Community Connector South Tyneside at Your Voice Counts

Contract Type: Permanent

Role Type: Employment

Hours: Full time

Application deadline: Sunday, June 29, 2025 - 23:59

Based: South Tyneside

Salary: £24,889 Per Annum

Salary Type: Fixed Salary

Location: Tyne and Wear

Role description: Project Support

About the role

As a Community Connector you will support people with learning disabilities and Autistic people to identify and work towards outcomes they want to achieve, and to identify and address barriers to participation. You will work closely with local Health, Social Care and Voluntary Sector services to ensure that people have access to the support they need. You will support people to connect to their local community by identifying and developing opportunities and by helping people to participate.

You will support people to build resilience by helping them to develop formal and informal networks of support, and by supporting them to develop their skills and independence. You will take a flexible approach to providing support, being led by the needs of our clients, working with individuals on a one to one basis, as well as developing and facilitating group sessions.

Main Responsibilities

• Get to know people who access our service. Support people to identify what matters most to them, and to identify the changes they want to make in their own lives.
• Help people identify and understand their own health, wellbeing and social needs, and identify and address their barriers to participation.
• Help people to make a plan for how they will make the changes they want to make. Support them to work towards the goals they have identified.
• Help people access the support they need and are entitled to.
• Build links with people, services and businesses in the local communities that we work into.
• Raise awareness of the needs of the people we support; support local services and business to make reasonable adjustments in order to be more accessible and inclusive.
• Amplify the voice of the people we support by helping to capture their views and experiences.
• Maintain an active caseload. Manage risk proactively. Keep accurate records using our Charity Log database. Maintain confidentiality for our clients.
• Assist in the monitoring and evaluation of the service, including the collection of case studies, data and by contributing to feedback and evaluation sessions with the aim of improving the service.
• Assist in the promotion of the service and when necessary, work outside normal office hours. Be prepared to travel within Tyne & Wear.
• Be an active participant in the wider YVC team and seek to work with all YVC colleagues to deliver our strategy, maintain quality and embed the values of the organisation.

The person will have

• Experience working with people with learning disabilities and autistic people, or other marginalised and vulnerable groups.
• Experience of developing and facilitating group sessions, training or focus groups.
• Curiosity and an ability to look beyond how the person presents in order to build a deeper understanding of what matters most to them.
• Creativity, with an ability to solve problems and take people with them in solutions.
• A high level of emotional intelligence, the ability to empathise, and a genuine desire to help others.
• The ability to communicate effectively with a range of stakeholders, including those with a learning disability, autistic people, family carers and professionals.
• Experience of considering and managing risk, and of conducting risk assessments, with good knowledge of safeguarding procedures.
• An understanding of the issues affecting disabled, vulnerable and socially isolated people – particularly those with learning disabilities and autistic people.
• Experience of making information easy to understand.
• Experience of working with health and social care professionals.
• Knowledge of the health and social care sector, and of the communities and localities where our services are delivered.
• Good organisational skills, with an ability to prioritise work, and deliver agreed objectives quickly and efficiently
• Ability to work alone using their own initiative, as well as working as part of a team
• IT literacy, be confident using Microsoft Office, client databases and interactive platforms like Zoom and Microsoft Teams
• Have an understanding of the need for GDPR and client confidentiality.

The person may have

• A sound set of skills to use social media to engage with a range of audiences

If this sounds like you, we’d love to hear from you.  

Please visit our website Jobs and volunteering | yourvoicecounts (yvc.org.uk) to apply.  

Deadlines for applications are Midnight on Sunday 29^th June. 

Interviews will be held on Tuesday 8^th July. 

For more information about this role, please call Karen Baines on 0191 478 6472. 

We are an inclusive employer and encourage applications from all community groups.  We are committed to making our workplace more diverse and would also especially welcome applications from people from ethnically minoritised communities.   

 We are a Mindful Employer, Disability Confident Employer and proud to provide reasonable adjustments and support with Access to Work.