such a gentle, kind manner that young people are often to be found working alongside him, sometimes fixing the hole in the wall that they created, and at other times, just chatting about life.

Mark has built a relationship with a young person in one of our children’s homes – they have a shared interest in mountain biking, in fast cars and more recently, geo-caching. Mark went on holiday with the children’s home recently (in his weekend off) and he made sure that when a young person was looking bored, he found an opportunity for an adventure.

Mark feels like one of the Break family and believes his role (over and above his job) is to befriend, support and help point young people in the right direction.

He said “it’s the most fulfilling thing I have ever done. I worked for 25 years on building sites and I now work at Break where it is so much more than a job. I see the other side now, the side I did not know existed. This job has changed my life”.

Mark is one of Break’s #hiddenheroes because he has changed the lives of so many young people by going the extra mile.

Shannon Evans
Shannon Evans works as a Senior Support Worker at Morley House, our bespoke children’s home for children with disabilities. Shannon was amazing throughout lockdown and emanated Break’s ‘can do’ values by creating education plans for all four young people at Morley.

It was difficult to help the young people to understand the concept of Covid and lockdown and Shannon worked hard to ensure that they could understand by creating “social stories” and sensory experiences to help them come to terms with the disruption to their normal routines.

Shannon made sure that each young person during lockdown had lots of exciting things to do each day. Each week there was a theme. One week it was “We’re going on a bear hunt” and Shannon planned activities that fitted the theme – a scavenger hunt in the woods, a session making edible mud and making magic mud recipes. The young people all engaged and all loved it.

Lockdown was tough, but the young people at Morley House learnt so much – from making lava lamps to rockets, from shaving foam activities to just having fun – thanks to Shannon (and the whole team) they got through it as a family.

Shannon is one of Break’s #hiddenheroes because she has changed the lives of so many young people by going the extra mile.​

Source:
https://break-charity.org

Please note, the role will require an element of travel to other Break locations across Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire
 
Break delivers a wide range of outstanding services providing exceptional outcomes for vulnerable children, young people and their families, and is looking to develop and diversify those services to increase our support and geographical spread while always striving for continuous improvement.

This is an excellent opportunity to join an expanding and vibrant voluntary organisation with services located in Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire and make a positive impact on young lives as a member of our Senior Leadership Team.

You will be passionate about changing young lives and experienced in managing teams and staff to ensure they are able to provide the best support for our beneficiaries. The Operations Manager (Children and Families) will be leading, managing and supporting the management teams of our diverse services, which include children’s homes, fostering, short break services for children with disabilities, family assessment services and our therapeutic provision. You will work across Break working to ensure that our services work collaboratively whilst ensuring regulatory compliance.

We aspire to excellence and employ experienced, resilient, skilful and creative senior managers to inspire our service delivery and provide support to our teams.

You will have a background in delivering services to children and young people either with a social work qualification or a relevant professional qualification. We welcome those experienced in delivering excellent residential child care.

If you would like to discuss the post please contact Rachel Cowdry on 01603 670100 or email on Rachel.cowdry@break-charity.org.

Closing Date: 23rd July 2020

Interview dates: 31st July for Safe Care/Warner Interviews /  3rd August for Formal Panel   

Full details here

​About us
Break has been delivering care to children, young people and their families for over 50 years. We have a wide range of services (majority of which are Ofsted regulated) spanning Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and Suffolk and have a growth agenda across the region for the next 3-5 years.

About you
We are seeking an experienced, dynamic senior manager who has the drive and commitment to lead our care services and support our improving for excellence agenda.

You will be a qualified social worker with experience of leading multiple teams or work streams, with a commitment to driving forward a range of improvement agendas across all services.

You will have a track record of developing talent, effectively leading and building teams. With excellent communication and interpersonal skills, you will be confident building and maintaining relationships, both internally and externally and will have a relentless focus on positive outcomes, creating new and better means to achieve service success.

We're looking for a proactive can-do individual who can hit the ground running, demonstrating positive impact through engagement and outstanding outcomes. We would welcome candidates with experience of a wide spectrum of children, young people and family services, including residential child care.

If you feel you have the skills, experience and drive to join this dynamic and successful charity we would like to hear from you as soon as possible. 

In return, we will offer you a supportive work environment with a fantastic team, and a smarter working approach to nurture your career with us.

We need you to help us “change young lives”
Closing date: 16th July 2020
Interview dates: Warner/Safe Care on 28th July/ Formal on 29th July

Contact Rachel Cowdry for an informal discussion on 07834 130443 or email rachel.cowdry@break-charity.org

Full details here

​We currently have an amazing opportunity available for a Fostering Supervising Social Worker to join our Therapeutic Fostering Service.
 
We are looking for an enthusiastic and motivated individual with a caring and calm approach to help support and supervise the Foster Carers within our Fostering Team. This is a unique opportunity to join our established not for profit Fostering Service which provides therapeutic placements for young people as well as parent and child placements.
 
All candidates should hold a valid driving licence and have regular access to a vehicle for work purposes.
 
Qualifications
The ideal candidate should be a HCPC registered social worker.
 
We pride ourselves on being an inclusive and supportive employer and recognise that working in care, although incredibly rewarding, is not without its challenges. Therefore, we want you to feel appreciated for the life changing work you are doing.
 
You will receive comprehensive training, company pension scheme, have excellent career progression opportunities, and be working in a warm and welcoming work environment – amongst many other things.
 
Essential Information
Salary: The current full time salary scale for this position is £17,838 to £18,730 per annum, depending on qualifications (maximum job rate potential is £19,622 per annum which is performance related).

At appointment: The actual salary based on 22 hours per week will be, £17,838 to £18,730 per annum, depending on qualifications.
 
Hours: 22 hours per week
 
Closing Date: Sunday 28th June 2020

Interviews: The interviews have been scheduled to take place on 14th July 2020.  The first interview will be a Safe Care/ Warner style interview, if successful after the first interview, candidates will then be expected to attend a second formal interview. We anticipate that each interview should last a maximum of 60 minutes.
 
Please note: Due to the current Pandemic, all recent interviews have been carried out virtually. Once the shortlisting process has been completed, we will contact all successful candidates to update them on the interview process.

To comply with the Immigration Asylum & Nationality Act 2006 and additional amendments, and UK Border Agency (UKBA) requirements, all prospective employees will be asked to supply evidence of eligibility to work in the UK. We will ask to see and take a copy of an appropriate official document as set out in the UKBA guidelines. Do not send anything now, further information will be sent to you should you be invited to interview.
 
We are committed to equality of opportunity. Your current immigration status will not be taken into account when assessing your application against the selection criteria for the post.
 
For more information on this job opportunity, please initially email or call the HR Team via the contact details found on our website.

Full details and application documents here

How we are working through this pandemic.

We would like to thank all of you who have supported Break in the past and who are interested in how we are responding to the current crisis caused by Covid-19.

We would like to reassure you that we are prioritising supporting all the young people that are in our care. We are reconfiguring our practices so that we can do this as safely as we can whilst still meeting the needs of each young person.  Naturally, there are many challenges to this but our staff have been amazing and are coming up with constant ideas and adaptations to our practice.

Unfortunately, alongside this incredible response, we are faced with a vast reduction in our income due to having to close our charity shops and cancel our fundraising events which may have an impact on our future viability.  Although we are confident that, over time, we will be able to overcome this, we would really appreciate any help you can provide - whether it is a donation or volunteering.  Please donate here and know that every penny will go to supporting a very vulnerable young person at this extremely challenging time in their development.

Source:
http://break-charity.org