Friendship Coordinator

**Friendship Coordinator covering Colchester and surrounding areas**

Part time 15.5 hours per week / £11.45 per hour / Flexible working hours

Age Well East is a values-driven organisation with a passion for making the greatest difference to people by supporting and empowering them to age well.

**Our Vision**

It is our vision to be the go-to place for people to feel connected, informed and included as they grow older.

**Our Values**
- Trust
- Community
- Excellence

We have gone through significant growth since 2017 and provide a wide range of high-quality services across Essex. Each year we support thousands of people through advice and information; befriending; emotional support services; and friendship groups and activities. Our long-term ambition is to continue to grow, so that we can make a difference to the lives of people across Essex by continuing to develop our services and look for new areas of innovation.

**What do we offer?**

Age Well East is growing our reach and activity because of the high demand for support. It is an exciting time to be a part of what we are doing, and this opportunity is about genuinely making a big difference to people. We take great pride in what we do, who we help and how we transform lives.

Benefits include:

- 24 days annual leave, plus bank holidays, plus a birthday day and closure between Christmas and New Year (all leave is pro-rated accordingly for part-time)
- 5% Employer Pension Contribution
- Health Assured health package (including up to 6 face-to-face counselling sessions per year)
- Death in Service Benefit

**Location**

Home based with regular travel across North East Essex.

**Role description**

You will be working in the Communities team delivering our Befriending project. This project is focused on reducing loneliness and isolation across Essex through volunteer befriending and friendship clubs.

**Main duties and responsibilities**

Provide the initial contact with isolated adults who require the support of a volunteer befriender. Assess their requirements and suitability of matching with a volunteer.

Support the recruitment, induction and retainment of befriending volunteers.

Match volunteers with clients according to shared interests, location, and availability and monitor ongoing befriending relationships.

Develop knowledge of activities and provision across a geographical area (NE Essex quadrant in particular Colchester area) and develop positive and effective working relationships with these groups and providers.

Develop and maintain relationships with key stakeholders including Essex Wellbeing Service partners and statutory and voluntary sector agencies.

Promote Age Well East by attending meetings, forums and community events and delivering workshops and talks.

**What we are looking for**

**Essential**:
Strong people skills

Excellent IT skills including Microsoft Word, Excel & Outlook

Excellent communication skills

Excellent record keeping skills and attention to detail

Experience and ability to build strong partnerships and networks

Ability to work as part of a team

Ability to be empathetic and supportive to clients and volunteers

Solutions-driven and can-do attitude

An understanding of confidentiality and GDPR

Able to be flexible with hours if/when required to meet the needs of the service

Driving licence with business insurance cover

**Desirable**:
Health, social care or relevant third sector experience of supporting people

Experience of leading and/or facilitating community projects and events

Working with and managing volunteers

Delivering volunteer induction and training

Experience of befriending i.e., as a volunteer or in a work setting

Experience of managing safeguarding issues under supervision of a senior team

Experience using Salesforce CRM database

**Please note**: