We’re Hiring! Exciting opportunities for an Apprenticeship in health & social care.

Job description and person specification

Job title: Apprentice Personal Assistant (PA)

Reporting to: Andrew Denny Managing Director. Tracy Frost Team Lead. Olivia Moss Team Lead.

Location: Various Essex area. Including home and main office.

Nature of the job role: To undertake an apprenticeship whilst assisting with a variety of tasks, which will support Independence Project Ltd and any associated companies to deliver services to its day opportunity members. To have a focus on developing and building community and organisational relationships whilst developing and implementing specific projects.  

About Independence Project:

Independence Project was born because of a realisation that there is a serious lack of provision for young people in Essex. We want to make a difference whilst raising awareness and filling this gap enabling people to achieve INDEPENDENCE. Parents are often left not knowing where to go or who to approach. We want to change this and become the driving force within Essex that does. We have big ambitions and also feel the special needs young people of Essex should as well!

We offer a full personalised programme of activities to engage young people within a fun safe and nurturing environment whilst achieving goals. Our training programs are carried out with a person centred fully holistic approach to meet the needs of each individual. Many young people who have additional needs require training programs that are specifically targeted and tailored to the way that they learn and retain information to help them achieve the best outcomes.

We provide a consistent approach which in turn provides for optimum development and offers huge amounts of confidence buliding. We take time to get to know the person and build relationships with the individual and their family/carers. Our staff have worked with many young people across Essex who have a wide variety of needs and have built up extensive experience within this field and know how to get the best results from the individual. Our training programs can become integrated alongside more traditional methods to provide the individual with a balanced learning experience, or work equally as effective on their own. Independence always runs through the core of our programs and we always aim to get the individual to a place where they can live as a fullfilled, independent and happy adult.

Independence Project is based in the city centre of Chelmsford, Essex and where we can access many activities such as;

employability skills / enterprise skills / woodwork skills / animal care / arts & crafts / filming and editing / food preparation & cooking skills / basic household tasks / gardening / computer skills / drama workshops / sporting activities.

We are not just another day centre for adults! We place strong emphasis on learning and socialising outside of our base, in fact that is where you will often find us. We feel that it is important to get out in the community and access many services that are open to us. By being so active in the community we are raising awareness and promoting inclusion. Group activities on offer will be as follows;

museum trips / dog walking / gym classes / trips to the beach / bowling / trampolining / horse riding / farm trips / outdoor activity centres / shopping / travel training / boat trips / trips to the zoo / woodland walks / swimming / cycling / fishing / karaoke / meals out.

Independence Project is on a mission to highlight the difficulties that young adults face and strives to make a difference to the lives of people and their families across Essex. We are passionate about helping young people transitioning into adulthood life and further beyond. We feel that there is currently a huge crisis in this area and many young people are being overlooked or left behind needlessly. We try to take a modern approach by reaching out to communities and offering support and advice at many different levels. We are very active on social media as this helps us bring awareness of our services and the difference that we make. We also believe that the only way we can tackle this crisis is by working and partnering with other organisations and sharing information. We do this in many ways by attending local events and through our online community.

INDEPENDENCE PROJECT – Enabling people to achieve Independence

About Independence Clubs CIC:

Independence Clubs CIC was set up in June 2020 to provide care, support and relief for people with special needs, and to assist in the provision of facilities and training programmes with a view to improve the personal, physical and social development of people with special needs. We want to enable people to grow as individuals whilst offering support to their family members.

Independence Clubs provides social activities to increase life skills and reduce social isolation within the special needs community. Online support has played a huge part in the work that we do and we have found this to be very positive and welcomed by our members.

Independence Project Ltd is our sister company which also financially supports many of the projects that we run, sharing many back-office costs and overheads whilst sharing the same passion and ethos of strong community work. There is a real synergy between the two companies and although staff are employed directly by Independence Projects Ltd there will be occasions where they will find themselves working in support for projects with Independence Clubs CIC.

Independence Clubs CIC is a not for profit with big ambitions to support the wider community within Essex enabling the most vulnerable members to achieve Independence. We achieve this through a number of charitable grants, funding streams, donations and business activities.

Independence Project Safeguarding Statement: Independence Project is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of Children, Young People and Vulnerable Adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. All post holders are subject to a satisfactory enhanced check with the Disclosure and Barring Service.

The Wash Club: Independence Clubs is starting a new and exciting enterprise for its members, which will offer them the opportunity to learn key employability skills whilst feeling like they are part of something. We will be looking manufacture and retail soap.

We are very active on social media and urge you to check us out to see what we get up to. 

Instagram

Facebook

TikTok

Main Duties: Apprentice Personal Assistant

Key responsibilities:

• Assisting members to maintain an independent and active life away from their home.
• Personal hygiene prompts and assistance.
• To complete mandatory training and keep it up to date.
• Observe, monitor and record members physical and emotional well-being, and promptly report any changes to Team Leads and Managing Director.
• Maintain and promote a healthy lifestyle.
• Ensuring all medical, health and wellbeing needs are monitored and met.
• Epilepsy plans are followed and adhered to.
• Maintain levels of safeguarding duties.
• Transporting members to various places of social activities to enable them to achieve independence and enhance life skills, social skills, and practical skills.
• To help members reach their full potential and enable participation of inclusive social activities.

Organisational duties:

• To build a good rapport in order to communicate with parents/carers/members.  
• Assist whilst in group activities.
• Deliver a range of positive activities to engage members and achieve the outputs and outcomes as required by the funders and the members.
• Work with members to offer stimulating activities to ensure their engagement and personal growth, and evaluating impact.
• Work with staff/volunteers to deliver a range of activities including community based, online activities and sports, etc.
• To create a safe (Risk assessed) enjoyable and friendly environment for members to attend while assessing their needs and developing their abilities.
• Provide accurate and appropriate information, advice and guidance to members including signposting to other relevant organisations.
• Increasing awareness of Independence Project and associated companies’ services and service uptake. Identifying opportunities for growth and development.
• To support and increase the employability skills of the members we support with practical hands-on approaches.
• Office Administration support.

These duties may vary from day to day and is not exhaustive. Any other reasonable duties that may be necessary.

Hours of work:

40 hours per week (20% of which will be study time). Usual pattern of work will be Mon – Fri, 9am – 5pm however evenings and weekends will be required. Overtime may also be offered in addition to normal working hours.

Rate of Pay:

£12,000 pa

Reasonable expenses will be paid in addition relating to costs incurred whilst working. Mileage will be paid at 45p per mile and you will be expected to submit monthly expenses claim form to be submitted by the 1^st of the month.

Qualifications and Experience:

• A passion for working alongside people.
• 3 GCSE’S including Maths and English (both English and Maths can be achieved alongside the apprenticeship if necessary).
• To be able to demonstrate your interest in the area covered by the apprenticeship, as well as the ability to complete it.
• Full UK driving licence.
• Able to provide members with enjoyable, stimulating and challenging experiences.
• Able to provide members with appropriate information, advice, support and challenge, and refer them to specialist help when required.
• Able to establish and maintain positive relationships with members, including agreeing limits for acceptable behaviour.
• Able to use a variety of approaches creatively – matched to members different needs, abilities and interests.
• Good written and verbal communication and listening skills.
• Experience of using a variety of information technology and the ability to maintain records on a database.
• Experience of liaising with other agencies.
• Knowledge in risk assessments.
• Commitment to equalities and anti-discriminatory working practice.
• Commitment to on-going professional development.
• Commitment to developing knowledge of the area in which you will be working and an understanding of the issues/barriers of the community.
• Ability to identify vulnerable children and people and target services accordingly.
• Able to engage and encourage colleagues across services and sectors to work together effectively.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality as appropriate.
• Prepared to work in a number of locations.
• Team player: Friendly, enthusiastic, positive attitude, happy to muck in, responsive.
• Flexibility: Able to adapt quickly and work to a number of levels, with team members, volunteers, partners and participants. Able to deal with change, adaptable, resilient and open-minded.

Other tasks and requirements

• A commitment to Equal Opportunities and Diversity in all work practices.
• Willingness to work flexible hours, including weekends/evenings and home working.
• Must be willing to travel.
• Full Driving Licence and use of a personal car.
• The responsibilities of this role will normally include all duties described in this Job Description and any additional or different duties, which the Employer may require from time to time.
• Enhanced check with Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) and reference check.