Peer Support Lead

Role profile:
Peer Support Lead

Location: Edinburgh or Glasgow

Hours: 36.25 hours per week

Salary: Grade Points 39-43, £38,470 to £42,564

This role is subject to PVG Membership and a level 3 Disclosure.

Find out more about working at Health in Mind on the careers
section of our website.

As importantly, everyone we support will have
different needs and have insight about what will
work best for them. We provide a safe and trusted
space for people to explore what is most important
to them and to access tailored help toward their
goals.

Nearly 3,000 people have registered. We have
grown as more people seek support. Future
Pathways hosts 6 support coordination teams and
over 60 full-time equivalent staff.

About Future Pathways

Future Pathways offers support to people who
were abused or neglected as a child when
they were in the Scottish care system. The
service was established alongside the Scottish
Child Abuse Inquiry and has expanded
considerably since its start in 2016. Future
Pathways’ aim is to help people live well. To
change paths, enjoy life, succeed and grow.

Working closely with our Commissioner, the
Scottish Government and more than 40
delivery partners, Future Pathways has
pioneered a unique model of support that is
transformative.

Our partnership approach is rooted in
understanding that the impact of childhood
trauma is individual and lifelong. We
recognise that the experience of abuse in care
often means people may face significant
barriers to accessing much needed help.

About the In Care Survivors Alliance

Future Pathways is delivered by the In Care
Survivors Alliance. The Alliance is formed of
four partners: Glasgow Psychological Trauma
Service*, Health in Mind, Penumbra Mental
Health and the Scottish Government.

Find out more about the Alliance at
www.incarealliance.scot

Our Vision:

The Alliance vision is for people to lead full,
healthy and independent lives.

Our Purpose:

The purpose of the Alliance is to enable
people to access resources, care and support
from our two services and from the wider
sector. We do this through direct support,
commissioning support from our network of
Delivery Partners, and enabling people to
access existing services.

Our Values:

We uphold the following principles:

• Safety
• Trustworthiness,
• Choice
• Collaboration
• Empowerment
• Consideration of the specific needs of people who

have experienced Scottish care settings.

We do this by:

• Being ethical, honest and reliable.
• Being professional, committed and respectful.
• Showing equity and equality in our approach.
• Prioritising the needs of people who access our

services.

• Supporting each other and enabling others to take

part.

• Being active participants in the Alliance and sharing

our expertise.

• Focusing on the people we support and seeking new

ways to improve.

Peer Support Team

“Empathy is seeing with the eyes of another,
listening with the ears of another and feeling
with the heart of another”
- Alfred Adler

This role sits within the Future Pathways
service.

Peer Support offers something deeply human
that other services cannot always provide -
mutual understanding without hierarchy. It
offers community and a place to just ‘be’
without a focus on goals, recovery or moving
‘forward’. It offers a place to be both held and
helpful.

Enthused and empathetic, this role will draw
on lived and learned experience to extend the
scope and reach of Peer Support at Future
Pathways, working with ‘Voices for a Better
Future’ lived experience group to guide
programme development.

With a warm, relational approach and superb
communication skills, you will support a team to
develop and deliver a growing range of activity.

"Peer Support is a way of connecting with people
who have gone through similar things in life. The
special thing about Peer Support is that everyone is
equal, and that it provides mutual understanding.

Peer Support is not about fixing problems; it is about
spending time with other people who might
understand, and feeling heard and accepted."

Mary Bourke, former Peer Support Lead

Peer Support Team structure

Peer Support
Lead

36.25 h/wk

Operations
Support
Manager

36.25 h/wk

Peer Support
Coordinator

29 hpw

Engagement
Coordinator

36.25 hpw/ full
time

Role profile

1 Service Delivery

• I build positive and trusting relationships,
supporting development of new skills and
knowledge.

• I collaborate with the lived experience

group, Voices for a Better Future in setting
and shaping programme direction.
• I develop and test new initiatives,

expanding the reach and scope of activity.
• I provide planning and project management
support in the design and delivery of new
initiatives with attention to safety and
wellbeing.

• I build relationships with relevant

professionals and agencies with to learn
from others, widen access and minimise
duplication of resources.

• I collaborate with partners and stakeholders
to provide services to people registered
with Future Pathways, inclusive of those on
the waitlist.

2 Events and Activities

•

•

•

I collaborate with the Peer Support team to
ensure a wide offering of Peer activity
I work closely with the Communications and
Creative Lead to design and share informational
resources
I work closely with the Impact and Evaluation
Lead to ensure the programme is accountable,
survivor-led and informed by evidence.

3 Relationships

• I provide Line Management and leadership in a

way that aligns with Health in Mind values
• I have positive and trusting relationships with
people I work with and colleagues, respecting
their values and recognising their strengths and
abilities.

• I understand that respectful relationships  with
team members  and the wider Health in Mind
community is at the heart of my effectiveness in
this role.

• Within my relationships I work with  integrity.
• I am open, inclusive and  respectful and I ensure I
contribute to discussions in a meaningful and
constructive way.

Continued overleaf >

About you

We look for a range of experience, skills and knowledge. The most important aspect for us is values fit. If
you feel a connection with our approach, beliefs and values, we'd love to hear from you even if you don't
have all the required experience, skills and knowledge. We can help you develop those.

Experience:
We value lived and professional experience
equally.

Knowledge: We support ongoing learning and
development.

I can demonstrate that:

I can demonstrate that:

•

•

•
•

I have lived experience of managing own wellbeing,
access to mental health services or childhood trauma
I have at least two years’ experience in a public facing role
in a complex, sensitive area, preferably Peer Support and/
or team leadership.
I have experience in planning and project management.
I have experience of setting up and facilitating lived
experience groups.

• Trauma skilled, I have considerable experience of working

•

•

•

with the impacts of psychological trauma
I have experience in providing support to people
experiencing distress.
I have experience in third sector, Peer Support or similar
environments.
I have experience in providing line management to staff
and / or volunteers.

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

I have extensive knowledge of the impact of early
childhood abuse on peoples’ lives, including the effects
of spending time in institutional care
I have knowledge of good practice in mental health
support and Peer Support practice.
I have knowledge of personal outcomes and recovery in
supporting people to live well.
I have a recognised and relevant qualification at the
SVQ4 level or better, for example in health and social
care, psychology or social work and recognised by the
SSSC, HCPC or other accrediting body.
I have knowledge of confidentiality, Data Protection
Legislation and up to date training in adult and child
safeguarding.
I understand professional boundaries and apply them in
my work.
It is desirable to have knowledge of statutory and
voluntary service networks in Scotland.

About you

Skills and expertise: If you do not currently
have all the skills required, we can build these
into a tailored development plan.

Behaviours:

Our behaviours are underpinned by our values.

I can demonstrate that:

I can demonstrate that:

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

I am great with people! I can communicate using a
variety of channels to succinctly and precisely
convey important information in an accessible way.
I am good at encouraging and supporting people to
find their voice and fully participate.
I am skilled at identifying relevant contacts and
building a network to support my work.
I am skilled at thinking critically and reflectively to
plan, prioritise and evaluate my work and the work
of others.
I model good self-care and encourage resilience and
self care in others.
I can use databases and Microsoft Office 365
packages including SharePoint.
I apply trauma informed and strengths based
principles in my work.

•
•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•
•

•

I am warm and engaging and care about people.
I complete tasks, showing commitment and enthusiasm in
doing so.
I keep  my manager informed about progress and
challenges.
I celebrate the diversity of thoughts, ideas, and working
methods that people with different experiences and
backgrounds bring.
I am action/ solution focused and professional in my
approach.
I can reflect on my work practice and am open to
constructive feedback.
I am flexible and able to adapt quickly when plans
change.
I understand the importance of informing my manager
about my progress and challenges.
I take responsibility for managing my work life balance.
I am an active team member contributing ideas for
improvements and inviting the opinions of others.
I always project a positive image of Future Pathways.