Lead Youth Worker – Emergency Department and Safe Havens – BASINGSTOKE AND NORTH HAMPSHIRE

✨Are you passionate about helping to make a difference to children and young people? We’re looking for an experienced and enthusiastic Lead Youth Worker to join us at No Limits✨

We’re looking for an experienced and enthusiastic Lead Youth Worker to join us at No Limits, who are the leading youth services charity in Southampton, supporting children and young people in the city and across Hampshire.  

The No Limits Emergency Department and Social Prescribing team, work across seven main hospitals in Southampton, Portsmouth, Winchester, Basingstoke, The Isle of Wight, Bournemouth and Poole. The No Limits Safe Havens team work across Southampton, North Hampshire and The Isle of Wight. 

We are currently looking for a Lead Youth Worker to join the Basingstoke and Winchester ED Team and the North Hampshire Safe Havens Team as a combined leadership role. 

Our growing team of Youth Workers are caring, collaborative and courageous professionals, committed to empowering children and young people to achieve positive changes in their lives. Our unique service delivery model aims to support all children and young people. The ED Youth Workers have been working with the ‘reachable moment’ when a young person attends ED in crisis, whether that is through violent crime or mental health crisis to help them to start thinking about change. The successful applicant will provide direct support to children and young people, both in the emergency department and in the community. By helping the young person to connect with specialist support and other community services through Social Prescribing. To apply for this post, you must have a passion for supporting children and young people, be a strong communicator and have experience of working with children and young people. 

As a Lead Youth Worker within both the Emergency Department and Social Prescribing Team as well as the Safe Havens team, you will play a crucial role in providing support, information, advice and guidance to children, young people and their families both within the hospital and out in the community post-discharge. Through crisis interventions, you will connect them with local and specialist support, helping to reduce future hospital admissions and reducing the crisis in their life. 

You will be providing in-person support in both services, through brief interventions, open access drop in, telephone support, and outreach preventative work in educational settings and community locations when required. 

You will support and lead a team of Youth Workers and promote the partnership working and integration of both crisis and intervention services. 

Your key responsibilities will include: 

• Leading the Emergency Department and Social Prescribing Team (EDSP) who support children and young people aged 11-25 who have been admitted to hospital, providing bedside support and intervention during their ‘reachable moment’ and continuing with short-term community based social prescribing where appropriate. 
• Engage and build relationships with any children and young people who have come into the Emergency Department (ED) and may need advice and support to avoid further admissions. 
• Build and maintain positive working relationships with hospital staff to encourage collaboration and the effective use of referrals in addition to promoting No Limits services with stakeholders in the community. 
• Leading the Safe Havens team who provide a community-based crisis mental health service for children and young people aged 11-17 via one-to-one support and open access drop in. 
• Offer a variety of youth work-based interventions to children and young people through, brief interventions, pre-booked one to one meetings and drop in support, to reduce future hospital admissions and use of crisis services. 
• Supervise your teams by conducting regular one-to-ones, support learning and development, monitor absence and coordinate annual leave. 
• Regularly monitor and manage the data recording of your team, so that timely data can be provided for reporting, funding and service impact. 
• Through a Youth Information, Advice and Counselling Services (YIACS) model address the wider practical and social issues that may be affecting a young person’s mental health such as relationships, healthy behaviours, sexual health, housing, substance use, risk-taking behaviour, crime and offending, finance and benefits and education or employment. 
• Work closely with No Limits and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) regarding the mental health needs of children and young people. 
• Act as an advocate for children and young people and refer them on to other relevant agencies and services, as appropriate, to ensure their needs are appropriately met. 
• Provide quality up-to-date information, advice and support which supports young people’s personal and social development and promotes healthy lifestyles. 
• Promote the involvement of young people in planning, delivery and evaluation of services. 
• Improve the lives of children and young people by minimising the impact of their difficulties through the delivery of excellent services to promote wellbeing. 
• Work alongside the other Lead Youth Workers and Operations Manager to continuously evaluate and develop the services, making sure targets and outcomes are met, and raising any concerns. 
• Support the Operations Manager to coordinate service delivery including recruiting and inducting staff, identifying teams training needs, and identifying individual needs within the team. 

Please see the job description for further details about the responsibilities of the role.

We are committed to making a difference in the lives of the children and young people we work with, and as such, you must show a willingness to demonstrate commitment to the values and behaviours which flow from the No Limits ethos. Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people is paramount.

We particularly welcome applicants from diverse backgrounds and those who have had experiences similar to the young people we aim to support. We are committed to creating a diverse environment where people can be their authentic selves, where their experiences and opinions are valued, and we are all open to learning from each other. 

As part of our team, you’ll receive a comprehensive induction and access to learning and development opportunities relevant to your role, supporting your ongoing growth. 

You’ll have the essentials of: 

• Build trusting and supportive relationships with children and young people 
• Respect and promote children and young people’s rights to make their own decisions and choices 
• Be committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults  
• Experience of providing mental, emotional, health and wellbeing support, information and advice to individuals 

You may also have: 

• Experience in working with children and young people and / or a minimum Level 3 (or equivalent) youth work or other relevant qualification  
• Experience of supervising, managing and/or mentoring individuals or teams 
• Knowledge of mental health issues, including the evidence base for intervention, for example: self-harm, suicide, eating disorders, depression, substance use, anxieties, phobias, ADHD, Autism etc. 
• Effective communication, organisational and time management skills 
• Confident and able to use Microsoft apps, such as Word, Teams and Excel, and databases 
• Working proactively and collaboratively with others; reflecting creativity, adaptability and bringing positivity and enthusiasm to your work 
• Commitment to personal growth, and ongoing learning and development 

Please let us know if we can support you with any reasonable adjustments at any point prior to, during or after the selection process, such as access arrangements, flexible working, or a suitable place to pray.

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