The Peer Partnership is recruiting a Long COVID Peer Support Coordinator
This is an exciting opportunity for someone who is passionate about the difference peer support and lived experience can make.
The Peer Partnership is an extension of the successful work achieved by Brigstowe in providing peer support for people newly diagnosed or struggling with HIV. The Peer Partnership is a trading name of The Brigstowe Project, and all references refer to the terms and conditions of The Brigstowe Project as the employer.
In Bristol there have been over 30,000 confirmed coronavirus infections since March 2020. With long covid being experienced in 20% of cases, this means that Bristol has over 6,000 people experiencing longer term covid symptoms. People with long covid experience excessive fatigue, “brain fog”, breathlessness, anxiety and muscle aches.
With such a large number of people experiencing issues around health and wellbeing with the condition, more methods of support need to be developed. People living with long covid need opportunities to improve knowledge, confidence and ability to self-manage while ongoing research seeks to provide treatment and care options. We believe that peer support, and the sharing of experiences, strategies and coping methods, can be an important part of providing effective and meaningful person-centred support.
We will be providing group peer support in two ways:
- Recently Diagnosed Workshops – We will be providing workshops for people with a Long COVID diagnosis to gain all the information they want and need, co-facilitated by peers living with Long COVID themselves, and medical professionals
- Group Peer Support – We will be providing group peer support sessions for people living with Long COVID to discuss and explore the issues they are facing with their diagnosis, led by peers living with COVID, and guest speakers
The goal of our peer support services are to recognise the issues being faced by people with Long COVID, and support their knowledge, confidence and ability to manage their condition through engaging with trained peers who understand the obstacles and barriers they face, because they are going through it themselves.
The Peer Support Co-ordinator will be responsible for managing this service which will involve organising structured peer support groups, organising and delivering one-off workshops, collecting feedback, providing support and supervision to our peer facilitators, and building and maintaining stakeholder relationships.
The Long COVID Peer Support service is a new and unique project and is funded by Sirona Care and Health.
We are looking for:
Someone who is passionate about the difference that peer support can make, has exceptional organisational and communication skills and is confident working with a diverse range of staff, volunteers, service users and professionals. It is a varied and exciting role, and you will be able to see first-hand the impact that peer mentoring can have on people’s lives
The Peer Partnership holds clients at the heart of service delivery. Clients come from diverse cultural backgrounds, which include many minority groups. We pride ourselves on offering services, which are person centred and we continually endeavour to understand and reflect the needs of all communities.
As well as joining a collaborative, supportive, motivated, and dynamic team you will also receive:
- 26 days’ holiday per year plus bank holidays
- 6% pension contribution
- ongoing training and development opportunities
- regular one-to-one supervision
Salary: £23,080 pro rata (based on point 14 of the NJC pay scale)
Hours: 30 hours per week (part time)
Contract: until 31st January 2023 (with possibility of extension if funding is renewed)
Closing date: Thursday 9th December 2021 11.30am
Interview date: Thursday 16th December 2021 on Zoom
The Peer Partnership is committed to reducing inequality, valuing diversity, and enabling inclusion. We welcome applicants with the appropriate skills of any background or identity. We particularly welcome applications from people living with long-term health conditions who will be well placed to understand the challenges and obstacles that people struggling with their Long COVID diagnosis may be experiencing.
HOW TO APPLY
Please submit your CV, with a covering letter outlining your reasons for applying and how your skills and experience fit the person specification. All applications will be scored using the person specification and therefore applicants who submit a relevant covering letter are more likely to be offered an interview. In addition, please complete our Required Information Form and Equal Opportunities Form. Please send your CV, covering letter and other forms to info@brigstowe.org
Documents:
Long COVID Peer Support Coordinator JD & Person Spec – Nov 2021
