Community Engagement Apprentice

**About Us**:
**THE EXTRAORDINARY STORY OF GIRO’S PERSUASIVE POWERS**

The Environment and Communities team in Westminster City Council is a world of extraordinary stories. We love it when our work touches lives.

Take Stepping to the Beat, our 3k walk, jog or run for people with learning or physical disabilities or Autism, their families and carers. It’s a life-affirming, music-based event Coreen and Claudia are massively proud of - and they were keen for people to spread the word. So, imagine how thrilled they were when one of our residents, Giro, did just that. Advocating for people with disabilities at a planning meeting for transport in London, he was proudly wearing his event medal. And he decided to use it to encourage others. As he passed it around the room, Giro inspired lots more people with disabilities to get involved. Infectious enthusiasm goes a long way here.

Please view the extraordinary story of Giro’s Persuasive Powers **here**.

**The Role**:
As a Community Engagement Apprentice you can make your own powerful contribution to Westminster’s success. Working with our Communities Department, you’ll attend a series of tailored workshops at the Community Engagement Academy, which has been set up to help Local Authorities build community engagement and consultation skills. This is a 20 month programme, and on its successful completion you’ll be awarded Level 4 Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Practitioner certification.

The course will offer you training in key areas such as consultation, community engagement, project work and gathering and responding to community feedback, and provide you with the skills you’ll need to engage with Voluntary Community Sector Organisations. You’ll also learn how to offer advice and support on good quality consultation and engagement to your colleagues in the council, and establish co-productive opportunities to work with members of the communities we serve. In addition, you’ll learn to how to ensure programme updates are maintained and shared across services and the communities you work with, and help residents access the wide range of information and services that are available to them.

Please refer to the **Job Description** for more information.

**About You**:
With experience of working supportively in a community setting, you’ll have helped residents and organisations understand and access the opportunities that are available to them. A great communicator with the confidence to build relationships with your colleagues and members of the diverse communities we serve, you should also have a good understanding of equal opportunities and the ability to translate this into your day-to-day work.

It's important that you understand the requirements of data protection and confidentiality, and in addition to an appreciation of the importance of equity, diversity and inclusion, you should be a collaborative and highly motivated team player.

Westminster City Council is committed to supporting Care Leavers into the workplace. Care Leavers seeking their first job and who wish to be considered under our scheme, will automatically be invited to interview should they meet the essential criteria for the role.

**What We Offer**:
Westminster is an amazing place. We are home to more than 200,000 residents from all backgrounds, over 50,000 vibrant and vital businesses and three-quarters-of-a-million people work in Westminster.

Westminster City Council’s strategy is to work towards a Fairer Westminster. A Fairer Westminster is one in which our communities are at the heart of our decision-making and help to determine the city’s future. By working directly with our communities and other partners, we can build a more inclusive city that celebrates our diverse communities, and where residents, workers and visitors from all backgrounds will feel welcome and safe.

As a forward thinking Council we appreciate that people work in different ways, therefore our staff benefit from working a range of flexible working patterns as well as Agile working.