Older People’s Outreach Worker

Thank you for your interest in the post of Older People’s Outreach worker based at Bishop Creighton House.

Please find enclosed:

  • Background information on Older People’s Services and Bishop Creighton House
  • Job Description & Person Specification
  • Application form
  • Monitoring form

Our 2013-14 Annual Review is downloadable from the website:

If you have any queries about the job, please feel free to contact me on: 020 7385 9689 / .

If you would like to apply for the post, please send your completed application to us by 5pm, Friday 9th October. Late applications will not be accepted.

If you have not heard from us within 2 weeks of the closing date then please assume that on this occasion unfortunately your application has not been successful.

Interviews will be held at BCH on Friday 16th October

Thank you for your interest, and I look forward to hearing from you soon.

With best wishes

Joy Houghton-Brown

Older People’s Services Manager

Background information

Older People’s Services

Older People’s Services covers our three befriending services to older people:

Homeline provides long term befriending to isolated older people in Hammersmith. This includes home visits and daily telephone calls, with staff follow- up and casework.

H&F Connect 55+ is anew volunteer deliveredprojectat Bishop Creighton Housein partnership with H&F Council. Volunteers will provide short termsupport(between 3 and 6 months)to older peoplewho are isolated and lonely.Volunteer support will aim to build confidence so older people can remainengagedwiththeirlocalcommunity.

Keep Active (H&F and Westminster)provide volunteer support to older people discharged from Community Rehab Services to keep them mobile and prevent isolation.

Bishop Creighton House

Older People’s Services is part of Bishop Creighton House. BCH is a multi-purpose charity which was founded in 1908. We run a community resource centre and a number of social support and welfare services mostly for people living in the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham. We specialise in meeting the needs of people who are older, disabled, vulnerable or socially excluded, and aim to support their independence, health and well being, and to help them maximise their potential.

BCH has16 staff, over 150 volunteers, and a Board of 8 Trustees.

BCH provide:

  • A community centre
  • Care & Repair – a Home Improvement Agency for older and disabled people
  • Safer Homes - a handyman service carrying out home safety and security jobs for older, disabled people and families with young children
  • Homeline – a volunteer-run long term befriending service for isolated older people including daily telephone-befriending, home-visiting, social events and casework support
  • Mentoring Project – mentoring for learning disabled people
  • Keep Active Hammersmith & Fulham (and from Jan 2016 Westminster) – short term volunteer support for mobility improvement in partnership with H&F Community Rehabilitation Service
  • H&F Connect 55+ – an over 55 short term befriending project in partnership with the Paths team at H&F Council
  • Office space for voluntary & community groups

Further details about our work can be found on our website:

JOB DESCRIPTION

Job Title: Older People’s Outreach worker

Responsible to: Manager, OPS

Based at: Bishop Creighton House Settlement

Hours: 28 per week (may be worked flexibly by negotiation; to include very occasional evening or weekend work)

Salary: NJC SCP 26-28, £26,342 - £27,877 inc ILW pro-rata (28 hrs pw)

Contract:Initially 1 year, additional work is dependent on funding

Because of the nature of our client group, a satisfactory enhanced level Criminal Records Bureau disclosure is required for this post.

JOB PURPOSE

To conduct outreach work with isolated older people in the London borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, to enable them to access the H&F Connect 55+ project . Your focus will be on isolated older people who are living in sheltered housing or not in receipt of any other befriending services.

To support the staff and volunteers in Older People’s Services (OPS)to:

  • deliver telephone befriending to isolated older people
  • facilitate regular social events for older people at BCH and in sheltered housing or in homes.
  • assist with casework / advocacy where needed
  • make home visits as necessary to clients
  • provide admin support to the OPS manager/team

You will work closely with the other members of the OPS staff team who will support you in this work.

MAIN DUTIES

  1. OUTREACH WORK WITH ISOLATED OLDER PEOPLE
  • Work with local community groups and sheltered housing scheme managers to identify isolated older people who would like befriending
  • Work with staff and volunteers to facilitate appropriate regular social events for clients and volunteers at BCH and in sheltered housing or other places around the borough
  • Carry out assessment visits and risk assessments in the homes of new clients
  • Help new clients access the range of services on offer within H&F Connect as required / appropriate
  • Maintain an accurate database with client information (including attendance at events) to inform project development and report to funders
  • Work with the project worker and volunteers to carry out casework for clients as needed

2.TELEPHONE BEFRIENDING - SERVICE DELIVERY

  • Co-ordinate volunteers to provide effective phone support to the new H&F Connect clients
  • Work with the OPS team to provide cover for the existing telephone befriending service
  • Follow-up concerns or queries flagged up by volunteers and clients during telephone befriending calls
  • Work with staff, volunteers and clients to identify and carry out required casework
  • Log all actions / casework and make appropriate notes using the project database
  1. SERVICE-USER EMPOWERMENT & INVOLVEMENT
  • Work in an empowering way, to enable isolated older people to find ways out of isolation and into community connections
  • Promote and facilitate volunteer and client involvement in the day-to-day running of services and decisions about service development and delivery
  • Support OPS staff working with volunteers, clients and partner organisations to empower older people to participate in local decision-making and raise awareness of issues facing isolated older people
  1. MONITORING & EVALUATION
  • Work with the OPS manager and other staff to conduct ongoing evaluation of the service in a way which is accessible to all individual clients and volunteers. This includes: review visits, surveys; feedback forms; ongoing anecdotal feedback
  • Log and analyse monitoring data and produce reports which demonstrate the outcomes and outputs for OPS volunteers and clients involved in the project

5.PROJECT DEVELOPMENT

  • Work with OPS staff and partner organisations, to respond to relevant local and national research and policy, and produce proposals to develop and improve services; this will include identifying unmet need in the community, and working creatively to develop new project ideas where appropriate
  • Help promote the service to possible sources of referrals such as social workers, GPs, district nurses, sheltered scheme managers and wider community networks

6.PARTNERSHIP WORKING

  • Develop and maintain good collaborative links with professionals from other organisations, especially those working with older people and volunteers
  • Work with volunteers, clients, and other older residents and partner organisations in an empowering way to raise awareness of the issues and solutions around older people’s isolation

7.DIVERSITY & EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES

  • Ensure that regular communications –both verbal and written – with volunteers and clients are in an accessible and appropriate format
  • Work with older borough residents, clients, volunteers, BCH staff and partner organisations, to ensure the service is equally promoted and accessible to all
  • Undertake ongoing evaluation of the service with other staff, to review and improve accessibility of the service

8. GENERAL

  • Provide admin support to the OPS team/ manager as needed
  • Maintain accurate and appropriate records of all work undertaken with volunteers and clients, and produce reports and publicity material as needed
  • Provide cover during annual leave or staff sickness for other OPS staff
  • Work collaboratively with colleagues across BCH: cross-referring clients, taking part in team meetings, organisational development, and being involved in BCH-wide events
  • Work within BCH’s policies and procedures, and support the OPS manager to review and develop service-specific policies and procedures as needed
  • Attend regular supervision with the OPS manager, and be willing to undertake training and professional development as needed
  • Work within agreed budgets
  • Maintain an awareness of legal and policy changes and good practice, as they affect older people and volunteers

These are the normal duties which the employer will require from you at the date of your employment. However, it is necessary for all staff to be flexible in this respect and all employees may be required from time to time to perform other duties which are required for the efficient running of the organisation.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

This lists the skills, experience, knowledge, and abilities needed for this post. Please make sure that you refer to these in your supporting statement.

E = essential

D = desirable

DA minimum of one years experience of working with older people,

DRecent experience of working with volunteers

DExperience of hosting events for older people

DKnowledge of the issues affecting older people living alone in the community

EExcellent verbal and written communication skills, including good record-keeping and presentation skills

E The ability to communicate effectively with people from a range of different backgrounds

ESound IT skills and the ability to be administratively self-supporting

E The ability to work well as part of a team, whilst also being able to work alone and on your own initiative

EThe ability to demonstrate patience, tact and empathy

EThe ability to manage a complex workload, sometimes under pressure, and to prioritise effectively

EAn understanding of diversity and equality issues and a commitment to working in a person-centred way

E The physical capacity to carry out home visits and assessments with clients

EAn understanding of risk assessment procedures and health & safety issues as they affect clients, volunteers and staff

DExperience of project evaluation, monitoring and reporting

Bishop Creighton House Settlement

Application Form

Older People’s Services Outreach Worker

Please write clearly using black ink, or type.

1. Personal Details

Forenames

Surname

Address

Tel.Work

Home

Mobile

e-mail

National Insurance

or Work Permit Number

(or please attach similar proof of permission to work in the UK)

2. Education

Please list your educational and/or professional qualifications, giving dates, institutions, and whether full or part-time.

3. Relevant training undertaken

Please give dates, length of training and brief details.

4. Employment

Please list any previous employment, starting with your current or most recent employer, giving name of employer, dates of employment, job title, a summary of your duties and your reason for leaving.

EmployerDatesJob TitleDuties & reason for leaving

(Please continue on a separate sheet if needed)

5. Statement in support of your application

Please attach a typed statement (no more than 2 sides of A4) explaining how you meet all the criteria set out in the person specification and through this what qualities, skills and experience you bring to this post. Please note CVs are not accepted.

6. Referees

Please give the names and addresses of two referees. One should be your present or most recent employer.

Name: / Name:
Position Held: / Position Held:
Organisation: / Organisation:
Address: / Address:
Tel no.: / Tel no.:

7. Period of notice required (when would you be able to start)?

I confirm that the information given here is true and accurate.

I understand that Bishop Creighton House will hold the information contained in this form for one year, and that data supplied will be processed in line with the Data Protection Act.

SignedDate

Please return your application, marked ‘Confidential’, to:

Joy Houghton-Brown Older People’s Services Manager, Bishop Creighton House Settlement, 378 Lillie Road, London SW6 7PH, or email

Closing date:Friday 9thOctober 2015 5pm

Interviews: Friday 16thOctober 2015

Preferred job start date:ASAP

Monitoring Form

BCH is committed to developing equality in the workplace and in the services we provide. Please take the time to complete this form and return it to us, but please do not put your name on it. All information will remain confidential, and be kept in accordance with Data Protection regulations.Thank you for your help.

Date

Gender Female Male 

Age16-1920-25 26-50 51-60 

61-7475+ 

Ethnic/Cultural Background

WhiteBritishIrishEuropean 

Other White ______

MixedEthnicitydetails

BlackBritishCaribbean African 

Other Black

Near or Middle Eastern details______

AsianAsian BritishIndian Pakistani  Bangladeshi 

Chinese British  Chinese 

Other Asian

Other

Disability

Do you consider yourself to have a;

Learning disability  Physical disability 

Sensory disability Mental Health need 

Other information______

Where did you hear about Bishop Creighton House?

Please use the space overpage to add any information or to comment on this form