Support Worker

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

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 Support Worker, you can make your own powerful contribution to work that changes people’s lives for the better. Bring your passion for making a difference to Community Access Westminster and you’ll enjoy opportunities to be creative and innovative as part of an industry-leading team. Based in the heart of the community, we work with adults and young people who have a Learning Disability, Autism and who may present Behaviours that Challenge. We help them have an improved quality of life, through engagement in meaningful activities and relationships, and by working to empower them.

As a key worker providing a vital support service, you’ll help to make sure the customer is central to every decision made about their life. You’ll support them in everything from activities to employment opportunities, always aiming to maximise choice and participation. You’ll also contribute to person-centred planning, making sure service users can use their preferred method of communication to participate as fully as possible. Your administrative duties will range from completing session evaluations and communication plans, to risk assessments. Along the way, you’ll liaise with all the relevant people in a customer’s circle.

As you can imagine, every day will be different. It all depends who you’re working with and what their individual needs are. Whether you’re supporting people’s daily needs or helping them aim at achieving a wider goal, you’ll build great relationships with them. There’s nothing like the feeling of seeing someone achieve a goal, improve a skill, overcome a challenge or develop as a person. Having helped them in their journey, you’ll share in their joy. As well as the deeply satisfying nature of the job itself, you can look forward to great training and opportunities for progression, so you too can learn new skills and grow.

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

**About You**:
Ideally, you’ll have an NVQ, Diploma or similar Level 3 Social Care qualification, plus experience of working with people who have complex and enduring support needs. Your experience might have included planning activities, contributing to person-centred planning, and actively promoting individuals’ equality, diversity and rights. We’d also prefer you to demonstrate knowledge of current legislation around capacity, consent and safeguarding. You’re a team player, with the ability to work in empowering partnership with people who have learning disabilities, as well as their carers, case managers, health professionals and agencies. The ability to communicate using a range of different skills and methods is also important.

**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.