Health and wellbeing Coach

Job Title: Health and Wellbeing Coach – HMP Northumberland

Location: HMP Northumberland
Service: Integrated Mental Health Team, in partnership with Rethink Mental Illness and Tees, Esk and Wear Valley NHS Foundation Trust (TEWV)
Hours: Monday to Friday, 08:00 - 16:00

About the Role
Are you passionate about promoting mental health and wellbeing in a secure, yet dynamic environment? Do you want to make a difference by empowering individuals in prison to take control of their mental health and recovery? If so, we have an exciting opportunity for you to join our team as a Health and Wellbeing Coach at HMP Northumberland.

As a Health and Wellbeing Coach, you will play a key role in supporting individuals with common mental health challenges to manage their own recovery. Through building trusting and non-judgmental relationships, you will provide a range of interventions, including informal advice, group facilitation, and developing peer mentors. Working as part of a multidisciplinary team, you will collaborate with mental health professionals, the Reconnect Service, and the Criminal Justice and Secure Care Directorate to ensure a seamless approach to care, both during an individual's time in prison and as they prepare for release into the community.

Key Responsibilities

• Coaching for Self-Management: Empower individuals to take an active role in their recovery, supporting them to develop self-management strategies for mental health and wellbeing.
• Informal Support & Signposting: Offer information and support at key stages, including reception into the prison, to connect individuals with available mental health services.
• Facilitate Group Activities: Lead group sessions, forums, and workshops that promote mental health recovery and wellbeing within the prison.
• Peer Mentor Development: Train and mentor Peer Mentors, helping them support fellow inmates in their mental health journeys.
• Collaborative Working: Work closely with the Integrated Mental Health Team, Reconnect Service, and other professionals to provide a coordinated approach to care.
• Service User Engagement: Ensure that individuals are actively involved in decisions about their care, promoting a sense of independence and self-determination.
• Transition Support: Assist in the development of onward plans to support individuals’ mental health as they prepare for reintegration into the community post-release.

What We’re Looking For

• Experience working in mental health, ideally within a secure or challenging environment
• A compassionate, empathetic approach to working with individuals with mental health needs
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills to develop therapeutic relationships
• Experience facilitating groups and delivering mental health interventions
• Knowledge of stepped care models and common mental health issues
• Ability to work collaboratively with a multidisciplinary team, including healthcare, social care, and criminal justice professionals

What We Offer

• A meaningful role in promoting mental health and wellbeing in a unique setting
• Ongoing professional development and training opportunities
• A supportive work environment as part of a multidisciplinary team

*Appointments will be at the minimum of the band.

We do reserve the right to close this advertisement early if we receive a high volume of suitable applications. 

*Given the nature of this role, which involves frequent travel to various locations and timely meetings, a clean drivers licence is essential. 

Please see further details on our website

You can also follow us on Facebook / Twitter / Instagram and LinkedIn to find out more about the work we do

Caring for our people. 

We offer a wide range of support. Some of our benefits include: 

• PULSE: our recognition, rewards, wellbeing, and benefits platform. Providing access to thousands of discounts and benefits including cashback; reloadable cards; savings etc. As well as being able to thank colleagues and nominate them for awards. 
• Wagestream: gives you instant access to up to 50% of your pay. Also provides a library of expert tools, tips and articles plus, helps you start building a rainy-day pot straight from your salary.
• Wellbeing support: our Wellbeing hub gives physical, emotional, and mental health support. We also have a BUPA Employee Assistance Programme with access to appointments. 
• Taking time for you: we work flexibly –you get to choose where you work, managing your own diary. We have generous annual leave, starting at 25 rising to 30 days, plus bank holidays, as well as your birthday off. We also offer the opportunity to buy and sell annual leave. 
• Planning for the future: We have a contributory pension scheme. 
• Structured Corporate Induction: Onboarding you into the Charity supporting your wellbeing along the way. 
• £300 when you introduce a Friend: receive up to £300 when you introduce a friend or family member. 

Who are we? 

We’re Rethink Mental Illness, a leading charity provider of mental health services in England. We support thousands of people through our groups, services, policy, campaigns and advice and information. Our work supports us in delivering on our mission: “A better life for everyone severely affected by mental illness.” 

It is an exciting time to join our growing charity. We are on a transformation journey, one that supports the delivery of the organisation strategy – delivering Communities that Care. Supporting employees, managers and leaders through this change is a key priority for the People function. Just like its key that we attract diverse people to come and work for us. 

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion

Diversity is important to us and we appreciate difference through difference, inclusiveness and belonging. It gives us a deeper understanding of the world, our society and the diverse communities we’re working with. By including everyone, we are able to draw on the unique experiences and expertise of our people to help shape and enrich our workplace and improve our services. One way we are doing is through our valued staff networks which play a critical and highly valued role in keeping us focused on creating a diverse, inclusive and engaged employer.  We recognise and support staff networks for our Black, Asian and minority ethnic and our LGBTQIA+ colleagues. We are also proud to have been awarded Disability Confident Employer status and are a signatory to the Business in the Community Race at Work Charter.

Becoming a truly anti-racist organisation

We have an ambition of become a truly anti-racist employer, campaigning organisation and service provider - and in our efforts to influence policy and wider societal factors impacting on mental health set out in our anti-racist statement . We have designed a multi-year anti-racist programme of work contained in our Race Equality Action Plan which demonstrate our intention to hold ourselves accountable and be judged on our progress on becoming a truly anti-racist organisation.

We therefore actively encourage and welcome applications from everyone, including applicants with lived experience, those who are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (or questioning), Intersex and (asexual) (LGBTQIA+), people with a disability, and people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds.

If you have any questions about the position, please contact -