Domestic Abuse Helpline Worker

Location: Kennington

Role:
Domestic Abuse Helpline Advisor

Based:
Remote

Rate:
£18 umb

Start Date:

ASAP

Duration:
Temporary until March 2026

Hours:

Full-time 35 hours per week, Monday – Sunday, work from home. 24-hour service - Rota Pattern including evenings, weekends, and nights.  

1 – 2 days per month in central London are desirable (but not compulsory) for wellbeing and development

Our client, a national Domestic Abuse charity, is looking for several Helpline Advisors to join their team, providing high-quality, empowering, emotional, and practical support, assistance, and information to women and those supporting them who contact the Freephone 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline

Synopsis of duties:

To participate in answering helpline calls and online communication inquiries on a 24-hour rota system, responding to women experiencing domestic violence and other forms of violence against women and girls (VAWG), and family and friends supporting them, by providing trauma-informed emotional support and practical help, led by the caller’s needs.  
To support and advise other professionals in their delivery of services to women experiencing domestic abuse and liaise with agencies on behalf of callers as necessary, including searching for vacancies and making referrals to women’s refuges when needed.
To work in partnership with other agencies to contribute to the design of interventions and plans which protect survivors and their children whilst maintaining an independent role on behalf of the survivors, keeping their safety central to the plans.  
To provide independent assessment, advice and support across all facets of domestic abuse, whether physical, psychological, emotional, financial or controlling behaviour by informing women of the dynamics around these behaviours and providing callers with information around the laws and services that exist to support and protect women.  
To provide one-to-one support and safety planning to high-risk women, often at the point of crisis.  
To establish the risks to and the needs of survivors of domestic violence and other forms of violence and abuse, by providing practical and emotional support and non-directive safety planning, and appropriate signposting.  
To ensure that any issues in relation to safeguarding children or vulnerable adults are brought to the immediate attention of the service manager or on-call manager.  
To listen and assess each interaction individually to ensure the support and assistance given to callers is appropriate and of the highest standard.  
To manage high call and response volumes, ensuring continuity of service levels and use best judgment and practices to manage time effectively  
To maintain up-to-date knowledge of women’s rights and entitlements when fleeing domestic abuse, including but not limited to civil and criminal law, housing, benefits, and other relevant legal measures.  
To maintain up-to-date knowledge of resources and services for women fleeing domestic abuse, both statutory and voluntary.  
To ensure a quality service is given to women regardless of class/culture/language/religion, or sexual orientation; to speak with callers via Language Line when needed  
To recognise, respect and address the needs of service-users who face particular barriers when seeking help to access the advocacy service, including those from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds, LGBT communities, disabled people and other hard-to-reach groups  
To respond and provide high-quality support and advice to women, families and professionals via additional platforms and communication methods, notably web forms and live webchat, where safe and appropriate to do so and maintain appropriate records.  
To ensure helpline database records are completed accurately and promptly  
To contribute to the ongoing evaluation of the Helpline service.  
To ensure systems of information and dissemination are of a high standard, ensuring callers receive quality support and referral services.
To undertake efficient handover and debriefing after each shift (e.g. update on referrals, admissions, vacancies) and ensure relevant information and issues are passed

Essential Requirements:

In-depth…