Resident Coach

Hi

Thanks for asking about our role of Resident Coach.

We are a dynamic and professional group of people working to create a fairer society through

helping to improve the lives of people suffering homelessness and preventing people from becoming

homeless and we’re always looking forward to welcoming new, like-minded, people into our team.

Coaches support our residents to re-discover their own personal resources and to turn problem

focussed thinking into creative unique solutions.

This is an important time for us as we meet the many challenges in the sector and in the whole of

society and we are always looking for ways to stay ahead of the field and to achieve more for the

people that rely on our services.

To find out more about our work, go to www.wearetrinity.org.uk

If you want an exciting challenge with an aspiring organisation then please write to us and tell us

about yourself and why you want to work with us and please include your current CV.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Best wishes,

Steve Hedley

Chief Executive

Why work for us?

Trinity is all about creating a fairer society through ending homelessness.

Homelessness in Britain is the result of treating housing as a commodity rather than a human right. It

is rooted in privilege, wealth and power and policies that are inconsistent with human rights –

neglecting or failing to respond adequately to the needs of the most disadvantaged in response to

crises or economic developments. The response should be clear: we must commit to ending

homelessness. This would, in fact, be in line with the global target to ensure adequate housing for all

by 2030, which was committed to in the UN’s sustainable development goals.

Why work for us…? Because we believe deeply in justice and we are a community of committed

people who want to make our lives count in leaving a legacy that makes the world a better place. We

have deeply held values and ethics and a high degree of self-directed performance. We have a

positive coaching culture and we are solution focussed. There is a genuine and deeply felt

commitment to continuous improvement and an aspirational approach to the future and we will not

stop until everyone has a home…or at least a bed for the night.

Other reasons:

Great people

We currently have a team of 50+ gifted, friendly, funny people and in this year’s staff survey half of

them scored Trinity 8/10 as a place to work!

Flexible working

Some roles dictate that you’ve got to be somewhere at a certain time. Outside of this we value

autonomy and work-life balance and we trust our people to manage their own time.

Above average local pay

Pension

Good annual leave

Maternity and paternity leave

We look after you when you’re sick or need time off

Self-directed learning

A day off for your birthday

And an all-expenses paid holiday (Okay… no free holiday)

“This is one of the

happiest places I’ve

ever worked. I look

forward to coming in

the mornings.”

What we do

Trinity Homeless Projects (Trinity) is a registered Charity working in West London and Slough to end

homelessness.

Hillingdon is one of London’s largest Boroughs and we are the largest provider of Supported

Accommodation in the Borough. We currently have over 50 properties housing over 300 people.

We employ full-time trained Coaches who offer between one and four hours coaching per resident

per week depending on need and risk. Resident’s needs and risks are reviewed by the Team every

week. Coaches are trained NLP Practitioners and receive monthly individual and team coaching. We

map our progress through a Strengths Chart that focuses on assets not deficits and this year our ex-

resident survey showed that 86% of people that move on from our Supported Housing are still

securely housed after 12 months, making Trinity a long-term solution to homelessness.

We have two large furniture recycling stores that deliver employment training and saves over 2,300

tons of C02 every year and we provide training and education to over 150 businesses, schools and

colleges in an effort to prevent homelessness and rough sleeping.

We run a Reconnection Service for people sleeping rough at Heathrow and our Day Service (SHOC)

in Slough work with about 100 people every week.

We lease properties from the Private Rented Sector and create licensed HMOs. Private landlords like

our offer; we pay market rates, provide 24 hour call out and we’re good neighbours. We charge

Enhanced Housing Benefit which is comparable with other providers but our rents are unaffordable

once someone secures a job and we are at risk of constant Welfare Reform and it is essential that we

create a supply of affordable housing, at LHA rate.

We have a strategy with mapped pathways that can provide a local system where no one need to

suffer homelessness again.

“Trinity is amazing, they
have taught me how
to be positive and how
to stay strong and
focussed on my life”

Our Theory of Change

Everyone has the right to a home…or at least a bed for the night

“Without Trinity
I don’t know
where I would
be, it’s made
me see life
again”

Life expectation in the UK currently stands at 80 years. If you are sleeping rough that almost halves to

43 years. Where we work the average time someone will have to sleep rough is 1.3 years and an

analysis of the services currently being provided shows that the vast majority are designed to

maintain people living on the streets rather than accessing housing.

We believe everyone has the right to a home or at least a bed for the night.

Our approach is to create a supply chain of services that ensures everyone where we work has access

to a room and within as short amount a time as possible a home.

Resident Coach

"If you have come here to 'help' me, you are wasting your time. But if your struggle for

liberation is bound up with mine, then maybe we can work together."

Lilla Watson 1985

The purpose of the Coach

The coaching we provide empowers residents to successfully manage their tenancy through

engaging people in such a way that they can develop resourceful strategies. Person-centred planning

is offered to all our residents who are encouraged to create a personalised support plan. The

experience we have gained in working with people with complex needs has shown us that the most

effective form of support is one where staff build a good relationship with the people we work with

and the direction of travel is clear. This comes through regular, quality communication and

identifying an agreed pathway that someone wants to take and is faithfully supported to achieve the

outcome they want.

The role of a Coach

Our services combine the provision of; a home, great people to help and a focus on employment

through individually tailored support plans to achieve a single outcome for every resident; successful

independence for life. We work to strengthen the relationships in the lives of our residents and seek

to add value in everything that we do and give support and learning at all times. We work flexibly

and informally but at all times draw from a strong foundation of measurable outcomes and indicators

of success.

Our approach to support is solution focused and includes complimentary interventions; Motivational

Interviewing, Appreciative Enquiry, Brief Therapy and Nero Linguistic Programming. We

fundamentally believe people have the solutions to their own problems. This presupposition means

that we avoid being the ‘expert’, instead we coach residents to discover their own unique solutions.

A person’s right to choose is a central value of our support and our response to a resident regarding

support and housing management is informed by the identification of a resident’s own awareness of

their current circumstances. Implicit in this, is a sort of ‘golden rule’, that a Coaches’ ongoing personal

development and life processes are linked with his or her work. This gives us the ability to model

resourceful states and ensures equity as we share our journey together.

The Coach uses the Strengths Chart which focuses specifically on each support pathway and supports

residents in making changes by providing them with a map of the journey.  It works by moving

someone from a ‘stuck’ state to a state of ‘self-reliance.’ Coaches facilitate the combining of these

pathways through building a close working relationship, not only with the residents, but with partner

agencies.

Coaches support residents to manage money and personal administration through good working

relationships with both the Housing Benefit department and Job Centre Plus and by access to debt

counselling, improving resident’s ability to manage their own finances and thereby maintain their

tenancy. Coaches facilitate access to employment opportunities to enable residents to achieve

employment or work experience. Residents receive support to access local health care through

registration with a GP and dental practices. This is often the easiest route to referral into more

specialised services including; drug and alcohol services, mental health services and counselling.

Coaches are responsible for providing support to around 30 residents depending on their individual

support needs. Trinity’s support follows a natural rhythm, rather than formal proceedings, this breaks

down barriers and is conducive to a balanced lifestyle, including; good morning calls, shared

breakfasts and evening meals, routine domestic chores and structured and unstructured activities

throughout the day focusing on independent living skills, training, employment, physical and mental

health and fun. It is through this daily positive connection with clients that we are able to provide

space and time for people to address the reasons that caused them to experience homelessness and

to demonstrate an alternative lifestyle that is a proven long-term solution to homelessness.

Are you the right person?

Naturally, the success of our approach depends on having the highest quality staff with the right

personal qualities to be the difference that makes the difference in our resident’s lives.

Few occupations place such a premium on a staff member’s human qualities, personal development

processes and self-awareness as is required for a good Coach. In this job, it really matters what kind

of person you are. In a job that impacts lives it is essentially about facilitating processes to assist

people to reclaim, restore, enhance and actualise their innate human potential. Complex issues are

often involved such as family breakdown, family trauma and violence, sexual abuse, problematic drug

and alcohol use, domestic violence, unemployment, poverty, developmental delays and many other

difficult life passages such as divorce, separation, or rejection. Many of these issues lead people to

experience homelessness and to seek the services of supported accommodation.

The exacting vocation of a Coach demands a complex ‘juggling act’ of professional skills, as well as

excellent personal qualities. It requires knowledge of human behaviour and relations and therapeutic

interventions and practice; reliability; loyalty, honesty, enthusiasm, creative thinking; flexibility;

responsiveness; a genuinely positive approach; ability to negotiate conflict and crises; and endurance

and good stress management, so as to be fairly relaxed amid chaotic and often emotionally

demanding environments. As if this were not enough, the personal qualities needed are very

stringent and tend to be based on hard won self-knowledge and awareness gained through life

experience, learning from difficulties and personal development efforts, perhaps rather more than

theoretical knowledge. The foundation for this job is a caring disposition, coupled with the skills to

follow through in a practical way which empowers people rather than doing it for them. For the right

person this can be an exciting, rewarding, inspiring, enriching and satisfying career which is also very

socially beneficial. Genuine friendliness in Team Members is essential and while there are necessary

boundaries in this work, these should be applied with sensitivity and discretion.

Absolute sincerity is requisite. After all, people weary of ‘the system’ are often experts at detecting

hypocrisy. The role of a Coach has no place for; patronising attitudes and talk, self-righteousness,

quick fixes, babysitting, proselytising and doing good.

It is important for a Coach be a good listener with the ability to reflect back key emerging themes to

the resident, provide space for a resident to discover solutions and to exercise restraint when

tempted to jump in too quickly with possible solutions. It is remarkable just how often, when

encouraged, people can generate their own unique and creative responses or solutions to problems.

This says a lot about the nature of people and also a lot about the nature of problems.

We work to a number of presuppositions including; each person is unique, there is no failure only

feedback, we respect each person's perception is true for them, behind every behaviour is a positive

intention, we have all the resources we will ever need, there is a solution to every problem, mind and

body are one system and everyone makes the best choice available to them at the time.

Open mindedness, a ready acceptance of people ‘where they are at’ and a democratic world view

according equality to all people, is the approach which really assists the processes at hand. Coaches

will have their likes and dislikes, but must maintain a positive regard for everyone. You will also meet

residents you like, admire and respect for their courage, insight, grasp on profound truths and their

often hard-won wisdom. The people you see growing and evolving, partly under your influence, will

give you energy to deal with the more mundane or frustrating aspects of the work.

The role of Coach requires relevant training and qualification in the areas of housing, welfare advice,

social work, mental health, health care, drug and alcohol dependency and due to the variety of sites

to be visited daily it is essential that Coaches are owner drivers.

Finally, on an idealistic but also attainable note, Coaches who possess, develop and creatively employ

the qualities outlined above can effectively and enduringly assist clients to find many ways of creating

pathways within themselves, illuminated by a growing awareness and self-knowledge and helping

residents discover their own, bountiful, inner resources.

Thanks for taking to time to absorb all this and if this is for you, I really look forward to hearing from

you.

My very warmest regards,

Steve Hedley

CEO – Creating Exciting Opportunities

Terms and Conditions

Salary

Full-time salary is £30,000 p.a. for a 40 hour week depending on experience.
We pay people on the 27th day each month.

Hours

8.30am – 5.00pm with some evenings and flexi-time.

Out of Hours On Call one week every two months.

Leave

26 days annual leave

Pension

4% pension contribution

Performance

We monitor how people perform through job coaching every month and through annual appraisals.

We work to agreed objectives and assess achievement against these objectives and the

competencies for the role.

Probation

There is a six month probation period for new starters.

References

We only appoint someone if we are happy with their references, covering things such as character,

employment, health and eligibility to work in the UK.

Smoking policy

People are not allowed to smoke in any of our properties and whilst engaged in work. Smoking

breaks can only be taken in someone’s own time.

Location

Working from various Trinity locations across the London Borough of Hillingdon and Slough.

This is an outline of our current terms and conditions and is subject to annual review and

amendment, by consultation.