SMART Facilitator (volunteer):

The gateway service

Role Description

Location: / The Gateway Service, The Red Lion House, 38 George Street, Barking, Essex, IG11 8FE
Commitment: / Tuesday evening 6-7.30pm
Responsible to: / Siobhan Moore (The Gateway Service Team Leader)

About us:

CRI is a borough-wide drug and alcohol recovery service working with people throughout their treatment journey; from engagement, through to prescribing and aftercare. CRI offers a wide range of interventions to Barking & Dagenham residents, their families and partners who are experiencing difficulties with drug or alcohol use.

The SMART Recovery group will be held at The Gateway Service (the open access drop-in service).

About SMART Recovery:

Our purpose is to help individuals seeking abstinence from addictive behaviours to gain independence, achieve recovery and lead meaningful and satisfying lives.

The approach is secular and science based; using motivational, behavioural and cognitive methods.

Our programme is mainly delivered through trained volunteers who come from diverse backgrounds. These may be people who experience addictive behaviour; people affected by someone else’s addictive behaviour; professionals working in addictions-related sectors; or lay people who simply want to help people with addictive behaviours

Purpose of the role:

The SMART Facilitator will lead weekly SMART Recovery groups on behalf of CRI. They post-holder also take the lead role in promoting the group across the borough to potential attendees, through the production of printed materials and other means, which may include outreach or in-reach at other CRI services. The ideal candidate will be in recovery themselves, but we are open to applications from ‘Champions’ who have trained but are not in recovery.

Main tasks will include

  • Facilitating the weekly SMART Recovery group for Barking & Dagenham
  • Setting up the group meeting space
  • Record attendance and communicate this back to the Gateway Team Leader
  • Promoting the groups to CRI service users

Qualifications/skills/qualities needed

  • Good written and oral communication skills
  • Ability to maintain confidentiality and act within professional boundaries
  • Willingness to actively participate in regular supervision

What you can expect

  • Volunteer induction into CRI
  • Instruction, guidance and support to carry out your role effectively
  • Reasonable travel expenses reimbursed
  • A friendly environment and a rewarding experience

Recruitment procedure: Application form, interview, two references and a successful DBS check. Proof of your status as a trained SMART facilitator will also be required.

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