YOUTH AND PLAY WORKER

Welcome to High Trees!

High Trees was born of the local community 23 years ago, through collective community action to save the old library based in Tulse Hill, turning it into a Community Development Trust. Today, High Trees has grown significantly and is a well-regarded and trusted community anchor in Lambeth, delivering and leading on a range of integrated services to connect people and communities to strengthen skills and build stronger voices.

Our 4 cornerstone support areas provide integrated services in:

• Children, Young People & Families: Working on the basis of early intervention, we deliver a range of services focused on play, study and social action aimed at improving the aspirations and well-being of children and young people, and strengthen families

• Community Education & Training: We specialise in delivering basic skills training to provide individuals with the skills they need for work and life, including ESOL, functional skills, ICT and vocational courses

• Employment & Career Support: We provide person-centred employment support for long-term unemployed individuals and those stuck in low-paid work, to improve their economic position through sustainable employment opportunities and career progression

• Community Action: We embed Community Organising within the locality to nurture and capacity build individuals and community groups to develop advocacy skills and empower them to take collective community action on issues that affect them, whilst also improving representation in decision making

High Trees strives to ensure our services remain firmly rooted in the local community, responsive to and driven by local need and always delivered in the spirit of partnership and collaboration.

Visit our website for more information about High Trees and the work we do.

The Children, Young People and Families services are run by a small team based at Tulse Hill Adventure Playground. We provide open access free play and youth activities five days a week at the playground along with in-school coaching to 8-16 year olds two days a week.

Our adventure playground offers a rich, challenging and safe environment for children and young people to play. The services are designed and adapted in collaboration with the young people who attend our services. The focus of all sessions is on free play with additional optional adult lead activities which currently include a bike fixing project, regular cooking activities, team sports activities and a wilding project at the playground.

The team is also part of the exciting Building Young Brixton Partnership which extends the opportunities available to the young people at our service. Over the last year, this has included horse riding sessions, large events at partner organisations and a bake off with another adventure playground.

Our priorities for the future are to increase our outreach activities, develop our offer for families and children under 7 in the local area and continue to improve the quality of our offer to the local community.

Children, Young People and Families Service

YOUTH AND PLAY WORKERJob Description

The work of the Children, Young People and Families team is diverse, and current services include an Adventure Playground, coaching in local schools, homework clubs, youth work provision, out of school and holiday services and a family support programme. You will be part of a small and dynamic team, delivering a range of innovative early intervention and targeted services from our Adventure Playground and in local schools.

You will be confident that your professional approach and your solid grounding in youth/play and community work will allow you to work within High Trees’ collaborative approach to service delivery with other partners, stakeholders and local groups in order to provide the services needed in the local community. You will be skilled at service delivery, whilst also possessing the administrative and organisational skills to ensure all work is clearly tracked, monitored and evaluated as per our standardised online software and individual funders requirements. You will understand the wide-ranging challenges facing young people and will be flexible in adjusting your practice to meet these needs.

Your work within the Children, Young People and Families team will contribute to ensuring High Trees meets its aim of providing the highest quality provision and continually strives to improve and expand its services as needed by the community.

Hours will include evenings and weekends.

Job Title Youth and Play Worker

Salary £19,714-£21,857 (£23,000-£25,500 FTE)

Hours 30-35 hours per weekCore working hours:• Mon-Thurs finishing at 7.30pm • Saturdays 12-4pm

Reporting to Children’s and Young People Manager

Location Tulse Hill Adventure Playground, Greenleaf Close, SW2 2EY

Role over-view

• Conduct outreach, recruitment and engagement of young people to utilise services provided through High Trees

• Deliver a range of innovative inhouse early intervention and targeted services to meet the needs of the participants

• Maintain and develop an engaging and playful environment

• Ensure clear tracking, monitoring and evaluation of the service

• Work reflectively with understanding of the Playwork Principles

• Adopt a collaborative approach to service delivery with other partners, stakeholders and local groups

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Essential

¥ Ability to advocate on behalf of children and young people and involving young people in decision-making processes

¥ Strong communication, negotiation and influencing skills ¥ Knowledge of the Playwork Principles and experience of putting these

into practice ¥ Strong organisational skills, including the ability to plan and prioritise

own work and manage routine administrative tasks ¥ Competency in IT, including using all Microsoft packages ¥ An understanding of and commitment to equal opportunities, and the

ability to work in a non-discriminatory way ¥ Ability to measure the impact of projects delivered ¥ Flexible and adaptable to new situations and able to motivate and

inspire others. ¥ Commitment to supporting the development of children and young

people Able to cope under pressure and accept responsibility to meet goals

¥ Available to work evenings and weekends

Desirable

¥ At least one years’ experience of working with children or young people

¥ A relevant level three qualification or equivalent in youth or play work or willingness to train

The person specification is an idea of skills, knowledge and experience required to carry out the job. The person specification will be used in the short listing and interview process for this post. Applicants who possess the essential requirements but not the desirable requirements should not be discouraged from applying.

WORKING AT HIGH TREES

We know our staff are our biggest asset and our biggest investment. Our small yet dynamic staff team of 28 have come to High Trees through a variety of paths; some have a long track record of work in the sector, others have brought in skills learned elsewhere and some have joined our staff through using our services. All share a passion for the work we do and a commitment to ensure our impact is meaningful for those we work with.

All our staff are supported to grow and develop through regular one-to-ones with their manager, a programme of organisation wide and individual CPD and are given the opportunity to contribute to the work of the organisation as a whole rather than focused solely on the work of their team. We’re proud of the fact that over 50% of our Service Managers have been promoted from within our organisation.

Benefits of working at High Trees include 24 days holiday rising by 1 day each year after 2 years’ service (capped at an additional 8 days) with at least an additional 3 days off each Christmas, enhanced maternity/paternity/adoption leave after 2 years’ service, up to 5% contribution to the staff pension scheme, a 24 hours employee support line and a clear pay structure with yearly increments (based on performance).

We know that if you’re considering a role at High Trees, you are primarily driven by a desire to make impactful change and we hope you will consider joining our team.

HOW TO APPLYWe will be reviewing applications as they are received, so please send in your application as soon as you are able. The vacancy may be withdrawn if a suitable applicant is found before the closing date.

Please send a completed application form and applicant monitoring form to elen.evans@high-trees.org with Youth and Play Worker in the subject line

QUERIESIf you have any questions about the role or High Trees, please contact Elen Evans on elen.evans@high-trees.org

High Trees Community Development Trust220 Upper Tulse Hill, London, SW2 2NS

020 8671 3132

Meeting everyone as a person of great potential