RESPONSIBILITIES

Participation, Engagement & Support:

• Build relationships with young people in prison and engage them in our coaching programmes.

• Maintain these relationships before, during and after our programmes to support retention and ongoing impact.

• Build relationships with professionals in prison and in the community (e.g. prison officers, YOS caseworkers, charity partners) to increase meaningful referrals to our programmes.

• Respond to referrals from our community partners and engage young people in one-to-one coaching or community coaching programmes and match them with coaches.

• Identify eligible participants to engage in our in-prison advisory boards and Champions projects and liaise with our Participation and Engagement Manager to facilitate initial engagement.

Managing Coaches:

• Manage and maintain regular contact with Spark Inside team of Life Coaches.

• Act as the first point of contact for delivery enquires from the coaching team.

• Oversee the calendar of coaches’ availability to deliver coaching programmes; and oversee the central record of scheduled workshops and one-to-one coaching sessions.

• Ensure coaches complete regular and timely progress reports on Spark Inside IT systems.

• Coordinate and manage prison vetting and Key/safety training for all coaches working in prisons.

Programme Logistics:

• Ensure all referral forms are accurately completed for all potential participants prior to engagement in the programmes.

• Maintain records of all participants referred to and engaged in our programmes.

• Have regular meetings with the main contact person within each prison to identify and action any concerns impacting on the delivery of Spark Inside’s services.

Reporting & Monitoring:

• With the Head of Service Delivery, participate in performance review meetings with prisons, commisioners or funders as needed.

• Enter participant data into our recording systems and ensure programme activity is up to date in order to generate monthly and quarterly reports.

• Ensure all records of coaching activities and client data is up to date.

SKILLS AND QUALITIES

The right person will share a passion for our cause, and a commitment to high standards of delivery. You will be determined, resilient and persistent with a strong track record in engaging people. You will have a can-do attitude, great persuasion skills, tenacity and optimism with the ability to think on your feet to solve problems. You will enjoy working in a chaotic and changing environment, keep calm under pressure and will make things happen.

 

Skills and Knowledge:

• Outstanding people skills and the ability to engage with people from a variety of backgrounds and perspectives.

• Detail orientated, with the ability to manage a range of tasks and ensure all deadlines are met.

• Ability to keep calm under pressure, with tact and patience, when working in difficult environments.

• Understanding of issues facing children and young people in prison and in the community.

• Understanding of challenges facing staff who work in the criminal justice system.

Experience:

• Experience of youth work, youth engagement and/or working with people who face disadvantage or challenges.

• Experience of project delivery and management.

• Experience working within the prison system (Desirable)

• Qualification in Youth Work/Community Work (Desirable)