Participation (Independent Visitors) Officer WCC620042

Job Details:

Salary range: £41,580 - £45,399 per annum 
Work location: 4 Frampton Street, Westminster London NW8 8LF
Hours per week: 36 
Contract type: Permanent
Vetting requirements: Enhanced DBS Check  
Closing date: 2 March 2025

About Us:

THE EXTRAORDINARY STORY OF SHOFA’S MARKET 

Children’s Services in Westminster City Council is a world of extraordinary stories. Where courageous and inspiring professionals bring everything to their work. 

Sometimes this even includes heartbreak. Shofa is a shining example. Shofa’s brother suffered with his mental health and died tragically young. She uses his memory as motivation to give Westminster Youth Council members the opportunity to have a voice and get involved in decision making. This passion resulted in in her innovation: The Westminster Youth Market. Here local teenagers learn about entrepreneurship and develop their personal skills. This is an inclusive platform where everyone’s contribution and abilities are celebrated. Inspired by a promising life cut short, Shofa believes without vision there is no direction and every young person should be supported to realise their dreams. 

Please view the extraordinary story of Shofa’s Market here.

The Role:

As Looked After Children Participation and Independent Visitor Coordinator, you can make your own powerful contribution to the lives of the most vulnerable. We’re passionate about giving a voice to Looked After Children and Care Leavers, so that they are supported to help shape decisions affecting their lives. You’ll be a key member of an experienced, highly supportive team who make a real difference. 

Working closely with care experienced children and young people across a range of locations, you’ll help them raise their aspirations. The relationships you develop with them will help them feel valued, so that they can look with more confidence towards a successful future. We’ll give you training, development and scope to be creative in the solutions we offer. Crucially, we’ll also provide enough time and space to make a meaningful impact in the lives of a small cohort of children. 

Boosting the participation of Looked After Children, you’ll make sure they’re heard in meetings, reviews and decisions that impact their lives.  You’ll develop and manage programmes, workshops and training sessions that encourage and empower children in care to express their views. You’ll establish systems to gather children’s feedback on the services they receive, so that we can improve care practices. 

A key aspect of your role will be developing our Independent Visitors Scheme, which includes volunteers from a broad demographic. You’ll play a role in recruiting, vetting and training volunteers who’ll serve as Independent Visitors for children in care. You’ll carefully match children with suitable Independent Visitors, who can provide long-term support. And you’ll provide ongoing support and supervision to Independent Visitors, while monitoring the progress and outcomes of the relationships they build. 

Please refer to the Job Description for more information.

About You:

Whether you have a relevant qualification such as social or youth work, or the experience and ability to achieve one, you will certainly bring to the role a real passion for this role. Professional experience of working with children and young people, both individuals and in groups, will help to set you up for success. 

You’ll demonstrate the ability to understand challenging life stories and consult with young people about the issues that affect their lives. Sensitive and responsive, with plenty of empathy and patience, you have the skills to build rapport and establish trust. Your flair for communication is matched by planning skills that equip you to manage a range of projects simultaneously. Crucially, you also demonstrate the will, resilience and creativity to take ownership of this role and make it everything it can be.

Please note that the interview panel for this role may include one of our care-experienced young people.

Westminster City Council is committed to supporting Care Leavers into the workplace. Care Leavers seeking their first job and who wish to be considered under our scheme, will automatically be invited to interview should they meet the essential criteria for the role. 

What We Offer:

Westminster is an amazing place. We are home to more than 200,000 residents from all backgrounds, over 50,000 vibrant and vital businesses and three-quarters-of-a-million people work in Westminster. Westminster City Council’s strategy is to work towards a Fairer Westminster. A Fairer Westminster is one in which our communities are at the heart of our decision-making and help to determine the city’s future. By working directly with our communities and other partners, we can build a more inclusive city that celebrates our diverse communities, and where residents, workers and visitors from all backgrounds will feel welcome and safe.

At Westminster City Council, we pride ourselves on being an inclusive workplace and employer of choice. We encourage and welcome applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that, at all levels, represents the communities we serve. We champion equality, diversity, inclusion and wellbeing and aim to create a workplace where everyone feels valued, has a sense of belonging and is empowered to be their best, that is the Westminster Way. To find out more about how we do this visit  https://www.westminster.gov.uk/health-and-social-care/public-health-strategy-policies-and-reports/equality-duties

As a forward-thinking Council we appreciate that people work in different ways, therefore our staff benefit from working a range of flexible working patterns as well as Agile working.

The Council is a Disability Confident Employer. If you have declared a disability in your application, we guarantee an interview if you meet the essential criteria of the job. If you are invited for interview, you will be asked if you need any reasonable adjustments in order to attend, and we will make these wherever possible.