Youth Worker and Mentor
Job Purpose: Develop transformational work with at-risk and marginalised young people to help and support them overcome challenges and barriers in their lives, in line with Ignite's vision, mission and values.
Reports to: Senior Youth Worker
Responsible for: N/a
1 Duties and key responsibilities
Youth work with at-risk young people
- Support individual young people who are vulnerable, disadvantaged or experience marginalisation. This includes those at-risk of becoming involved in criminal/gang activity or being exploited.
- Engage and build trusted relationships with young people, particularly those at risk of involvement with the criminal justice system through 1:1 mentoring.
- Visit and develop plans to carry out detached/outreach work in known Harrow hot-spots for drug dealing/ASB, using local knowledge and the knowledge of our partners.
- Engage young people on the streets in intentional conversations
- Identify at-risk young people and encourage them to engage in positive, diversionary activities such as our boxing, mixed sports, and employability projects.
- Deliver mentoring to young people across sites in Harrow including Wealdstone, Rayners Lane, South Harrow and Greenhill.
Liaison and Partnership working –
Work closely with and develop Partnership working with key organisations and agencies in developing effective youth work across the borough, sharing information on best practice and creating better referral pathways and opportunities for young people.
- Partner schools - to identify at-risk young people and share local knowledge
- Local authority teams - to target specific young people who are involved in gangs and criminal activity, as well as young people on the periphery of crime.
- Build strong relationships with Ignites’ voluntary sector partners to deliver a cross-borough approach to supporting at-risk young people.
- Contribute to improved data sharing between voluntary sector, public sector, and statutory service providers across Harrow.
- Increase participation and encourage social cohesion within the project sessions and wider Harrow community.
Detached
- Lead and support in detached sessions across Harrow to ensure safety and productive engagement
Mentoring
- Invite young people to meet 1:1 for a fixed period (e.g 3 months). This may be shortened or extended depending on their engagement and current needs
- Deliver group mentoring in schools and in community settings.
- Use the mentoring sessions to address complex issues, encouraging young people to make positive life choices, reduce involvement in life-limiting behaviour and re-engage with education or employment
Monitoring and Evaluation, Admin & data collection -
- Administer projects that you lead, and enter all data onto Ignite’s electronic management information system as required, to monitor the impact and effectiveness of the projects and outcomes achieved.
- Provide case studies and other data that will prove the impact of work and achievements of young people.
- Assist our data analyst in preparing reports, reporting and gathering evidence for fundraising bids
- Work in line with GDPR, maintaining confidential service-user records of interventions and contact details in line with Ignite’s case management policy
Personal/Professional Development and Teamwork
- Attend and prepare for regular line management meetings, including annual appraisals
- Attend regular clinical supervision
- Attend team meetings and contribute to Ignite projects as required
- Take responsibility for self-care and managing vicarious trauma, promoting the importance of self-care both internally and externally
2 General Responsibilities
- Be flexible and carry out other associated duties as may arise, develop or be assigned in line with the broad remit of the position.
- Maintain and improve competencies through continuous professional development.
- Abide by all organisational policies, codes of conduct and practices.
- Support and promote inclusion, diversity and equality of opportunity in the workplace.
- Treat with confidentiality any personal, private or sensitive information about individual organisations and or clients or staff and project data.
Person Specification –
1 Experience
- Delivering services for young people preferably in a multi-cultural inner city setting
- Building effective and transformational relationships with young people
- Experience of creating and developing opportunities and programmes with marginalised young people (those facing social exclusion, disadvantage and disaffection) from deprived communities including those involved in risk taking behaviour or gangs.
- Dealing with and responding to Child Protection concerns
2 Skills and Abilities
- Ability to build effective relationships with voluntary sector partners and statutory providers.
- Skilled in engaging and motivating young people and working with a strengths-based approach
- Ability to work in an empathetic young person-centred way
- Ability to articulately and confidently communicate with others to convey key message
- Ability to problem-solve difficult situations and deal with them calmly and effectively
- Self-motivated with confidence to work alone but can also work co-operatively and flexibly as part of a team.
- Effective communication skills both verbally and in writing with people of many different backgrounds and within a range of settings
- Meticulous case recording including accurate note taking and ability to summarise information to identify key themes
- Ability to manage multiple demands while ensuring timely completion of case reports
- Ability to contribute to the development of the project and think innovatively
- IT skills at a level that supports report writing, email, internet and use of a database
3 Knowledge
- Up to date understanding of safeguarding practice, policy and procedures
- Good knowledge and understanding of equalities issues and the issues affecting young people
- Understanding of the physical, social and emotional development needs of the young.
4 Education/Training/Qualifications
- Safeguarding Level 1 or higher
- No specific education/training/qualification but evidence of recent continuing professional development in Youth work provision and support is required
Desirable
- A degree in Youth and Community Work or other relevant qualification to level 5 (National Occupation Framework)
5 Personal Attributes & Other Requirements
- Commitment to anti-discriminatory practice and equal opportunities and an ability to apply awareness of diversity issues to all areas of work.
- Undertake training as required.
- Commitment to the core values and ethos of Ignite: Model Christian values such as love, compassion, joy, peace, patience, kindness, and self-control, both to the team and all those we work with.
- Travel across Harrow to outreach appointments and partnership offices
- Interested and motivated to further own skills and knowledge
Job Type: Full-time
Pay: £23,088.00 per year
Benefits:
Ability to commute/relocate:
- London HA2 0TY: reliably commute or plan to relocate before starting work (required)
Experience:
- working with young people: 1 year (required)
Work Location: In person
