Activities & Wellbeing Assistant (Dementia Care)
30 hours per week | 10am to 5pm | alternate weekends
This is a challenging and incredibly rewarding role for the right individual.
You will thrive here if you are
- Warm, patient, and at ease with older people living with dementia
- Calm and reassuring when someone is distressed
- Creative and resourceful, able to adapt an activity on the spot
- Reliable and a natural team player
Care experience helps but is not essential. If you bring musical, artistic, or craft skills, tell us. We provide full paid training, including advanced dementia awareness, safeguarding, and meaningful activities for people living with dementia.
Ideally you also have
- Experience in care with older adults and people living with dementia
- Bundles of positive energy and excellent presentation skills
- The ability to work independently and deliver entertaining group and 1:1 activities
- Impeccable reliability and integrity (we support vulnerable people)
- Professionalism and a clear understanding of professional boundaries
- Outstanding communication skills
- Digital literacy and strong organisation skills; you will write activity care plans, organise schedules, and balance a busy working day
What you will actually do
You will bring meaningful engagement to our residents' days through person-centred activity planning and delivery: music, conversation, trips, reminiscence, crafts, games, productive activities, and co-production such as resident meetings and committees. If you and your residents can imagine it (within reasonable budget!), you can make it happen.
Example tasks:
- Run group activities from our weekly programme: music, reminiscence, art, gentle movement, games, and seasonal events
- Spend 1:1 time with residents who are nursed in bed, less mobile, or simply prefer 1:1 time, using their life stories to connect
- Provide calm, structured activity in the afternoon, when people living with dementia can become anxious or distressed, using familiar music, sensory approaches, and reassurance
- Support family visits at weekends with activities relatives can join
- Record participation and share what you notice with the care team
About us
St Anne's is a nursing home in Southampton providing person-centred nursing care and dementia care. Everything we do is guided by our values: respect, team spirit, continuous improvement, accountability, and empathy.
Activities are central to life at St Anne's and this is one of the most visible and important roles in the home. You will support our residents to maintain their social connections and wellbeing and to have the best possible quality of life.
Your hours
30 hours per week, 10am to 5pm. You will work alternate weekends, with time off in the week when you work a weekend, so you always know your pattern in advance.
The practical bits
This post is subject to an enhanced DBS check, a full employment history since leaving full-time education with any gaps explained, two satisfactory references, evidence of any qualifications you hold, and proof of right to work in the UK. St Anne's is an equal opportunities employer and we welcome applications from all backgrounds.
How to apply
Apply through Indeed with a short answer to our one question. We review applications as they arrive and interview quickly, so apply early.
Pay: £12.85-£13.45 per hour
Benefits:
- Discounted or free food
- Employee mentoring programme
- On-site parking
Work Location: In person
