Volunteer Development Worker; HIV Peer Support Job Sheffield area,England UK,Healthcare

Aim:

The role of the HIV Peer Support Worker (PSW) has been developed for people who have lived experience of recovering a good life after HIV diagnosis. We use the definition of recovery as "the purposeful pursuit of a good life, irrespective of the absence or presence of symptoms, built around the pillars of hope, opportunity and control, with self-management and social inclusion at the heart."
The role includes meeting with service users of Sheffield HIV services providing scheduled meetings with service users on 1-1, group or drop-in basis providing ongoing support. The PSW will work with allied colleagues including HIV Peer Support Volunteers to develop and deliver a varied offer of peer support activities to support service users of the Sheffield HIV service.
The role will have special responsibility for Developing and delivering a range of HIV peer support groups and training opportunities

Principal Objectives:

To inspire, develop and deliver HIV Peer Support across Sheffield in particular;

HIV Peer Support
Social media engagement and online outreach with MESMAC's services
Group co-facilitation and support
Community ambassadors' roles
Sexual health skills peer mentoring
Positive speakers

To ensure that the Sheffield Peer Support Project of MESMAC Group of Services have in place the systems and infra-structure to support people to become volunteers including recruitment, training, personal development and supervision.

Main Responsibilities & Duties (list not exhaustive - please refer to the application pack for more details)
Volunteers

To work with other members of staff, and peer support volunteers to identify and develop appropriate voluntary action opportunities within the HIV peer support service

To work with existing members of staff and volunteers to develop training and induction packages for volunteers.

To recruit and train teams of volunteers to meet the needs of the organisation and its service users, including DBS checks.

To ensure Peer support volunteers have adequate support and supervision

To develop systems that capture and demonstrate the value of voluntary action in contributing to our outcomes.

Case load

To assist service users in identifying their own strengths, personal interests and goals; providing opportunities for service users to direct their own recovery process.

To support newly diagnosed and existing service users regarding adjustment to HIV diagnosis e.g. issues around confidentiality and disclosure.

To support service users in developing personal wellbeing plans; this can be delivered individually or in groups to assist individuals in managing their physical and general wellbeing.

To encourage the individual to be involved in care plans and risk/safety management plans.

To collaborate closely with the clinical staff to appropriately link service users with the most appropriate support, including signposting and support in accessing emergency financial support, immigration services, benefits and housing services etc.

To positively promote and support service users in the community by maintaining extensive knowledge and links with community resources and to actively support service users to access opportunities of their choice.

To develop and maintain excellent working relations with the HIV voluntary sector, local partners, mental health services, homeless charities and other relevant organisation.

To maintain professional relationships with particular attention to confidentiality and the maintenance of boundaries.

To participate in training sessions where a patient perspective or a personal experience of living with HIV is required.

The Rewards

Salary:£32,046 pro rata
Workplace pension:5% employer contribution paid into a stakeholder pension.
Supportive culture:You'll be part of an established team that has your back and celebrates your wins.