Dependency and Recovery Peer Co-ordinator (South) - London

Dependency and Recovery Peer Co-ordinator (South) - LondonPermanent£25,207 Plus Benefits

We are recruiting for a Dependency and Recovery Peer Co-ordinator

We are Forward, the social enterprise that empowers people to break the cycle of crime and addiction to move forward and live fulfilling lives .

We deliver a range of MOJ Commissioned Rehabilitative services (CRS) directly for Probation in three key areas: Accommodation, Personal Wellbeing and Dependency & Recovery. Accommodation is delivered in Wales, Dependency and Recovery in London and Humberside, Personal Wellbeing in East of England, Sussex, Surrey and as a subcontractor in Kent and Cheshire.

These services work with Men 18+ who are under probation supervision, supporting them to navigate through their desired outcomes in order to achieve transformational change, break the cycle of offending and achieve long-term integration into society.

Our services have supported thousands of people to make positive changes and build productive lives with a job, family, friends, and a sense of community. No matter what your past, we believe anyone is capable of lasting change.

Role Responsibilities

You will be working remotely as part of a flexible, multi-disciplinary team, covering boroughs across London as a Lived Experience Co-Ordinator in the Dependency and Recovery Services as part of the CRS probation system.

You will contact new POP, providing an information pack, promote the benefits of working with us and introduce them to our Lived Experience Peers (LEPs). You will establish a referral pathway and continually promote our service in London via locally tailored marketing/publicity, e.g., roadshows/events, workshops, surgeries, local media, leveraging material from our ongoing “More Than My Past” campaign, giving voice to people with lived experience, and reinforcing the message that recovery is possible

Our aim is to reduce re-offending through a comprehensive, holistic and person centred package of support. Our service is tailored to meet individual needs by delivering a range of programmes within the Dependency and Recovery framework.

This role is primarily responsible for the development and management of the LEP’s Mentor service You will be required to recruit, train and supervise day to day management of volunteers and LEP’s

You will also co-ordinate team meetings, update training and provide supervision for LEP’s and Volunteers and where applicable support with Level 2 peer mentoring qualification

You will be required to manage a diverse case load with a range of complexities and risk levels . You will be responsible for completing comprehensive assessments, creating a collaborative action plan, maintaining accurate record keeping throughout.

You will be responsible for adhering to the targets set by Forward and the local commissioners. Co-operative working relationships with other partner agencies and probation staff are vital to this role.

In addition to Monday-Friday we will provide out of hours support, so some degree of flexibility will be required (eg. evenings 5– 9pm/weekends 9am–5pm) provided virtually 1:1 and through an online and telephone helpline.

You may at times be required to attend our head office for training.

Checks will require you to provide information on the below:

• Yourself (personal information, financial information, police information, criminal history)
• Your family (parents, parents’ partners, siblings, partner(s), children)
• Co-residents
• Associations that may cause a conflict of interest with your role or the prison service.
• Background checks across police information systems on you, your family and other associates
• Credit reference checks
• Social media and Open-Source checks (these are checks on content about you that's publicly available on the internet to ensure there's nothing linked to you that could undermine public trust and confidence in the prison service)
• Other government and overseas agency or police checks.

The Ideal Candidate

• Please see the skills and experience needed below for this role.
• Knowledge of the issues facing service users in the criminal justice sector.
• Previous experience of providing a peer support service to this or a similar client group or working closely with volunteers
• Demonstrable experience of managing high caseloads, carrying out risk/ comprehensive assessments, SMART action plans and effective case records
• Experience of delivering both 1:1 and group-work interventions using motivational techniques
• Experience of providing training and support for peer support services to prisoners, or those with drug or alcohol problems
• The ability to set and stick to professional boundaries
• Ability to work effectively with key partners in order to successfully deliver projects
• Demonstrate the ability to organise workload , ensuring effective time management and prioritisation to meet targets
• Understanding of, and commitment to, the principles of equal opportunity and GDPR requirements including client confidentiality
• Experience of strong communication skills with people from a range of backgrounds in a sensitive, supportive and professional manner

All probation-based roles are subject to enhanced DBS checks and HMPPS security vetting. These checks can take up to 6-12 weeks to complete. Any offer of employment will be conditional upon the successful completion of both checks.

Please note if you have lived overseas within the last 5 years then checks may take longer.

About Us

We are The Forward Trust, the social enterprise with charitable status that empowers people to break the often interlinked cycles of crime and addiction to move forward with their lives. For more than 25 years we have been working with people to build positive and productive lives, whatever their past. We believe that anyone is capable of lasting change. Our services have supported thousands of people to make positive changes and build productive lives with a job, family, friends and a sense of community.

We are committed to our cause and the work we carry out as a charity. Equally the wellbeing and the employees who work for us are also important. Joining us an employee, we will offer you the following benefits -

• Flexible working
• Training and development opportunities
• Simply Health Cashback Scheme (optional)
  
  
• Season Ticket Loan Scheme
• Cycle to work scheme
• Crisis Loan Scheme
• Electric Car Scheme
• 3 x Wellbeing Days (pro rata'd for part time employees)
• Access to Blue Light Card
• 25 days (rising to 30 with length of service) Annual Leave plus Bank Holidays
• Contributory Pension Scheme – Employer matched contributions of up to 6% in the first two years’ service and up to 9% thereafter
• Death in Service Payment (2x annual salary)
• Critical Illness Insurance (subject to qualifying criteria)

Diversity at Forward Trust

The Forward Trust commits to providing opportunities to everyone. We want to ensure we have a diverse team with a range of lived and professional experiences. This includes those with ‘Lived Experience’ of addiction, offending, or homelessness.


When we recruit, we welcome applications from everyone. This is inclusive of age, gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion and/or belief, marriage and civil partnerships, pregnancy and maternity and socio-economic background. Where operationally possible, we will consider flexible working requests and make reasonable adjustments for all roles.

To find out more about Forward’s commitment to being an inclusive employer and our current EDI strategy click here .

Employee Screening and Eligibility to Work

We recognise the importance of safeguarding, dependent on role you may be required to undertake a Disclosure and Barring Service Check, details of which will be shared with you at interview.


If successful in your application, you will be required to provide eligibility to work evidence in line with the ‘Eligibility to Work in the UK’ requirements.