Family Support Worker

About the role

Hours: 26 hours per week worked (days to be agreed – some flexibility available)

The Children and Young Peoples’ Service is part the Supportive Care Team. We work with and support children and young people who have been bereaved, or who have a loved one with a palliative diagnosis. We work with them and their families through 1-1 support, group work and family support.

The main responsibilities include:

• Direct work with children and young people and their families
• Planning activities and groups for children, young people and their families
• Delivering sessions in the hospice, schools, family homes and the community
• Keeping records, safeguarding, working as part of a multi-agency team to best meet the needs of the child, young person and their family.

To get full details on what the role includes please read the attached Job Description, call the recruiting manager for an informal chat or come and visit us.

About you:

We are looking for someone who wants to make a difference to the lives of children and young people facing the death of a loved one. You would be experienced in supporting children and young people who face difficulties that impact on their daily lives. You would be skilled in engaging children and young people through a variety of activities, both 1-1 and in groups. You would have excellent record keeping skills, an excellent understanding of safeguarding and multi-agency working.

Skills and experience required:

• Qualified to NVQ3 or 4 in Health and Social Care or equivalent
• Able to work with children at different ages and stages of development
• Ability to work creatively and adopt innovative ways of working
• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Experience of working therapeutically with children and families
• A sound knowledge of the impact of bereavement on children and young people and how that could impact them in adulthood

About Ashgate:

Ashgate Hospice is a registered charity that provides compassionate, specialist palliative and end of life care, free of charge, to patients with a life-limiting illness and their families across North Derbyshire. Our values are at the heart of everything we do at Ashgate. They are grounded in our commitment to being the best we can be for our patients and the people who are important to them, and for each other. We are compassionate. We are a team. We are respectful, open and inclusive.

We are proud of our Outstanding CQC rating and our recent RCN award-winning in-patient unit and have ambitious plans for high quality and sustainable patient care.

We’re committed to providing a happy, safe and supportive environment for all our people which is why nearly 4 out of 5 of our staff would recommend us as a place to work. We recognise the need to support our employees’ well-being including their work-life balance, which is why we are open to, and encourage flexible working arrangements, including job-sharing.

As a valued member of the team, you will have a wide range of training and development available to support your own personal, professional development, opening doors to new career pathways.

Please visit our website and social media accounts or listen to our podcast “The Life and Death Podcast” to get a feel for what it is like to be part of the Ashgate team and gain an understanding of the people we support.

Find out why our people think Ashgate Hospice is a special place to work.

Some of our current benefits include:

• A highly compassionate and supportive working environment
• A wide range of initiatives to support your wellbeing, and the time out to practice self-care
• Generous holiday entitlement
• A progressive approach to flexible working to help meet your and our needs
• Cycle to Work Scheme
• Westfield Health Cash Plan includes free annual eye tests, dental checks and money back for a range of treatments and therapies
• Access to a free, confidential Employee Assistance Program
• Free access to Westfield Rewards, offering discounts from hundreds of retailers
• Pension scheme with 7% employer contribution
• Life assurance scheme
• Total commitment to your learning and development
• Ample, free parking when working onsite

What next:

If you would like to find out more about the role, please contact Clair Russell on 01246 568801 or . You can arrange to visit the Hospice to see what it would be like to work with us.

Please note we only accept applications via the ‘Apply now’ button on our website. Please do not send your application to HR or the recruiting manager.

Proposed interview date: 02/03/2023

Any candidate who identifies themselves as disabled will be shortlisted if they meet the essential criteria for the role. Essential criteria can be found in the job description and person specification for the role. If you require any accessibility adjustments, please contact a member of the HR team at or by calling 01246 568801

If successful, you will be required to have a DBS check carried as part of the conditional pre-employment checks. For more information, please refer to the candidate assistant notes.

As a healthcare provider, it is very important to us that our staff have the annual flu jab and are fully vaccinated against COVID 19. It is our expectation that all of our staff will have the vaccinations unless there are strong compelling reasons why not. We believe having the vaccination not only protects you but also helps us to keep our patients, staff and visitors safe.

Support available for candidates who identify themselves as disabled

You may wish to complete and share with us your health adjustment passport so that we are aware what support and/or reasonable adjustments you may require. Even if you choose not to share this with us, we encourage applicants to consider completing their passport for their own benefit. For more information in relation to this please visit. Health Adjustment Passport - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

You may also be able to get support from Access to Work which is an initiative run by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to help you get or stay in work if you have a physical or mental health condition or disability. This may include support with the selection process. For more information in relation to Access to Work please visit. Access to Work: get support if you have a disability or health condition: What Access to Work is - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)