Salary £23,795 raising to £24,550 after completion of probationary period and mandatory training

40 hours per week, with some occasional evening and weekend work

West Bromwich

About Us

Our vision is for every child and young person to be safe, loved and happy, to achieve their potential and have a bright future.

St Christopher's is a leading charity for children and young people. We are proud of our history of providing fostering, children's homes and innovative leaving care services across the UK & Isle of Man.  We have a passionate commitment to our young people, placing them at the centre of everything we do.  We provide positive life experiences for young people who are unable to sustain a placement in their parental or foster home.

We are an equal-opportunity employer keen to develop an inclusive workforce where people feel they belong.  We hope to attract applications from under- represented groups, including people from different cultures, nationalities, socioeconomic backgrounds, ages, disabilities, religions, faith, sex, orientation, childcare responsibilities, and gender-diverse identities.

St Christopher’s Academy

At St Christopher`s we can provide more than just a care job. We can offer you a career where you can develop your skills and knowledge while making a difference to young people’s lives.

When you join St Christopher’s, we will set you up in your career with a tailored development plan. Whether you want to move across to a different service, become a Manager or just explore further your current role, we will support you to map out your career trajectory and help you achieve your professional ambitions. If you want to learn more about St Christopher’s Academy, please click here

We are proud that 84% of all our Team Leaders, Deputies and Managers are internal promotions.

About the Role

We are looking to recruit a Fostering Support Worker working closely with the supervising social workers, local authorities and other professionals to support foster placements.  

The role will involve:

• Planning and implementing appropriate activities to meet the individual needs of looked after children
• Running support groups, both for looked after children and birth children
• Providing support sessions during the day, evenings or weekends
• Transporting young people to activities and appointments and supervising family contact sessions

Applicants should have

• Experience of working with children and young people in a paid or voluntary capacity
• Experience of administrative work including data entry and report writing
• Ability to work with challenging behaviour and resolve conflict
• Ability to maintain personal and professional boundaries
• Good communication and administrative skills and the ability to build and sustain sound professional relationships

 What you should expect from us

• Salary £23,795 per year, raising to £24,550 upon completion of probationary period and mandatory training.
• Competitive pay and reward structure offering salary progression based on performance.
• Tailored career development plan through our “St Christopher’s Academy”.
• A friendly working environment, a fun, open and honest culture.
• 25 days holiday rising to 27 days after 3 years’ service, plus Bank Holidays, pro-rata.
• Industry Leading training programme including access to level 3 qualifications, children’s right and participation, CSE, empowerment, mental health and Social Pedagogy,
• Contributory pension scheme, Enhanced Maternity and Company Sick Scheme.
• UK Life Assurance (Death in service) to the value of 3 times your annual salary.
• BUPA employee assistance programme, offering counselling, financial advice and legal support.
• Cycle to work scheme.
• Bluelight card; discount shopping scheme at hundreds of retailers across the UK.
• Discretionary funded training programs.
• Employee awards based on performance and length of service.
• Fantastic opportunities to develop your career within our range of services. 

Recruitment Process

At St Christopher’s we are committed to the safeguarding of all children and young people in our care. During the recruitment process you will be expected to complete an online application form to ensure we capture essential information to meet legislation, best practice and vetting requirements.

Applicants will ideally already be on the DBS Update Service; if this is not the case St Christopher's will carry out a DBS (police) check prior to starting.

Your online application must include a supporting statement addressing the criteria stated in the Person Specification.

For the full Job Description for this role and more detail about what will be required, please click here. CV’s will not be accepted.

For more information or assistance during the application process, please contact recruitment@stchris.org.uk

Closing date: 30/11/2024

Interview date: 16/12/2024

We advise to apply as soon as possible as applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

Please note this post has a minimum age restriction of 21 for roles working directly with children and young people in our residential and semi-independent Homes in line with the Equality Act ‘occupational requirement’.