Reports To: Team Leader
Direct Reports: None
Location: Portsmouth Wellbeing Centre
Hours: 32 Hours per week
Salary: £21,600.00 to £23,269.19 per annum (£24,975 to £26,905 full time equivalent) - Solent Mind Band B
Purpose:
The Peer Worker will support the delivery of a wellbeing drop-in and targeted one-to-one support service from Solent Mind’s Portsmouth Wellbeing Centre. The role will help people experiencing mental health problems and financial hardship to access early support, build confidence, and engage with appropriate advice and community services
The postholder will use a peer support approach to provide emotional wellbeing support, practical encouragement, and supported navigation for people who may feel overwhelmed, excluded, or unable to access mainstream advice services independently. The service is designed to reduce financial vulnerability and help prevent repeated cycles of crisis by supporting people to take practical steps towards improving their financial resilience.
This will include supporting people through open-access drop-ins, providing follow-up one-toone sessions, helping with forms and online applications, and enabling warm connections into specialist services such as money advice, Jobcentre Plus, welfare support, housing support and other local agencies.
Principal Accountabilities:
Working with people one to one, managing your own caseload of service users to support them when experiencing emotional distress linked to financial hardship, debt, benefits, housing, employment, social isolation or wider life pressures and help them access relevant services and groups.
Support the delivery of a Monday to Friday open-access drop-in model at the Portsmouth Wellbeing Centre.
Supporting people to develop and use a range of skills and techniques to help their wellbeing.
To support and encourage participants to identify their own strengths, triggers and life goals.
To maintain appropriate records of participation and progress, recording on Solent Mind’s CRM as required.
Maintain clear boundaries and work within the agreed scope of the role, recognising when specialist advice or clinical support is required.
Develop links and build positive working relationships with local advice providers, Jobcentre Plus, community organisations, statutory services and other relevant partners
General:
Adhere to the aims, values, policies and procedures of Solent Mind, particularly safeguarding and health & safety.
This list is non exhaustive and other duties may be required to meet the needs of Solent Mind
| Requirement | Essential or Desirable |
| Qualifications/Education/Training: | |
| Educated to a minimum level 2 standard or relevant experience. | Essential |
| Experience: Have lived experience of mental health problems and using mental health | Essential |
| services. An understanding of the role of peer support within mental health. | Essential |
| Understanding of how financial hardship, debt, poverty, housing issues, employment difficulties and mental health can affect each other | Essential |
| Experience of working or volunteering in mental health, advice, community, homelessness, welfare, housing, employment or financial inclusion services. | Desirable |
| Experience supporting people affected by digital exclusion or low confidence using online services. | Desirable |
| Experience of collecting service user feedback or outcome information | Desirable |
| Knowledge/Skills/Competencies: | |
| Ability to work as part of a team and maintain positive working relationships with colleagues and partners. Ability to support people to identify practical next steps and build confidence to | Essential |
| engage with advice or support services | Essential |
| The ability to manage time and competing priorities and take responsibility for your own work, accountabilities and caseload. | Essential |
| Ability to provide calm, compassionate and non-judgemental support to people experiencing distress or overwhelm | Essential |
| Good communication and listening skills, including written and I.T., including use of Microsoft Office packages and confidence with using client managementiT systems. | Essential |
| The ability to maintain and monitor accurate recording of participation, progress and outcomes. | Essential |
| Demonstrate a solid understanding of the importance of confidentiality, boundaries and safeguarding. | Essential |
| Ability to work in a person-centred and trauma-informed way Knowledge of local Portsmouth community services, advice agencies or mental | Essential Desirable |
| health support Other: | |
| Demonstrate skills in managing your own health and wellbeing. Ability and willingness to travel to other Primary Care Networks and Wellbeing | Essential Essential |
| Centres. | |
| Commitment to Solent Mind's values. | Essential |
| Commitment to Solent Mind's Equal Opportunities and Diversity and Inclusion Policies. | Essential |
| Willingness to undergo a relevant DBS Check if required. Wilingness to work flexible hours to meet service needs. | Essential |
Date job originated: December 2019 Date job reviewed: June 2026 Reviewing Manager: Ian Stiff