Help Team Advisor

Help Team Advisor

Salary: £25,124 pro rata based on 37hours - £15,278 salary based on 22.5 hours

Part Time 22.5 hours per week (Flexible working available)

Location: Based in our client s offices, Barnwood, Gloucester

Closing date: 28 November 2024

Interviews: week commencing 9 December 2024

(Please note - they may close the vacancy earlier, if they receive a high volume of applications)

Our client s vision is to make their county the best place in the UK in which to grow older.

They are recruiting exciting roles to help them do this. Do you have the skills and passion to join them?

Their HelpTeam provides a welcoming place to which to turn for older people and those supporting them. They offer people time to talk, listen actively to their situation, and provide a range of support and impartial information to help older people lead safe and comfortable later lives.

Their Advisors will discuss the services they offer, or if they are unable to provide the information needed, they will put people in touch with the most appropriate organisation for them.

People can reach their HelpTeam by phone and email, as well as in local community spaces, and when needed, their Advisors sometimes make home visits.

Principle Tasks

Responding to enquiries about later life from the public via phone, email, at outreach settings in the community and with occasional home visits, providing:

An actively listening ear:

• Giving people time and space to tell their story and raise their issue.
• Offering emotional support, understanding and reassurance that the person is not alone.
• Listening for cues that provide further detail on the presenting situation and other potential issues (e.g. an enquiry about a benefit entitlement might indicate other issues such as poverty and lack of food/warmth).
• Exploring what matters to the person and what outcome they are looking to achieve.

Provision of information and advice:

• Provide information and advice on sources of support in an accessible form, enabling the person to identify a suitable solution.
• Where possible, support is provided at first contact, but where more investigation is necessary to follow-up activity by telephone, letter, or email.
• Make appropriate referrals and applications to statutory and voluntary and community sector (VCS) services locally and nationally on behalf of the person if they are unable to do these themselves.
• Where necessary and with agreement to undertake research into a specific issue with or for the person in order to identify ways forward and to send materials that are relevant to helping them.
• Carry out initial welfare benefits checks covering pensions, means-tested benefits and disability related benefits relevant to those of state pension age. Advisors will have the knowledge and skills to have sensitive and informed conversations about welfare benefits. They will escalate complex cases on to specialist support where needed.
• Identify where wider projects may be able to support and make the appropriate introduction.
• To maintain proportionate records of all contacts in line with GDPR to aid monitoring of activity and to enable a case history to be collected for more complex cases.

To succeed for this role, you must have:

• Strong interpersonal and communication skills; able to actively listen with understanding and empathy over the phone and in person; able to connect people to the support they require.
• Patience and willingness to share their time with others and appreciate the value of other people s time; has strong organisation skills to make effective use of their time and keep excellent records.
• A positive attitude about ageing and motivation to support people from across Gloucestershire to live their best later lives.
• Experience of working with older people, through employment, voluntary work or lived experience.
• Interest in understanding everyone s unique experience and willing to consider new ways of working.
• A positive can do attitude to helping others, with an optimistic outlook, wanting the best outcomes for everyone.

In return, they can offer great benefits, flexibility, and the chance to be part of a growing local charity, which is making a difference to thousands of older people across Gloucestershire.

All shortlisted candidates will be required to complete an Application Form before attending an interview. Due to the nature of their work, successful candidates will require an enhanced DBS check and 2 satisfactory references.

Our client values diversity, equality and inclusion, and is committed to having a workforce that is representative of the community they serve. They welcome applications from candidates from all backgrounds and sections of the community. If you think the role is for you but you think you don t meet all of the criteria, please apply anyway, and tell them how your skills are transferrable.

Our client, in compliance with the Equality Act 2010, will seek to make reasonable adjustments to overcome barriers to employment caused by disability and/or neurodiversity, and encourages applications from these candidates. They guarantee to offer an interview to those with a disability who meet the minimum criteria.