Service User Involvement Co-ordinator – Full Time, 12 Month Fixed Term Contract – Remote with travel throughout England/Wales - £29,870.00 per annum.

Benefits:

• Flexible working.
• Training opportunities and career development.
• Season Ticket Loan Scheme.
• Crisis Loan Scheme.
• Electric Car Scheme.
• 3 x Wellbeing Days (Pro rata'd for Part Time Employees)
• Access to Blue Light Card.
• Simply Health Cashback Scheme.
• Cycle to work scheme.
• 25 days (rising to 30 with length of service) Annual Leave plus Bank Holidays.
• Contributory Pension Scheme – Employer matched contributions of up to 6% in the first two years’ service and up to 9% thereafter.
• Death in Service Payment (2x annual salary)
• Critical Illness Insurance (subject to qualifying criteria)

The Forward Trust is a leading provider of drug and alcohol treatment services to offenders in the UK.

Our mission is to help individuals break free from addiction and crime by offering effective treatment and recovery support in prisons and the community.

We are dedicated to providing access to support that protects health and motivates individuals toward their own recovery journey.

Role Overview - Service User Involvement Co-ordinator:

In this engaging role, the Service User Involvement Co-ordinator will be tasked with establishing and executing a framework of best practices.

Over an initial 12-month period, you will be involved in activities such as assessing the current state of Service User Involvement (SUI), defining and monitoring excellence criteria, advocating the value of SUI, and fostering local ownership.

Collaborating with service users, you will identify new SUI prospects and provide recommendations.

Upon successful establishment and integration of the framework, this role has potential to evolve into a permanent source of support and continuous enhancement.

Responsibilities – Service User Involvement Co-ordinator:

• Conduct visits to services and engage with central teams to understand and record the current state of Service User Involvement (SUI).
• Develop easily understandable documentation that sets out the various levels of SUI with descriptions of activities and examples of practices.
• Collaborate with the Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion to ensure that underrepresented groups are reached out to and included in SUI activities.
• Develop a bank of resources on SharePoint to aid services in activity implementation, including materials like instructional guides and videos.
• Support local service-level SUI champions by being a central point of contact for inquiries and guidance.
• Host webinars to share good practice and insights.
• Collaborate with the Data and Performance Team to establish systems to record SUI data.
• Report on progress to the Service Improvement Director on a monthly basis.
• Work creatively with staff and service users to expand the scope of local, regional, and national SUI opportunities.
• Proficiently manage information, particularly confidential information and personal data, within statutory duties and in accordance with the best industry practices.

Requirements:

• Direct experience using services like Substance Misuse, Mental Health, Employment, Housing, Probation, and utilizing this experience positively in the role.
• A solid understanding of the diverse and intricate challenges facing people accessing Forward’s services, regardless of the complexity level.
• Excellent analytical skills and proficient in drafting user-friendly documents.
• Familiarity of working or collaborating with service users.
• Experience of developing good working relationships with both staff and service users.
• Previous involvement with gathering feedback.
• Solid comprehension of equality, diversity, and inclusion principles and their practical application.
• Capable of developing a good understanding of the range of services offered by Forward.
• Ability to travel extensively and stay overnight on occasions if required.

The Forward Trust is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes applications from candidates of diverse backgrounds.

We actively encourage applications from individuals with lived experience of addiction and the criminal justice system.