Role: Ageless Thanet Social Prescribing Coordinator
Hours: 9am – 5pm, Monday to Friday (with some evening/weekend working as req.) Fixed Term Contract to 31st December 2019
Location: Margate
Salary: £21,000 p/a pro rata


Social Enterprise Kent is a community-interest business dedicated to improving lives and building strong communities in Kent. We help people gain the skills they need to get back into work, and support other local charities, community groups and social entrepreneurs.

Ageless Thanet is a £3m Big Lottery Fund funded project (part of the national Fulfilling Lives campaign) which will run until 2020. The project is led by Social Enterprise Kent, and is a partnership of voluntary, statutory and private sector organisations which have come together to improve physical and mental wellbeing, and reduce loneliness and social isolation, in older people. For the purposes of this project, “older people” have been defined by the Big Lottery Fund as those aged over 50.

We have been given a fantastic opportunity to trial a new and exciting Social Prescribing model here in Thanet, working in partnership with our colleagues in the Thanet Clinical Commissioning Group and local GP practices. This model will look to support 50+ residents in improving their mental and physical health, reducing their levels of social isolation and loneliness and, more broadly, ensure they are getting the most out of life.

Main duties and responsibilities:

Taking referrals from GP practice staff and beyond, our Social Prescribing Coordinator will work with to support participants with a range of health, social care, welfare advice and other support services that will help improve and enrich the client’s life.

The role will require proactive engagement with healthcare professionals to stimulate referrals into the programme and with community-based providers of services and activities. Participants will be supported on an individual basis to identify activities that will improve their health and wellbeing. Participants interested in volunteering will be supported to access opportunities with brokerage.

Delivery:

- Act as the central point of contact for referrals to the Social Prescribing service
- Provide information to referred participants, including signposting where appropriate
- Develop and maintain a client database
- Supporting voluntary and 3rd sector engagement across Thanet and raising the profile of the VCSE sectors with Health
- Support participants to access volunteer opportunities across Thanet
- Work with health professionals to deliver feedback mechanisms
- Develop a comprehensive knowledge of support services across Thanet to meet different needs, including; social isolation, loneliness, wellbeing, housing, unemployment, welfare benefits, health conditions etc.
- Build a directory of organisations and providers from across all sectors providing support for older people in Thanet
- Communicate with health professionals to increase the visibility of the project and ensure information is up to date and relevant
- Attend meetings as appropriate

Monitoring, reporting and evaluation:

- Monitor and evaluate the effectiveness or the service against agreed targets
- Maintain systems to keep accurate records relating to the delivery of the service
- Produce and submit service reports in the agreed format and in accordance with agreed timetables

External partners and communication:

- Maintain effective relationships with Health and Social Care professionals, information, Advice and Guidance Services, support services, stakeholders across all sectors and our partners
- Maintain good communication with participants, their families and carers
- Recognise people’s needs for different methods of communication and respond accordingly

Additional responsibilities:

- Developing, adapting and delivering presentations using Microsoft programmes
- Timely and accurate reporting to line manager
- Any other task as reasonably required by your manager

Desirable skills/attributes:

• A demonstrable knowledge of Thanet and the community/voluntary sector here

As a project designed specifically to help older people, we would encourage people of all ages to apply. We believe strongly that age shouldn’t be a barrier to finding employment and we value the skills, experience and wisdom older people have to offer. Experience of working with older people, and a proactive “can-do”, passionate, but effective approach to engagement and identifying project opportunities is key.

Please note:

Social Enterprise Kent is a flexible employer and we welcome discussions from interested candidates who may need to discuss alternate working hours, or on a part-time basis. Some weekend and evening work is likely to be needed from time to time, given the nature of the work we do. However, these activities are all planned in advance.

How to apply:

The deadline for all applications will be Friday 15th June 2018, with interviews anticipated to be week commencing 25th June 2018.
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Please send a CV and COVERING LETTER to James Kirby (Programme Manager). This can be by e-mail at t.lovelock@sekgroup.org.uk or post at Ageless Thanet, 2nd Floor, Mill Lane House, Margate, Kent, CT9 1LB. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact by e-mail or telephone on 01843 210005.

FOR FULL DETAILS OF PERSON SPECIFICATION, PLEASE VISIT WWW.SEKGROUP.ORG.UK OR WWW.AGELESSTHANET.ORG.UK