Welfare Officer

**Overall Purpose**

In any other setting this role would be called a ‘Welfare Officer’, but our family ethos means that we much prefer the title First Mate. And the role is to be just that: a First Mate who is there to make sure that our young adults can make the most of every opportunity presented to them over a six-month holistic programme.

You will ‘walk alongside’ our Gappies, the name we give to our young people, be the ultimate role model, mentor and trusted friend, consistently providing encouragement, practical support, and most importantly love and care to a maximum of 10 young adults. They could be suffering from social isolation, lacking in life skills, low confidence and may have little education. Through building trust and caring for their individual journeys you will become an important part of their lives and will be key to them growing new confidence, developing new skills and learning from new experiences so that they develop aspirations and ambitions for the future.
- Our vision is to create a “family” and give new opportunities in life and work to under-served young adults in our local communities through the provision of totally holistic, paid programmes which address any gaps in maturation, aspiration, confidence, care and skills.
- Deliver the love, care and holistic approach to our underserved young adults to help them gain the skills to lead independent lives

**Key Responsibilities**
- You will get to know your Gappies’ community well, regularly dealing with other stakeholders in our programme (employer partners, referring agencies, local college etc.) and acting as an advocate for our gappies with the organisations that they are involved with (e.g. housing services, welfare services)
- Be responsible for the holistic, love and care of each Gappie, ensuring each has a GP, Dentist, and optician, that they have online bank accounts, can access sexual health clinic advice
- Liaise with community agencies over housing issues and role model conversations with any agency/professional
- Be responsible for administration / paperwork for the 6-month period, attendance record daily but ultimately accountable for the submission of the information for the purpose of payroll and evaluation, being curious to any excuse for non-attendance
- Be aware at all times of safeguarding and the wellbeing of the Gappies in the cohort ensuring timely and relevant notes are made on CPOMS, our safeguarding platform, as appropriate
- Lead where appropriate difficult conversations with the Gappies as required regarding their behaviours, being curious as to their root cause and empowering them to change or find a solution
- Attend and support during literacy and numeracy sessions, following up on any homework that has been set
- Attend Launchpad and Outdoor Education centres and be an active role model in participating in the session
- Collate all onboarding documents
- Be responsible for all Workplace administration duties and taking the lead with Workplace updates, celebrating all success, and sharing best practice across the community
- Actively role model a rare responsible employee and participating and leading in sessions
- Initially you will be making sure that every Gappie is ready for their day, and in the right place at the right time. As the months progress and as their own work habits improve, you will become more of a helper and advisor as our Gappies look to future roles.
- Be the ultimate role model for the cohort in showing them what a good employee looks like, sharing life skills and experience in a way which encourages the cohort to follow behaviours
- Deliver the 26-week programme in tandem with the Skipper, taking responsibility to plan some workshops and deliver key values
- Collate and record all photos of Gappies taken during the various models, and have responsibility for producing a photo book of each of gappies journey ready for graduation
- Assist with development of CV’s during ‘My Future’ module and ensure handover of all CVs to the WeBelong team.
- Participate in all activities demonstrating resilience and team spirit with a family ethos
- Support the skipper with all graduation plans, including outfit shopping and profiles
- Work in partnership with the Skipper to ensure that the organisation always does what is right by the Gappie, discussing and agreeing an approach for any issue arising during delivery

The above list of job duties is not exclusive or exhaustive and the post holder will be required to undertake such tasks as may reasonably be expected within the scope of the role. Job descriptions should be reviewed regularly (6 weekly review) to ensure they are an accurate representation of the post.

**Competences**
- Great communication and listening skills, as well as the confidence to raise any issues with your colleagues or coach as appropriate
- An ability to laugh and have fun with your cohort that is balanced with an ability to call Gappie to accoun