Engagement Worker

Are you looking for a new challenge? 

Would you like to join our exciting and innovative Barnardo's Swansea Bloom Service working with young people who are care experienced as they make the transition to independence?

This is an exciting opportunity for a highly motivated individual to join Barnardo's as an Engagement Worker (Project Worker 1) Part time 22.5 hrs per week.

Bloom is a growing service offering a unique opportunity for the right person to work with care experienced young people to improve their physical and mental well-being by supporting them to access a range of exciting activities, find new interests and hobbies and engage in healthy activities in the community. The service provides a package of support for care experienced young people including Life Coaching, Befriending, Peer Mentoring and activities.

The successful candidate will be required to carry out the following duties (in addition to those on the generic job description):-  

• Be creative in developing, organising and running wellbeing, social and exciting activities and events.
• Encourage young people to engage in the activities and events to find new levels of resilience and self confidence in themselves.
• Empower young people to share their voice and ensure that Bloom continues to be a young person led project.
• Work with young people on a 1:1 basis to identify goals on their Youth Star plan by offering practical assistance and emotional support
• Work with young people to review and map progress.
• The service requires flexibility of work as we support young people around their needs.

 

You will have:  (Essential Criteria)

• Experience of working with vulnerable young people and an awareness of the factors impacting on their lives (disadvantage, poverty, disability, substance use and misuse, mental health difficulties as well as loss, separation and attachment difficulties) this could be in a voluntary as well as paid setting.
• An understanding of organising and running 1:1 sessions, group sessions and activities.
• An understanding of service user support planning, monitoring and reviewing.
• The ability to deliver mental wellbeing sessions.

 

Bloom is made up of three elements all of which work together:

Life Coaching

Giving young people the power to unlock their own potential for positive change, by providing them with the tools to build resilience, improve wellbeing and understand themselves better. Coaching empowers young people to think about and move forward positively in their lives, by creating and working towards specific goals through 1:1 sessions with our life coach.

 

Volunteer, befriending and peer mentoring

• Volunteers – to help with activities and provide an adult mentor where this is considered more appropriate
• Befriending - members of the local community to befriend and provide ongoing assistance to vulnerable young people who are moving to independence from the ‘looked-after' system
• Peer mentors – care experienced adults who have now left or are near leaving the statutory services (Leaving Care Service) who can offer invaluable guidance to young people through the complex process of leaving care and moving to independent living by drawing on their own experiences

Engagement and Activities

Giving young people regular opportunities to get together to experience activities not easily accessed by care experienced young people. Led by the expressed wishes of young people they could be experiences such as sports, adventuring, outdoor events, gardening clubs, cooking clubs.

Additional Information:

You must have the ability to travel independently to meet the requirements of the post.

You must demonstrate in your application that you currently use the skills outlined above, and in the Job Description/Person Specifications, or have used them previously in employment, education, training, volunteering etc.

Although this contract has a permanent status, please be aware that this post is subject to continued funding and therefore should this funding not be extended further, you may be subject to a redundancy consultation or a TUPE arrangement.

Your main office base will be at Children Matter, Swansea, Penlan but you will be expected to work locally and in the wider community.

When completing your application please refer to your skills knowledge and experience in relation to the Person Specification, Job Description and Additional Information document. This should be done with an understanding of the context of the service described.

Need more information?

If you require any further information about this opportunity, please contact Christine Parry, christine.parry@barnardos.org.uk or Eliesha Pena, eliesha.pena@barnardos.org.uk .

Please note due to the high volume of applications for some posts, this advert might close before the displayed closing date. We recommend that you apply for this role as soon as possible.

Please note due to the high volume of applications for some posts, this advert might close before the displayed closing date. We recommend that you apply for this role as soon as possible.

We know that our colleagues go above and beyond in delivering our vital work, driven by their passion and commitment to Barnardo's values.  We also know that we can only realise our ambitions and achieve better outcomes for more children, thanks to the talent, hard work and creativity of our people. 

For all these reasons, we are committed to a new approach to pay and reward, to ensure it is fair, attractive and progressive, which was rolled out in April 2023. This is a positive change for the charity, and a part of our People & Culture Strategy. It will assist us in supporting colleagues to belong, thrive and grow in their colleague journey at Barnardo's and in time will offer clear routes of progression for colleagues in both their career and their pay. 

Whilst the full pay band and salary range is advertised, our approach to starting salaries is to appoint between the minimum to mid-point of the pay band – this ensures that pay steps are available to reward our colleagues annually based on their contribution to excellence and alignment to our values and behaviours.  More details on Barnardo's pay framework can be found upon application. 

Workplace Offer: What it means for you

Our hybrid working initiative is based on trust, flexibility and empowerment. We understand our workplace offer means different things to different people, and we encourage those conversations. This may mean working at one of our stores, services, working at home, in the community, at one of our Collaboration Hubs or depending on the role any combination of these. Please read through the advert carefully to understand the remits of hybrid working that will be specific to the role.

• Barnardo's believe in creating equality of opportunity in the workplace and supporting people to manage their work-life balance; we are therefore open to offering flexible working arrangements.
• Annual Leave entitlement for full-time colleagues is 26 days per annum, increasing to 27 days per annum, after 3 years Barnardo's service, 29 days per annum, after 5 years Barnardo's service and 30 days per annum, after 7 years Barnardo's service. Those working less than full time are entitled to the same level of holiday pro rata
• The ability to buy up to another 5 days annual leave via our Buy Your Leave scheme
• A host of family friendly leave options including company Maternity Paternity and Adoption pay; together with all family additional leave options
• Service related sick pay from day 1
• Access to a Group Personal Pension with a matched 4% or 6% contribution from Barnardo's. Ability to pay via salary sacrifice to garner both tax and NI savings on your own contribution
• Death in service cover of 4x annual earnings for all staff contributing to our Group Personal Pension
• Cycle2work scheme
• Interest free season ticket loans
• Discounts and cashback from at high street shops including major supermarkets, cinemas, gyms, leisure/theme parks, holidays and much more via our Benefit Portal
• 20% discount at Barnardo's stores
• Opportunity to purchase a health cash plan to claim towards dental, glasses, therapy etc
• Free access to round the clock employee assistance program for advice and support
• Access to Barnardo's Learning and Development offer

*T&C's apply based on contract

We are committed to being an inclusive employer and cultivating a culture where everyone can belong and thrive through inclusion and connectivity. We want our workforce to be reflective of the communities we work with, and for equality, diversity and inclusion to be embedded in everything we do. We are a Disability Confident Leader, are progressing our ambition to be an anti-racist organisation with Anti-Racism Commitments and actions in place and have networks for colleagues who are disabled, LGBT+, Black and Minoritised Ethnic and Women. We particularly encourage applications from Black and Minoritised Ethnic and/or disabled candidates who are currently underrepresented in our workforce. For disabled applicants, we offer reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process.

• Reference number:22377
• Job Title:Engagement Worker
• Location:Barnardo's Swansea
• Contract type:Permanent
• Hours:22.2
• Salary:£25,492.40 - £29,755.44 FTE
• Closing Date:11 February 2026
• Interview Date:19/02/2026