Hospital Based Youth Worker

Hospital Based Youth Worker

Are you passionate about improving the lives of children and young people?

Can you engage with hard to reach children and young people and enable them to improve their mental health and wellbeing?

Are you looking for a role that supports a positive work life balance?

Barnardo's is the UK's largest and most well-known children's charity, dedicated to supporting vulnerable children and young people across the country. Our services range from trauma recovery to youth work and mental health support, all aimed at supporting children to be safer, happier, healthier and more hopeful.

We are seeking a suitably qualified and highly motivated part-time (20 hours per week) Youth Worker to join a service in Swindon, based at Great Western Hospital.

The service is commissioned by the Integrated Care Board allowing us to work innovatively and creatively to improve young people's experience of attending hospital and to improve mental health and wellbeing. We are looking for passionate staff to help us deliver positive health outcomes and improve young people's experience of the care they receive.

Youth Workers will work alongside clinical staff to offer non-clinical support to children and young people, who attend hospital for non-clinical reasons including, mental health concerns, and wellbeing issues as a result of long-term health conditions. Support provided will include:

• Co-production and participation with young people to allow their voices to be heard in service developments.
• Conducting wellbeing assessments and developing support plans
• 1:1 for wellbeing (up to 6 sessions)
• Social prescribing and community navigation
• Community and school-based support
• Advice and guidance, including self-help

This role offers a unique opportunity to work as a Barnardo's employee, within a hospital setting, contributing to the wellbeing of the community's youth. Youth Workers will be adaptable and flexible to the needs of children and young people, offering support in places and spaces across Swindon such as schools, at home, or in green spaces. The holder of this role will need to be passionate about promoting the voice of young people to enable them to work with us throughout the journey of developing this pilot project. The successful candidate will receive regular supervision and training opportunities.

Key Responsibilities:

Assessment and Referral:

• Conduct initial assessments to understand the individual's situation, identify risks, and refer them to appropriate services or agencies for further support, if necessary.

Direct Support:

• Offer one-to-one support and intervention to children and young people presenting at hospital for non-clinical reasons, addressing their immediate needs and concerns.
• Support includes wellbeing interventions, guidance, and signposting to appropriate resources.

Advocacy:

• Advocate for the rights and needs of children and young people within the healthcare setting, ensuring their voices are heard and their interests are represented in decision-making processes.
• Offer guidance to children, young people and families on navigating the support landscape, including available services and pathways to care.

Collaboration:

• Work collaboratively with healthcare professionals, social workers, and other agencies to coordinate support services and ensure a holistic approach to addressing the needs of young people.

Education and Prevention:

• Deliver educational sessions and workshops within the hospital and community settings to raise awareness about mental health, wellbeing, and the available support services for young people.

Professional Development:

• Stay updated on relevant legislation, best practices, and emerging trends in youth work and mental health support through training and continuous professional development.

Establishing Links:

• Develop and maintain effective relationships with children, young people, families, and relevant agencies to facilitate access to the right support at the right time.
• Develop and maintain a directory of local community groups and support networks to enable effective social prescribing and community navigation.

Collaborative working:

• Work closely with multi-disciplinary teams within Barnardo's and the Great Western Hospital to co-ordinate holistic care for children and young people.

Documentation and Reporting:

• Maintain accurate records of interactions, assessments, and support plans in accordance with Barnardo's guidelines.
• Maintain accurate and up to date outcomes and feedback records.

Barnardo's is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. All applicants will undergo relevant checks, including an enhanced DBS disclosure.

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

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.

Pre-employment checks will be required for the role

If you have any questions, please call Polly Atkins on 07753 318964 or email polly.atkins@barnardos.org.uk

Note: This job description and person specification outline the general nature and level of work expected of the role. It is not an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and requirements. Flexibility is essential to meet the evolving needs of the service and organisation.

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 require colleagues to be UK residents, based in the UK and to complete their roles from within the UK (with the exception of colleagues providing Barnardo's services in Jersey and colleagues who live in the Republic of Ireland providing services in Northern Ireland)

• 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:22824
• Job Title:Hospital Based Youth Worker
• Location:Swindon Trailblazer, Swindon
• Contract type:Permanent
• Hours:20
• Salary:£26,003 - £30,351 (FTE) £14,055.67 - £16,405.94 (pro rata)
• Closing Date:21 April 2026
• Interview Date:TBC