 Putney SW15, flexible working options £40,000 - £45,000 pa depending on experience 37.5 hours per week - occasional evening and weekend work may be required About Us
St Christopher's is a leading charity for children and young people. Our vision is for every child and young person to be safe, loved and happy, to achieve their potential and have a bright future. We do this by providing children’s homes, fostering, homes for care leavers and specialist support services, all designed for young people in care, on the edge of care, or leaving care. We support them to make positive relationships which give them the confidence to succeed. We are looking for an experienced Head of Fundraising and Communications, in order to grow the fundraising department at St Christopher’s. We have big ambitions in our organisational strategy to provide brighter futures for double the number of young people by 2023 and fundraising will play a big part in helping us to achieve this. In 2020 we will be celebrating our 150th birthday and we are planning our fundraising appeal, as well as lots of exciting activities to celebrate our proud legacy, raise our profile and expand our donor base. We are a strengths-based charity and seek to promote the brilliant achievements our young people make to show donors how their investment and support contributes towards this success. About The Role As Head of Fundraising and Communications, you will be responsible for the development and growth of the fundraising and communications team, in order to bring in restricted and unrestricted income for St Christopher’s, in line with budgeted expectations. The department’s activities will include targeted applications to grant making trusts and foundations, developing the donor base and the development of corporate fundraising. The successful candidate will have:
This is an exciting opportunity to step up into a challenging and strategic role. It will appeal to a self-starter, with the drive and creativity to make a role their own, as well as an interest in the strategic side of fundraising and being part of a developing and growing team. If you’re ready for the challenge and think you have the skills and passion to drive St Christopher’s forward, then we would love to hear from you. Recruitment Process At St Christopher’s we are committed to the safeguarding of all children and young people in our care. During the recruitment process you will be expected to complete an online application form to ensure we capture essential information to meet legislation, best practice and vetting requirements. To be considered, your on-line application must include a full supporting statement addressing the criteria stated above. For the full Job Description for this role and more detail about what will be required, please click here. If you require any further information, please contact us on 0208 780 7800. Closing Date: 27th May 2019 We advise to apply as soon as possible as applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis and this opportunity might be filled before the stated closing date. St Christopher’s is committed to equal opportunities and welcomes applications from all sections of the community. Full details and application documents here  Location: Head Office Contract Type: Permanent Closing Date: 28 May 2019 Salary: £40,000- £45,000 Specific Hours: 37.5 St Christopher's is a leading charity for children and young people and we are proud of our history for providing fostering, children's homes and a range of innovative leaving care services across the UK & Isle of Man.
We currently have an exciting opportunity for a Company Secretary ideally from a charity or not for profit background to join our administrative and governance team working closely with the Chief Executive Officer to contribute and help create an inspiring place to work by ensuring regulatory requirements are met and to manage the delivery of Council business for St Christopher's and its subsidiaries. Compliance responsibilities for data protection, health and safety and quality assurance. Additionally the post holder will manage a small team responsible for providing a professional, customer focused and cost effective data management, reception, administration and secretarial services at Head Office. The ideal candidate:
Key aspects of the job will be:
The role will appeal to a creative self- starter with positive high energy levels, enthusiasm and a real can do attitude, looking for greater autonomy and a sense of ownership. If you’re ready for the challenge and think you have the skills to drive St Christopher’s forward we would love to hear from you. For the full Job Description for this role and more detail about what will be required, please click here. To be considered, your on-line application must include a full supporting statement addressing the criteria given in the Person Specification. If you require any further information, please contact us on 0208 780 7800. Closing Date: 28th May 2019 (Please bear in mind that applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. This post is subject to a DBS check) St Christopher’s is committed to equal opportunities and welcomes applications from all sections of the community. Full details and application documents here.  Care leavers have to juggle lots of adult responsibilities at a very young age, often without support from their family. They may have missed out on key chunks of schooling, so do not always have the qualifications or confidence to aspire to bright futures.
St Christopher’s Aftercare team on the Isle of Man support care leavers to find safe homes, catch up on their education and look for jobs. Zoe is just one of the young people they have helped. Zoe’s story Zoe was struggling to make ends meet on her zero hours contract at a pub, where she also rented a room at a discounted rate. She had no stability because of her employment situation, so she was unable to plan for the future. She tried to find work elsewhere but didn’t have the GCSE grades to apply for the types of jobs she wanted, and there was no way she could afford to support herself through additional education at this stage. To earn some extra money on the side, Zoe started working at a pizza shop. But she was then let go from the pub as there were not enough shifts to go around, which meant she had to find a new place to live too. Zoe reluctantly signed on to claim Jobseeker’s Allowance and was forced to accept food bank support, which was desperately upsetting for her. The job at the pizza shop ended and she still was not able to cover living costs in her new flat. That’s when Zoe contacted Aftercare to see if they could help with her job search. The team helped to re-write her CV, research the role and practice for online tests that were part of the application for a job at a bank – and she secured an interview! To dispel Zoe’s nerves about the interview, the team spent weeks practising typical questions and doing mock interviews until she felt confident enough for the big day. Then a week later, she received a call to say they wanted to hire her. The bank manager said they normally would not offer interviews to someone without the required qualifications, but Zoe had good test scores and impressive work experience on her CV so they wanted to give her a chance. They were really impressed with her interview and, even though she was nervous, she came across as mature and confident, and answering all their questions with fluidity and good examples. Without help from Aftercare, Zoe may have struggled to secure regular employment and could have ended up in debt or homeless. The team supported her to settle into the role and she is loving her job. The next step Through seeing how their work has positively impacted young people like Zoe, St Christopher’s is extending their work to include a new Support Into Employment service, matching care leavers with work placements and volunteering opportunities. The charity has also committed to making sure 5% of the workforce is made up of care experienced people by 2023 as part of their organisational strategy. Find out more about Support Into Employment below and please get in touch with us if you would like to create brighter futures for young people on the Isle of Man. Source: www.stchris.org.uk  LandAid, the property industry charity, is one of St Christopher’s supporters. They funded the refurbishment of our Staying Close home in Ealing. And, thanks to their funding, we’ve been able to install a new kitchen at one of our homes for young people leaving care.
Paul Morrish, LandAid’s Chief Executive, tells us a bit about why LandAid chose to support St Christopher’s. “LandAid gives out over £2m every year in grants. We fund remarkable charities who provide support and accommodation for young people who have been homeless, or are at risk of homelessness. Most of our grants go directly to providing homes for young people, and we’re always on the look-out for new and exciting models to support young people. “St Christopher’s particularly appealed to LandAid due to its innovative approaches to tackling and preventing youth homelessness, like the Staying Close project. It’s evidence-based and helps young people leaving care and going into the ‘real world’ without leaving them to it, which can be a scary and unhelpful experience. We were drawn to their commitment to stay with young people through their period of transition into independent living and beyond. “Staying Close works by giving young care leavers a stable home and tailored support. The model provides accommodation with step-down support for young people leaving their children’s home. This gives them the opportunity to go back and visit if they need help – just like we did when we left home. “We hope that the projects we’ve funded and St Christopher’s Staying Close model will continue to prepare young people for the positive lives which lie ahead of them. We have enjoyed working with St Christopher’s on a number of grants already, and we hope to be able to continue to fund their innovative projects, and to keep seeing the excellent results which has made our partnership with them so rewarding.” Source: www.stchris.org.uk  St Christopher’s has given evidence to an All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) enquiry into financial education for young people in care so that MPs and organisations can work together to introduce better support.
Chief Executive Jonathan Whalley was invited to give evidence directly to the MPs involved in the APPG about how to make sure care leavers had opportunities to learn how to budget, manage their money and a safe space to trial new things. At St Christopher’s we are committed to raising aspirations for care leavers and offering lifelong learning and thriving, instead of leaving young people to go it alone once they reach a certain age. Through our Staying Close pilot, young people have opportunities to go back to their children’s homes so that they can stay in touch with the people they care about the most. This commitment was central to the evidence we provided, as we know from our young people that having just one key person who is on your side can make all the difference. In answer to MPs questions Jonathan explained how leaving care was a process rather than a single event in a child’s life. He explained how starting transitions work sooner would provide care leavers with a better foundation for adulthood, which includes learning about budgeting and money management. He also explained how mental health issues can impact on young people’s ability to cope with living independently at such a young age. This led onto a discussion about corporate parenting responsibilities, where providers and local authorities commit to providing children in care and care leavers with the same love, support and nurturing as any other young person. Jonathan also shared examples of current best practice for financial education in our services. For example, one care leaver on the Isle of Man had racked up £150 in bank fees from being only a few pounds overdrawn. He did not have the confidence to speak up for himself and ask the bank to waive these, so a member of the Aftercare team advocated on his behalf. Without this support from a person he trusted, this young person would have spiralled into debt and homelessness, showing just how important relationships are to care leavers. We know that it is important to give young people in our care a safe environment for them to try new things and make mistakes. In our homes, this happens through daily practice as well as our life skills work. If all children in care were given this space and trust, it would allow them to develop their own risk competencies and give them practical experience to draw on when they faced challenges in adulthood. The event gave us the chance to educate MPs on what life is like for children in care and care leavers, as well as fight to get them the right support. We are looking forward to reading their recommendations in the coming months. Source: www.stchris.org.uk  St Christopher’s is delighted to be sharing feedback from APEX inspections at our 16+ services showcasing the brilliant practice and support on offer to homeless young people and care leavers.
The APEX inspections include feedback from young people, staff and other stakeholders, as well as reviews of paperwork, recording and compliance. Semi-independent housing for care leavers is not regulated in the UK. However, St Christopher’s believes that all children and young people deserve safe, high quality homes. We welcome the opportunity to learn from the inspection’s findings and improve our work. That’s why we inspect all of our 16+ homes every year. The inspector identified areas of good or outstanding practice in all of our 16+ homes, with particular commendations for how we support young people to engage with the community, sustain education, training and employment, and stay in touch with our services after they move onto independence. "Being here made me think there is a future and these people will help you get to that future." Lian, young person in APEX inspection report Geneva Ellis, Director of Corporate Services, said: “There is some fantastic feedback in the inspection reports. It is clear that our 16+ teams are providing caring, personalised support for young people living in our homes that is helping to prepare them for adulthood.” Source: www.stchris.org.uk  The life skills team has been working hard over the last year to make sure young people at St Christopher’s have the right skills and AQAs to help them reach their goals. When we talk about preparing young people for independence, what we are really doing is supporting them to be interdependent, feel good about themselves, and have the confidence and strength to keep going whilst asking for help when they need to. We are not just preparing them for a specific transition – we are preparing them for life and all the changes and bumps in the road that come with it. In 2018 young people across the organisation completed 422 AQAs. Because young people are staying in placement for longer, we can work with them for a more extended period of time and support them to engage in more meaningful AQAs that take longer to complete but offer a bigger sense of achievement at the end. As part of our strategic commitment to improving emotional wellbeing, the team have been making sure young people understand mental health, self-esteem and stress management. Young people and staff said they felt unskilled in this area, so workshops have been delivered to both of them alongside each other as equals. There have been more than 200 sporting activities including football, swimming, boxing, gym, badminton, yoga and the annual St Christopher’s sports day, which also contribute towards improved emotional wellbeing. Other relevant awards in this area include 32 health and wellbeing sessions and more than 50 creative activity sessions to help young people relax and have fun.  Through our Staying Close pilot, which supports young people with our third strategic aim of lifelong learning and thriving, the life skills team co-created a new transitions programme with young people to support them with practical aspects of preparing to move into their own home. One young person has completed this and is now successfully living independently, and nine others are about to start their journey on the programme. Other achievements relating to lifelong learning and thriving include 21 tenancy and home sessions, 28 money, budgeting and debt management certificates, and more than 50 employability skills sessions including assertiveness and work experience opportunities. Other achievements include six sessions on drug and alcohol use, eight human rights and democracy sessions, 16 equality and diversity sessions, and more than 200 cooking activities.  However, these achievements from young people would not be possible without the hard work of our staff. The life skills team made changes to better support staff in running AQA sessions, like providing training as part of the introductory training course. There are now 85 AQAs in the catalogue so that staff can deliver one-to-one and group sessions, and there are life skills workbooks for fostering, children’s homes and care leaver services.
The Peacock Charitable Trust provide £10,000 per year to St Christopher’s, which contributes towards salaries for the life skills and participation team. Without them, all of this work would not be possible, so we want to say a huge thank you for their continued support. Chief Executive Jonathan Whalley said: “Our young people have achieved so much in 2018 and it definitely deserves to be celebrated. Well done to everyone for these brilliant accomplishments – I cannot wait to keep creating brighter futures in 2019!” Source: www.stchris.org.uk  St Christopher’s young people hosted an art exhibition on Thursday 3 January filled with their drawings, collages, videos, songs and poems. More than 40 pieces were submitted to go on display. Young people worked alongside staff to design their pieces, set up the exhibit space, and invite their friends and family along to the show. It was a big hit, with a constant stream of people coming into the gallery throughout the evening. Attendees were also invited to write messages about specific pieces on display, which would then be passed onto the artist for them to read and keep. This was to make sure young people knew how their art had inspired or impacted upon the audience. This exhibition is a great example of St Christopher’s social pedagogic approach. Opportunities like this, where young people can be creative and try something new, allow them to learn about their own unique skills, talents and value. It was also vital that young people could have their say over curating the exhibition. Co-production is integral to St Christopher’s practice; by giving young people control over things that they care about, they can learn new skills and start to recognise the positive difference they can make in their communities. Chief Executive Jonathan Whalley said: “This show was a great way to kick off 2019 with some creativity and flair. There is such an unprecedented amount of talent within our homes and services, and looking round the exhibition made me feel so proud of all they have accomplished.” Would you like to support our work? Find out about fundraising at St Christopher’s.  One of St Christopher’s strategic commitments for 2018-2023 is to promote lifelong learning and thriving for young people. Part of this is about creating co-produced pathways to independence using young people’s expertise, that can be tailored to an individual’s needs. We are achieving this through a number of ways, such as through our grant from the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation. Through this project, we are supporting young people in our children’s homes and foster homes to explore what their future may look like when they leave care.
But how can we expect our young people to prepare for this change if they are don’t know what their options are? Lewis lives at one of our children’s homes. With help from his key worker, he has been thinking about preparing for independence – but as neither of them had visited a 16+ home before, they weren’t quite sure what “independence” looked like. So a member of staff from our life skills team, a post which is funded by Esmée Fairbairn, arranged for Lewis and his key worker to visit a St Christopher’s 16+ home in another part of the country. They spent the day looking at the accommodation and speaking to staff about how things work in the home. A few days later, Lewis and his key worker had time to reflect on the experience. Lewis said he now felt “less anxious” about moving onto independence because he had a better understanding of what it would be like. He has thought about the areas he might struggle with and told his key worker about the specific things that will help him so that they can support him in the right way. Now, he will be more prepared for moving on from his children’s home. The next step for the transitions project is to make links in the local areas so that young people can visit other homes to learn about the practical side of independence. And because St Christopher’s offers a variety of services, there are lots more opportunities for young people to learn about their options for leaving care. Thank you to the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation for making this work possible. Would you like to support our transitions work? Find out how your fundraising makes a difference to children in care. Source: www.stchris.org.uk  Christmas can be difficult time for young people who have left care. They may not be able to be with their family, and face being completely on their own on Christmas Day. But St Christopher’s staff go above and beyond to make sure that doesn’t happen.
Last year, 16 year old Ella had just moved into her own flat. It was scary for her to have to look after herself suddenly – paying bills, cooking all her own meals and living like an adult, even though she was still very young. Though Ella really wanted some safety and security, she didn’t have a strong relationship with her adoptive parents and didn’t feel comfortable staying with them for Christmas. She called her children’s home to tell them that she was worried she would be on her own on Christmas Day. Without a second thought, the staff invited Ella to come and spend Christmas with them. They arranged for a taxi to pick her up and drop her back, and Ella spent a happy, cosy day at her children’s home which they’d decorated with a Santa’s Grotto theme. You can help a child like Ella feel loved on Christmas Day. Your donation to our Christmas Appeal could help pay for a taxi or train ride home, and make sure that there’s a present waiting for them under the tree. Source: www.stchris.org.uk |
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