Peer support worker

P4 Recruitment are working with a charity who have been supporting and delivering services to help the older offender population both in prisons and in the community for over ten years. The charity is delighted to be able to advertise for a Buddy Co-ordinator post for our their Contract delivery in HMPAltcourse.

This is a very exciting time to join the Charity sees significant growth in new services in prisons across the country.

We are looking for the right candidate to support our Service in HMPAltcourse prison. The post is based at HMPAltcourse and the successful candidate will be responsible for the provision of our Peer Support Programme, which trains prisoners to National Care Standards, adapted for use in Prison, to support other prisoners who have health and social care needs.

There will be a requirement to work in other prisons in the region occasionally to cover for Annual Leave or sickness.

You will co-ordinate the training and supervision of the harm reduction mind mapping programme within the prison.

You will train prisoners to support their peers struggling with their emotional well-being, to help reduce incidents of self-harm and violence.

Position:

The Charity aspires to be the leader in the delivery of knowledge and expertise to older people who come into contact with the criminal justice system, supporters and the staff who work with them. We will use the views of the people we work with to influence and direct the services delivered.

Our client has been pioneering new, effective ways to support older offenders and ex-offenders. In recent years we have been commissioned by HMPPS to deliver two research projects looking at building capacity and support options to meet the needs of the growing older prison population. We are gaining increasing national recognition for our work and have contributed to national policy.

With prison sentences getting longer, more people are growing old behind bars. People aged 60 and over are the fastest growing age group in the prison estate. There are now more than triple the number there were 16 years ago. (MOJ 2018)

They have recently developed a number of new services and training programmes that have already been purchased by a number of prisons across the country. Interest in our services is growing and we now need to align the charity to respond to this challenge and demand. You will be joining our specialist and well respected organisation at a very exciting time. This post is prison based.

The successful candidate will ideally have experience of working in a custodial environment or have worked in a training or social care setting, have strong communication and motivational skills and an understanding of the kinds of issues faced by older individuals and/or offenders.

In this role, you will co-ordinate the training, supervision and management of harm reduction mind mapping programme in a number of prisons, supporting vulnerable prisoners and reducing incidents of self harm.

The successful applicant will be subject to DBS checks/disclosure and Prison Security vetting.

Requirements:

• Working with people with Basic Skills needs
• 24 months experience of working with older people, individuals in the Criminal Justice system or a social care setting
• Experience of co-ordinating and monitoring the delivery of a contract or SLA
• Development & delivery of training modules
• Interview and assessment skills