The role of a Practitioner is vital to help us achieve our aim of ensuring everyone has a home, a place in their community and a network of positive relationships that support them in building the life they want.

Practitioners recognise peoples' strengths and work alongside them to build their confidence, self-efficacy, resilience and motivation. They help people develop practical skills, maximise income, develop healthier coping skills, problem-solving skills, social skills and employability skills.

Practitioners use a flexible approach to work with people using services, ensuring they receive the support they want and need to have the best chance of getting and keeping a home and living their best life in a community.

To be a Practitioner within Four Square, you will need the following:

• To be proactive, highly organised, a problem solver, have a positive outlook, be approachable, friendly, patient, and confident;
• Experience in working within a safeguarding framework working with vulnerable people who may have complex support needs;
• Proficiency in using a range of IT tools to carry out your work, including using case management systems and Microsoft Office applications;
• Strong personal and professional values that align with our organisational values of integrity, excellence, dignity and support;
• Excellent interpersonal skills with people who use our services, colleagues and partners;
• Understanding of homelessness, trauma and adversity and how it impacts life outcomes;
• A commitment to learning and developing and putting this into practice;
• A commitment to individual supervision and appraisal processes and motivation to action the personal development plan;
• Membership of regulatory bodies required of the role and application of the codes and standards to their practice;
• Experience as a keyworker and commitment to undertaking all necessary duties of this role;
• Experience in completing case files to ensure they are up to date with clear and concise information;
• A commitment to learning and developing and putting knowledge and skills into practice;
• Regular attendance at reflective practice group sessions;
• Engagement in regular casework review meetings with the Senior Practitioner or Service Manager;
• Engaged in the wider organisation's activities;
• Commitment to working in partnership with other organisations and professionals to support people;
• Honest, trustworthy and respectful to colleagues, people they support, partners, commissioners and all other stakeholders;
• Committed to excellence and engaging in improvement plans for the services and broader organisation;
• Keep up to date with and follow and apply policies and procedures, standards and codes of practice;
• Be creative in your approach to supporting people;
• Have a good standard of English and maths and able to produce clear written communications in the form of case notes, reports, diary entries, and case studies timeously.

Requirements:

• Have SVQ 3 in health and social care or a related subject at this level to allow registration with SSSC or be willing to work towards it;
• To comply always with Four Square's Code of Conduct, together with its policies and procedures with regard to the maintenance of professional relationships between colleagues, the people we work with and external organisations;
• To adhere to Four Square's Confidentiality and Data Protection Policy;
• To adhere to Four Square's policy on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion when working with colleagues, the people we work with and external organisations;
• To adhere to and maintain all health and safety standards;
• To work in accordance with Four Square's core values and mission statement.
• To undertake any other reasonable duties as directed (including providing cover for colleagues, as directed);
• To comply always with the Safeguarding Policy and Procedure;
• To attend conferences/seminars/training, as required.

The Organisation's Offer to Practitioners:

• Induction and core training programme relevant to the role;
• Regular support and supervision;
• Annual appraisal and CPD action plan;
• Opportunities to engage in Organisational review and development plans.

Experience:

• social care: 2 years (preferred)
• supporting women and young people who have experienced violence and homelessness: 1 year (preferred)

Work Location: Edinburgh

Come and join the team at Cyrenians Communities.

Are you passionate about working with people in a person-centred way? Do you want to work in a small team making a big difference in people’s lives? Do you want to work somewhere which ensures that the voice of those with lived experience and staff working in front line roles is central to decision making?

If so, then our Key Worker role may be the one for you.

About Social Bite Village

Founded by Social Bite who partnered with Cyrenians to provide the support, the village provides temporary, supported accommodation to people who have become homeless. The village provides a home as well as the opportunity to participate in shared activities and opportunities. Our Community model is based on Cyrenians core values, prioritising trusted relationships and putting the person at the heart of the decisions which matter most to them.

About the role

You’ll be:

• Working with residents to develop their own support plan
• Working as part of a team, and the wider social bite partnership, to ensure the village is a homely, welcoming and safe space.
• Supporting residents to be active in the day to day activity of the village, including decision making
• A valued part of hardworking and committed team

It may be a small team, but it has a big impact!

About You

As a committed, compassionate and reliable member of the team, you’ll be able to develop trusted relationships with those we support and with your colleagues, and be an encouraging presence but able to work at the pace of the individual.

You will be joining a small team of staff committed to the highest quality of care and support, and always striving to do develop further. This means there will be great opportunities for you to both learn and develop, while sharing your skills and experiences.,

This role offers an excellent opportunity to be part of an innovative solution to homelessness.

How we’ll support you

You’ll be joining an experienced and knowledgeable team who will give you full training on all aspects of your role. You’ll also have access to wider Cyrenians support, including our learning and development programme, and staff wellbeing services.

About us

At Cyrenians we tackle the causes and consequences of homelessness. We understand that there are many routes into homelessness, and that there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach to supporting people towards more positive and stable futures. That’s why all our work is values-led and relationships-based.

Our values

• Compassion: We believe that everyone should have the chance to change, no matter how long that might take.
• Respect: We believe in tolerance, acceptance, valuing diversity and treating each other as equals.
• Integrity: We are committed to the highest quality of work, grounded in honesty, generosity, sincerity and professionalism.
• Innovation: We are willing to take risks, challenge convention and be creative in our search for new ways of working, in particular by taking account of the environmental impact of our decisions.

Fresh Start provides support to people moving on from or those at risk of homelessness. Fresh Start has been active in Edinburgh for over 20 years with a mission to help people make a home for themselves. Volunteering is at the centre of Fresh Start’s ethos, and we are looking to diversify our team of volunteers to ensure all ages, backgrounds and demographics are represented and given opportunities at Fresh Start.

The Hit Squad painting and decorating team coordinate the service and ensure that it is delivered to a high standard, working with service users in their homes, with the support of volunteers and corporate supporters.

The successful candidate is expected to undertake the decorating of the service users’ homes alongside volunteers, although specific painting and decorating experience is not required.

The Supported Housing Worker role requires assisting in the management of the development thus ensuring the tenants are able to enjoy an acceptable standard of living in an environment which is clean, safe and friendly. You will be responsible for overseeing the wellbeing of the tenants and for assisting them in maintaining their independence.

As Housing Care Worker your role will involve working with our tenants to ensure they receive the support and personal care identified in their care plans. You will directly support tenants in their homes by providing individual advice, practical housing support assistance and personal care.

Both roles are to ensure that we are able to offer the best service to our tenants and make it possible for our tenants to continue enjoying as much independent living as they’re able.

As well as a competitive annual salary, our valued team also benefits from:

• competitive hourly rates of £10.50 - £10.88 per hour
• guaranteed rota hours working between 7.30am & 10pm
• generous annual leave entitlement
• a choice of pension scheme with employer contributions
• flexible working policies
• access to extensive paid training and development opportunities
• a supportive and inclusive culture.

We also have opportunities with our Trust Staff Agency - for employees who want to work across different locations, in various roles, with highly flexible hours to suit family commitments - it's a great opportunity with the same training and development that our other roles benefit from.

Previous experience working in social care or the housing sector would be an advantage but this is not always necessary. Our ideal candidate is someone with enthusiasm, a caring nature and willingness to learn as full training, support and ongoing development will be provided.