Fitzrovia Youth in Action

JOB DESCRIPTION – Peer Mentoring Manager

JOB TITLEPeer Mentoring Manager

HOURS PER WEEK35 hours/ week, including ad hoc evening work

BASED ATFitzrovia Youth in Action (FYA)

RESPONSIBLE TOYouth Participation Manager

SALARY £32,000

ANNUAL LEAVE 30 days, plus public holidays

LENGTH OF CONTRACT2 years from October 2017 (possibility of extending)

Background to Fitzrovia Youth in Action

Fitzrovia Youth in Action (FYA) is central London’s leading youth action charity that empowers children and young people to overcome the barriers they face, fulfil their potential and create positive change in their local community.

FYA was launched in 1997 and over the last 17 years, the charity has grown into an organisation that offers children and young people a broad range of youth-led volunteering activities and employability support.

To meet this need, FYA has developed a comprehensive user journey that includes:

Engaging young people: we initially engage with children and young people through healthy living drop-ins and a football training programme.

Youth-led volunteering: having developed a good relationship, these same children and young people take part in peer education, media activities and community events.

Employability: when they have finished school and are looking for work, we support them in this process by offering mentoring, work experience and employability workshops.

FYA has a small staff team consisting of eight full time staff and a number of part time and sessional staff members.

Purpose of this post

The Camden Children and Young People Peer Mentoring project aims to deliver a comprehensive peer mentoring service that will be co-produced with and embedded in schools and youth organisations across Camden. This will be delivered by a unique partnership between Fitzrovia Youth Action (the project lead), Mind in Camden, who will provide staff and user training programmes and The Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust (T&P) who will provide consultancy and advice on referrals to local Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services. The headline outcomes the project is seeking to achieve with children and young people in Camden are:

•Able to access support from their peers

•Achieving improved connectedness with individuals and community

•Improved problem solving skills

The role of the Peer Mentoring Manager is to:

•Co-ordinate delivery of the overall programme

•Help recruit partners agencies from schools and youth clubs

•Work with Mind in Camden and Tavi to provide support to host agencies and their children and young people (Peer mentors and mentees)

•Organise and deliver peer support programmes within FYA (including at least one peer mentoring cohort per year)

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Coordinate delivery of the overall programme

  1. Coordinate and service regular delivery partnership meetings
  1. Keep detailed records of the work and it’s outcomes and ensure all groups and workshops run are monitored and evaluated.
  1. Produce regular progress reports for partnership meetings and funders
  1. Support and facilitate a steering group of young people to input into the planning and management of the project.
  1. Work with delivery partners and host agencies to coordinate the schedule for delivery of training and support across host agencies.
  1. Work with delivery partners to refine and adapt the model of delivery in response to feedback from young people and host agencies
  1. Manage and oversee the running of cohorts young people
  1. Work with delivery partners to ensure project is delivered on schedule, within budget and meets agreed targets.

Help recruit and manage relationships with partner ‘host’ agencies

  1. With Mind in Camden, Tavistock & Portman staff and colleagues within FYA engage in planning and delivering an active community outreach programme to engage schools and youth and community groups as hosts agencies and providers of peer mentoring and support programmes,
  1. Work with host agencies, children and young people to promote and support their wider engagement with FYA peer support programmes and other services offered by Mind in Camden, Tavistock and Portman and provide signposting to specialist mental health services within the borough.
  1. Ensure there is an effective promotion and publicity campaign for the project including regularly updated online information and promotional materials.
  1. Plan and manage key celebration events including launch event and showcase

celebration events.

  1. Hold regular review and planning meetings with host agencies

Work with Mind in Camden and Tavistock & Portman to provide support to host agencies and their children and young people

  1. Provide an effective link to appropriate preventative and other statutory and voluntary

mental health services for CYP and partner and host agencies.

  1. Provide ongoing advice and support to partners (especially around the practice of

youth led or peer support work in the context of mental health and wellbeing)

  1. Safeguarding Children and Young People by communicating effectively with your

manager, other teams and the Camden Safeguarding Children Board where

necessary, and attending relevant safeguarding training when required

Organise and deliver peer support programmes within FYA

  1. Recruit peer mentors and mentees to engage directly with FYA
  1. Co-ordinate mentoring training, sessions and deliver wider group activities,
  1. Be the primary support worker for peer mentors/mentees within this cohort
  1. Deliver / support activities within the wider Peer support programme (Peer education, Young Commissioners and Health Champions programme)
  1. Work with FYA colleagues to support young people’s journey through peer support and youth action programmes

General Duties:

  1. Work within the context of the wider FYA organisation and participate in internal and external meetings as required.
  1. Work alongside partner staff as an integrated team and participate in related internal and external meetings as required
  1. Work to FYA policies, procedures and guidance.
  1. Be accountable for all aspects of your work to your manager through supervision.
  1. Undergo training and qualification as is consistent with the satisfactory performance in the post.
  1. Perform other duties as reasonably required by your manager.
  1. You will have the responsibility for promoting the safeguarding and welfare of all our

young people/members we work alongside.

Fitzrovia Youth in Action

Peer Mentoring Manager

PERSON SPECIFICATION

All areas in the person specification are essential unless stated otherwise

  1. Experience
  1. Experience of partnership/multi-agency work and of promoting / maintaining productive relationships with a variety of individuals and organisations to ensure the effective implementation of projects
  2. Excellent communication skills with the ability to network effectively and persuade people towards achieving desired goals.
  3. Experience of at least two years’ developmental work with young people, part-time or full-time in an inner-city, culturally diverse environment
  1. Experience of supporting participatory, young person-led group work
  2. Experience of devising and delivering workshops and structured training sessions .
  3. Experience of work in focussed group settings, one-to-one, outreach work and in a residential setting.
  4. Experience of managing programmes and monitoring performance against targets.
  5. Enthusiasm and ability to work under own initiative with a flexible / ‘can do’ attitude as well as a willingness to support colleagues where needed.
  6. Experience of delivering youth work or mental health programmes.
  7. Experience of monitoring and evaluating programmes
  8. Experience of supervising staff and volunteers
  9. Experience of using a CRM database system
  1. Knowledge and understanding
  1. Understanding of mental health from a range of perspectives, with particular emphasis on non-medical understandings of mental health.
  1. Knowledge of issues that affect young people within an inner-city, culturally and ethnically diverse environment
  2. Understanding the need to ensure young people are involved in decision making, and are represented, at all levels within the project
  3. A thorough understanding of the principles and practice of peer mentoring in work with children and young people
  1. Awareness of current issues in policy and practice in mental health, particularly around services for children and young people.
  1. A clear understanding of the effects of inequality and a commitment to working to challenge discrimination
  1. A strong knowledge of safeguarding principles and practice
  1. Abilities and skills
  1. Ability to manage relationships at senior level and experience of building partnerships with other agencies.
  1. Ability to recognise the strengths in young people and use their skills to benefit project development
  2. Ability to prioritise, set and achieve own targets, manage complex workloads and work without direct supervision.
  3. Possession of basic computer skills, including word processing and spread sheets.
  4. Ability to motivate people.
  5. Ability to show initiative
  1. Other requirements

1)Willingness and flexibility to work evenings and weekends.

2)Youth and Community Work qualification. (Desirable)

3)Enthusiasm and willingness to be flexible in achieving targets and outcomes.

4)Readiness to work in the challenging environment of a small voluntary organisation.

5)Willingness to work closely and collaboratively with other staff members and offer support where needed

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