Peer support worker

Job overview

This role is not eligible for visa sponsorship. If it is identified that you require sponsorship to undertake this role your application may be withdrawn

Enhanced Reconnect is an innovative service supporting people in contact with the criminal justice system, recognising that offending is often linked to unmet health and social needs. The service empowers individuals to successfully reconnect with their communities after release, ensuring they can access the right support at the right time.

This is an exciting opportunity for a motivated individual with lived experience of the Criminal Justice System or prison custody to make a real and lasting difference. In this role, you will use your personal journey to inspire and support others who are facing similar challenges, helping them build confidence, develop a positive identity beyond the justice system, and take meaningful steps toward recovery.

Based at Carlisle Police Station (Durranhill) and working across Cumbria, you will deliver impactful peer support and practical assistance as part of a welcoming and dedicated NHS team. You will build trusting relationships, encourage individuals to engage with services, and walk alongside them as they begin to reclaim control over their lives.

No formal support experience is required as full training will be provided. Your passion, empathy and commitment to using your lived experience to help others are what matter most. Ability to travel independently across Cumbria is essential.

Main duties of the job

As a Peer Support Worker, you will play an active and rewarding role supporting individuals as they leave prison and begin rebuilding their lives in the community. Working across the Cumbria area, you will support people engaged with the Enhanced Reconnect service, building strong, trusting relationships and helping them identify their needs alongside a senior team member. You will manage a caseload of individuals, providing practical and emotional support to help them access health, social care, and community services. Your role will be key in encouraging engagement, promoting independence, and supporting people to take positive steps forward. Working as part of a dynamic multidisciplinary team, you will collaborate closely with Team Leads, Release Engagement Practitioners, and clinicians. You will be involved throughout the individual’s journey, from referral through to discharge, ensuring a consistent, person-centred approach and making a meaningful difference at a critical point in their lives.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• Working in the Enhanced Reconnect service in Cumbria and surrounding areas. •    To establish a supportive and respectful relationship with service users, sharing own narratives to raise aspirations of life. •    To work primarily in direct work with service users on a 1:1 and in group settings as agreed with team supervisor and team manager. •    To help individuals identify strengths, interests and their own achievable and meaningful recovery goals. •    To support the implementation of groups •    To support service users in developing other areas of interest. •    Draw upon own lived experience to inspire hope, model self-awareness and facilitate service users in developing their own resourcefulness for managing their health and wellbeing. •    Facilitate access to community groups and networks that enable participation in activities, to maximise service user's opportunities for socially valued roles and positive identity. •    Ensure that service user’s peer recovery goals are integrated into a Resettlement plan •    To actively engage with colleagues and other professionals to ensure the needs of the client group are met through promoting recovery orientated, strengths based practice. •    To attend and participate in multi-disciplinary team meetings. •    To work under the regular supervision of the team supervisor and guidance of other professional colleagues within the team. •    To participate within Trust peer training and peer working networks