Role Profile – Sessional Youth Worker – Gym and Fitness

Job title

Sessional Youth Worker –
Gym and Fitness

Salary:

£13.15 per hour. Saturday
evening premium is £15.12
per hour

Reporting to:

Sports Coordinator

Holidays:

33 days including bank
holidays (pro-rata)

Location:

Unitas Youth Zone, 76
Montrose Avenue, Edgware,
HA8 0DT

Hours:

Up to 4.5 hours a week.
Evenings and weekends

The Person:

Do you love Sport and Fitness. and are you passionate about the role fitness
can play in changing young people’s lives? Do you want to use your skills,
knowledge and passion to enable young people to have something to do,
somewhere to go and someone to talk to? Are you happy coaching and
teaching young people who have never been in a gym or exercised
before?  Are you committed to your own personal growth and development
with a clear growth mindset?

Job Purpose:
Sports and Fitness, alongside the Arts and Youth Work, are at the heart of the Unitas Youth Zone’s
programme for young people.  The gym and fitness programme at Unitas is wide-ranging you will be
key in ensuring young people have access to an exciting and engaging programme of activities that
will be challenging, stimulating, fun, engaging and developmental. You will have access to our state-
of-the-art gym, equipped with cardio and resistance equipment, Olympic weightlifting facilities and a
functional area. You will be involved in teaching the fundamentals of gym use and fitness, running
fitness classes in line with your skills, as well as facilitating taster sessions and competitions, which
engage young people, build their skills, and improve their fitness levels.

Within the Sports Team, we are looking for qualified talented sports and fitness coaches to become
part of a team with a wide range of skills, who are also passionate about working with young people.
Ideally, you will have experience, and one or more coaching qualifications, such as Level 2 NGB
including Level 2 Gym Instruction or above.  We are also looking applicants with Level 2 Certificate
in Coaching Weightlifting.

You will be involved in session delivery, planning, preparation, and work with young people closely.
You will be provided all the necessary equipment and training and will be afforded plentiful personal
development opportunities. You will be someone with a clear ‘can do’ approach, committed to a
growth mindset, eager to learn and willing to take risks all for the benefit of supporting young
people. You will demonstrate our values through all you do and will commit to giving your best every
session for young people.

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Context of the post:
Banet Youth Zone, named “Unitas” by local young people, was the second Youth Zone in London
opened by the national charity, OnSide, in the summer of 2019. Unitas, like all OnSide Youth Zones,
exists to give young people, particularly those who are disadvantaged, somewhere to go, something
to do and someone to talk to. Each Youth Zone is open 5-7 days a week, all year round, with the
purpose of supporting young people to become happy, healthy, and successful adults.

Unitas Youth Zone is centrally located, dedicated to young people, and makes a bold statement
about the importance of giving young people high quality places to go in their leisure time.  Open 6
days a week including school holidays, the Youth Zone’s vision is to unite young people to fulfil their
full potential.  The state-of-the-art £6.5 million building provides young people with access to a
range of activities, all offering young people the opportunity to try new things, meet new friends and
gain new experiences.

Duties and Responsibilities - General

  Be a role model for young people and present a positive “can do” attitude
  Take personal responsibility for own actions
  Commit to a culture of continuous improvement
  Work within the performance framework of Unitas Youth Zone and OnSide
  Represent Unitas Youth Zone positively and effectively in all dealings with internal colleagues, and

external partners

  Comply with all policies and procedures, with reference to safeguarding, codes of conduct, health

and safety and equality and diversity to ensure all activities are accessible

  To be alert to issues of safeguarding and child protection, ensuring the welfare and safety of Youth
Zone members is promoted and safeguarded, and to report any child protection concerns to the
Designated Safeguarding Leads using the safeguarding policies, procedures, and practice (training
to be provided)

  To assist with any promotional activities and visits that take place at the Youth Zone
  To  actively  promote  the  Youth  Zone  and  positively  contribute  towards  increasing  Youth  Zone

membership

  To always adhere to Unitas Youth Zone policies, with reference to Health and Safety, Safeguarding

and Equal Opportunities

  To be willing to step in and step up, and not see the below set of duties and responsibilities as

exhaustive

Duties and Responsibilities – Detailed

  To  deliver  face-to-face  work  with  young  people,  as  well  as  supporting  planning  and  general

programming

  To work directly with young people to develop their social skills
  To directly deliver a high-quality programme of activity that is exciting, safe, varied, innovative,
developmental,  and  directly  responds  to  the  diverse  needs,  concerns,  and  interests  of  the
members

  To have great energy and establish positive relationships with young people, the wider youth work

team, and visitors to the Youth Zone

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  To respond to the needs of young people through activities that they wish to see delivered
  To  work  flexibly  to  ensure  the  needs  of  the  members  are  met,  including  disadvantaged  young

people and those with disabilities or additional needs

  To ensure that the members maintain a high standard of behaviour and discipline during sessions
  To ensure the participation of young people in activities and ensure that their ideas contribute

fully to the delivery of activities in a safe way

  To assist with any promotional activities and visits that take place at the Youth Zone
  To  actively  promote  the  Youth  Zone  and  positively  contribute  towards  increasing  Youth  Zone

membership

  To always promote and safeguard the welfare of young people
  To be able to think on your feet and create a fun activity with minimal equipment
  Ability to enthuse others, including staff, volunteers, and young people, making the environment

fun and the place young people want to see

  To be an active member of the team and operate in line with the values and principles of Unitas

Youth Zone

  Carry out any other reasonable duties as requested by management in line with the needs of the

organisation including Front of House Duties

Person Specification

Selection Criteria*

Experience
Face to face activity delivery, working with young people both
in groups and individually
Experience of delivering a range of fitness activities to young
people
Experience of supporting young people who are disaffected,
underachieving and / or have social / emotional barriers to
participation
Experience of working in a team and alongside volunteers
Organising a programme of youth work activities
Experience of working with challenging young people
Experience of working with young people with additional
needs and disabilities
Qualifications
First Aid Qualification
Level 2 in Gym instructing or above
Level 2 Certificate in Coaching Weightlifting
Skills
Ability to deliver high quality fitness programmes with young
people who face social exclusion, disadvantage and
disaffection and manage such a group
Ability to develop good professional relationships with young
people and adults

Essential or
Desirable

Essential

Essential

Essential

Essential
Desirable
Desirable
Desirable

Desirable
Essential
Desirable

Essential

Essential

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Essential

Essential
Essential

Ability to work with young people to enable the development
of their social education by providing activity programmes,
services and facilities that are fun
Ability to be enthused by young people and others
Ability to coach, encourage, motivate, and provide reliable
support to young people
Ability to dynamic risk access
Desirable
Ability to plan and liaise with other professional organisations   Desirable
Knowledge
Understanding of issues affecting young people’s lives
Knowledge of health and safety, diversity awareness and
safeguarding best practice
Basic knowledge of pathways
Special Requirements
A willingness to work unsociable hours
Enhanced DBS clearance. Commitment to Safeguarding
children

Essential
Desirable

Essential
Essential

Desirable

Unitas Youth Zone are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young
people, and vulnerable groups. This post is subject to an enhanced DBS check. The strength of the
OnSide Network of Youth Zone is the diversity of its people, we place huge value on different people
doing things in different ways and we welcome applications from what might be considered non-
traditional backgrounds. The one thing we all have in common is our desire to raise the aspirations
of young people across the country. We are an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be
considered  for  employment  without  attention  to  race,  colour,  religion,  sex,  sexual  orientation,
gender identity, national origin, veteran, or disability status.

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