Barnardo's Children Rights provides is multidisciplinary service which provides Independent Visitor (IV) and Advocacy services to children in care, care leavers, children with disabilities, and children on either a child in need or child protection plan; the exact provision varies depending on the contract held with each Local Authority. The IV and Advocacy services are separate provisions which are housed under the umbrella of Children Rights in Barnardo's.

The IV service is an independent provision which links members of the community, through a rigorous process of assessment, with children in care who have limited contact with their birth families. The IV volunteers are matched with children for a period of minimum 2 years to act as a role model and befriender. Together they attend different leisure activities and maintain regular contact. The service aims to achieve more positive outcomes for children and young people in line with their individual background and needs.

Reporting to the IV Team Manager, you will be based in our Crystal Palace office, which is close to public transport links. You will be required to travel to meet with children, young people and volunteers in their homes and different community settings, as well as for attending quarterly service monitoring meetings with the local authority. Service users and volunteers may be located across London and the South East, and occasionally further afield. Flexibility is required for travel and working hours, as many visits will need to take place outside of school, college and/or working hours.

Independent Visitor Service

The IV service is a statutory duty of Local Authorities towards children in care in accordance with the Children's Act 1989 (Schedule 2 Paragraph 17) and the Children and Young Persons Act (2008).

Independent Visitors provide a positive, stable, adult role model for the young person, befriending and listening to the young person, on an open-ended basis for as long as both parties want it to continue.

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 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:23055
Job Title:Independent Visitor Coordinator
Location:London
Locality:The Triangle
Contract type:Fixed term
End date:October 2027
Hours:22.2
Salary:£29,137 - £38,453 FTE (£17,482 - £23,071 pro rata)
Closing Date:31 May 2026
Interview Date:TBC

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