Practitioner September 2019

Job title: Practitioner

Reporting to: South East Area Manager

Location: Hove, East Sussex

Hours: 4 days per week (30 hours) or 3 days per week (22.5 hours)

Role summary

To provide therapeutic support to children who have been bereaved and their families. The

role involves individual, family and group work, and drop-ins

To be an active and involved member of a team from different professional backgrounds and

contribute to all aspects of Winston’s Wish work to help us achieve our strategic goals and

work towards achieving our vision.

The post-holder will be part of a team which delivers direct support to bereaved families,

across the South East. The role also includes supporting some families outside of the South

East Area.

Key tasks and responsibilities:

To be an active and involved member of the SE family service team as well as the

wider Winston’s Wish Family.

To act as a key-worker for an agreed caseload of families: this includes liaison with

other professionals, telephone contact, individual and family sessions in the home, at

our base and in other suitable venues.

Family work will include: assessment, individual or family sessions with children and

parents/carers.

To respond appropriately to any safeguarding issues that arise and ensure that action

is taken in line with Winston’s Wish policy and procedures.

To be fully involved with colleagues in relation to prioritisation, risk assessment and

joint working with individuals and families.

To be involved with others in the planning, preparation, delivery and de-briefing of

therapeutic groups for children, teenagers, parents and families.

To liaise with other organisations and professionals where appropriate to help provide

joined up support and care for children and young people.

To develop and sustain relationships with key organisations and professionals. Where

appropriate to provide support and consultancy to others working with bereaved

children.

To raise awareness about Winston’s Wish in order to generate referrals, increase calls

to our helpline and interest in training courses.

To pro-actively work and engage with children and young people and/or

professionals/carers supporting them who may have to overcome barriers to be able to

access our service.

To maintain accurate records of all family work for the purposes of clinical supervision

and Winston’s Wish database. To contribute to reports as required.

To provide information for and contribute to report writing when required.

To participate in assessment, group supervision and family service team meetings.

To be involved in groups, memorial and other events organised by the WW team, this

will require occasional weekend working, this in addition to two Saturday drop-ins a

year.

To adhere to Winston Wish’s values and work in accordance with our policies and

procedure.

To flexibly work with colleagues across Winston’s Wish according to organisational

need.

To be willing and able to travel regularly using your own car to meet with families and

professionals.

To organise and administer groups as required.

Potential to deliver study days with colleagues

To ensure CBSQ’s and/or other assessment and outcome measures are completed

within required timescales.

Continuing Professional Development, Supervision and Support

Winston’s Wish is committed to the development support and growth of all staff. In relation to

the family services teams there are several key strands:

Each practitioner takes personal responsibility to ensure that their development and

support needs are being met and they are fit to practice. Key elements of this are the

use of individual external clinical supervision, taking an active part in group supervision

and reflective 1:1 meetings with their line manager.

We have an in-house evolving programme of continuing professional development and

support, this typically involves 4 CPD days a year.

There is an ethos of mutual support amongst the team.

A recognised professional qualification in counselling, social work, counselling

psychology or therapeutic work.

Two years post qualifying experience and experience of working therapeutically with

children, adults and families.

Professional training in therapeutic work with children and teenagers and an

understanding of developmental issues.

Understanding of, and the ability to be at ease with, the experience and consequences

of bereavement. Emotional maturity, stability and resilience.

Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to confidently build and maintain good

relationships with people from a wide variety of backgrounds and ages.

Ability to deliver presentations and training sessions to diverse audiences.

Willingness to be part of a team and to share openly with colleagues.

Evidence of self-motivation and ability to use initiative and to work independently.

Willingness to seek support and guidance when difficulties arise in the course of work.

The ability to experience and convey empathy, congruence and acceptance to people

from a wide range of backgrounds and ages.

Ability to manage referrals and maintain accurate and confidential system of records.

Clean driving license and use of own car with appropriate business use insurance.

Willing to be flexible about focus of work including working a few Saturdays per year.

Practical knowledge of safeguarding.

Committed and flexible in your approach with hard to reach children and families.

Good organisational skills.

Willingness to pro-actively engage in outreach work with families and professionals.

Flexible team player, with the ability to be adaptable to stressful and/or changing

situations.

Circa £26,000 pro rata depending on qualifications and experience

25 days’ holiday pro rata, plus bank holidays

Pension – up to 4% on a matched basis, salary sacrifice scheme

Life assurance – up to four times salary

Employee Assistance Programme

Childcare vouchers, training loans and cycle to work scheme

Health and Wellbeing Programme

Application forms can be found at www.winstonswish.org/about-us/working-at-winstons-wish/

Completed application forms should be sent to recruitment@winstonswish.org . Applications can

also be posted to HR Team, Winston’s Wish, 17 Royal Crescent, Cheltenham, GL50 3DA.

Please remember to include your self-declaration form, either as a separate document or in a

sealed envelope.

Use of Curriculum Vitae (CVs)

Our policy is to recruit our employees on the basis of their suitability for the work to be done. An

application form allows us to compare individuals based on like for like information and as such

we do not accept a CV unless accompanied by a fully completed application form.

Recruitment timetable

Deadline for applications: Monday, 30th September 2019 at 9.00am

Interview date: Monday, 7th October 2019

Interview location: Hove, East Sussex

For any roles that involve working with children and young people, the interview will be in two

parts and one part will involve young people.

Queries

Please contact Sheila Elliott, South East Area Manager, by telephone on 01273 805035 or email

at selliott@winstonswish.org for an informal discussion about this role.

If you have a query regarding any aspect of the recruitment process, or require additional

information, please call 01242 515157 or contact recruitment@winstonswish.org

Retention of personal information

Please see our Privacy Statement which can be found at www.winstonswish.org/privacy-

statement/