Friendship Coordinator

**Friendship Coordinator**

**20 hours a week at £10.77 per hour**

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

**Our Vision**

A world where life is about living happier and healthier.

**Our Values**
- Trust
- Compassion
- Community
- Excellence
- Courage

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 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 on 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
- Reflective practice sessions

**Location**

Home based with travel across North East Essex (Tendering and Colchester districts)

**Role Description**

To support the delivery of a befriending service to reduce loneliness and social isolation of vulnerable adults in Essex. We are looking for a Friendship Coordinator to work 20 flexible working hours. In return, you will receive a competitive salary of £10.77 per hour.

**Main Duties and Responsibilities**

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

Match volunteers with clients according to shared interests, location and availability.

Monitor ongoing befriending relationships.

Help volunteers to develop positive and supportive relationships with clients, within appropriate and clear boundaries.

Coordinate project delivery on a day-to-day basis within area of responsibility

Develop knowledge of activities and provision across a geographical area

Develop positive and effective working relationships with groups and providers across a geographical area

Support the development of new groups and activities

Support the recruitment and induction of befriending volunteers

Support the development of new methods of engaging with people to help reduce social isolation and loneliness e.g. use of technology

Keep accurate notes and data on CRM database; acting in accordance with the Data Protection Act (2018)

Support access of volunteers to training and group support sessions; offer individual support to volunteers as and when required.

Develop and maintain relationships with key stakeholders including EWS Partners and statutory and voluntary sector agencies

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

Support the development and use of outcome measurement tools

Identify and collate evidence of the outcomes of service delivery (case studies)

Ensure all monitoring is completed on time

Ensure suitable procedures are being followed to safeguard the health and safety of volunteers and service users

**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 volunteers and clients
- Ability to work autonomously
- Solutions-driven and can-do attitude
- An understanding of confidentiality and GDPR
- Willingness to undergo any relevant and ongoing training as required
- Willingness to work flexibly to support other projects within Age Well East
- Able to be flexible with hours if/when required to meet the needs of the service
- Driver’s licence

**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