Recovery Worker

**Introduction**

People are at the heart of what we do at River Garden, helping people take their next step toward a positive future. We’re looking for people who share our values and want to bring the best of themselves to support people to become the best of themselves. The **Recovery Development Worker** role is a vital part of the support team at River Garden, where you will help build and nurture a therapeutic community of recovery. Your primary goal is to support people throughout their entire journey, from pre-assessment to returning to their home and community.

**Role Overview**

As a vital member of the support team, you will work closely with the Service Leader to nurture the recovery community at River Garden. Your primary role is to support individuals throughout their entire recovery journey. You will manage a small caseload, acting as their key contact worker and providing structured assessments and individualised care to enhance people's well-being. This position is part of the **Recovery Development Team**, which delivers psycho-social and psycho-educational recovery programmes within a residential and social enterprise framework.

This role requires a calm, empathetic, and non-judgmental approach, based on a **trauma-informed approach** to foster **psychological safety** for everyone. This is essential for supporting people experiencing complex physical, social, and mental well-being needs.

**Key Responsibilities**

**Community Support & Development**:
You will play an active role in helping people decide if River Garden is the best next step for them on their recovery journey. This involves creating positive relationships and working through the pre-assessment process with people, their families and loved ones.

You will provide recovery case management, assisting individuals in developing personal, social, and work-related life skills.

You will deliver and facilitate psycho-social and psycho-educational recovery programmes, both individually and in groups.

**Social Enterprise Engagement**:
You will provide assistance and guidance to people engaged in work activities within the social enterprises.

The programme's therapeutic work is rooted in practical skills like horticulture (therapeutic gardening),café operations (food preparation and customer service), and woodcraft. (making and designing quality garden furniture and other items to order).

**Co-production**: Be committed to the principles of co-production, actively involving people in the design, delivery, and evaluation of the service.

**Transition & Aftercare**: You will assist individuals in developing and implementing their plans for the future. This includes creating a written plan for a supported transition with clear milestones and collaborating with relevant external support agencies, such as housing, mental health, and employability services.

You will also help ensure the person has a clear aftercare plan with scheduled follow-up appointments. This includes working with people to identify and create job and volunteering opportunities in their communities.

**Administrative & managing safely**: You will complete administrative support tasks, including planning and reviews, as well as accident, incident, or safeguarding reports.

You will also participate in regular staff meetings to collectively review a person's progress and transport people to appointments and other activities as required.

**Professional Development & Collaboration**: You will be responsible and supported to keep up to date with new developments in the recovery field and ensure your knowledge is current.

This includes collaborating with organisations across different sectors (e.g., housing, employment, mental health) to provide a holistic approach to care and a smooth transition for people back into the community.

You will maintain an updated record of your Continuing Professional Development (CPD), in line with your SSSC registration requirements.

**Person Specification**

**Experience & qualification**

Essential:
SVQ level 3 or willing to work towards this

Experience (lived or otherwise) in helping people understand their experiences with substance use.

Practical experience in delivering group work.

Understand the experience of entering an abstinence-based setting.

Understand and applies the principles of production in a support setting

Desirable:
Experience in case management.

Experience in delivering or working through a recovery service.

**Knowledge and Skills**

Essential:
A calm, empathetic, and non-judgemental approach with the ability to develop and maintain therapeutic relationships.

Psychological awareness, including skills in emotional regulation, non-verbal communication, and active listening.

Facilitation skills, including setting clear boundaries and managing group dynamics.

Negotiation skills, the ability to adapt to the group's needs and encourage strengths and resilience.

Robust organisational skills.

Good communica