Perinatal Support Volunteer
Our Vision is to provide the best mental health, learning disability, autism and community based services for the populations we serve.
As an integrated mental health, learning disability and community Trust, Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust provides a range of services including:
- Primary and secondary mental health care for children and adults including specialist inpatient child and adolescent mental health provision, perinatal mental health, forensic services including low and medium secure care.
- Specialist community support for children and adults with learning disabilities and autism, including intensive support.
- Community physical health and well-being services for children and adults.
The Trust was first established in 2002 and employs approximately 7,000 staff who provide care from more than 400 sites. The organisation offers opportunities for medics, mental health and general nurses, allied health professionals, psychology, administration and clerical staff, apprentices and volunteers.
Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust supports flexible working, we believe that a positive work/life balance benefits NHS employees through improved health and wellbeing. We would consider working patterns such as; term time, part time, compressed hours, home/remote working, and flexi-time.
For more information visit our website via Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS FT.
Job overview
Lancashire & South Cumbria Foundation Trust recognise and value the importance volunteer support is to us and our patients. We currently have a volunteer role available supporting us at Daisyfield Mill in Blackburn.
To apply for this role, you should live within the Blackburn area and have full UK right to work. We cannot accept applications from people living abroad.
Main duties of the job
Volunteering on award involves a long term commitment (for example 9 – 12 months), and to bring continuity and stability for patients and staff, we ask volunteer to support by doing the same periods each week, which are discussed and agreed by the volunteer and volunteer supervisor.
An Enhanced DBS with Adult & Child Barring will be required for this role. This role will be supporting the Perinatal Community Mental Health team. Women and their families affected by Mental health during the perinatal period often express that it helps to talk to someone who has been through a similar experience.
Working for our organisation
The role of the specially trained Perinatal Support Volunteer offers one to one contact with a woman providing the opportunity to speak to someone who has also been through their own journey, offering support in attending appointments and providing a listening and empathetic ear.They will offer safe, effective and appropriate peer support to the woman that they’re supporting using their experiential skills and knowledge.
In addition, the volunteer will liaise with Peer Support Coordinators to ‘debrief’ after each encounter with any of our women in service.You will be required to report to a Peer Support Coordinator after each contact with the woman that you are supporting for a debrief. The Peer Support Coordinator will also provide your training and be available for any general support that you require.
Perinatal Support Volunteers may be required:- To talk to women and their families over the telephone or online.
- To meet women in their own homes or appropriate settings and support them to access relevant and appropriate activities either in a home setting or the community.
- To give one to one support to engage with Peer Support groups.
- Support groups run by other professionals on the perinatal team.
For this role Personal lived experience of perinatal mental health (1 year post experience) is required and applicants must be over the age of 18
An Enhanced DBS with Adult Barring is also required for this role
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Please read the attached Role Description, or email main contact, for further information on this role. To apply for this role, please click the link below or contact us for a paper application form.
LSCFT – My Impact
Person specification
Requirements
Essential criteria- See Role Description
Please note that further communication from Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust (LSCft) will normally be to the email address given on the application form. You should also ensure that email addresses and telephone numbers are provided for your referees, to enable LSCft to contact them.
Please be aware the use of artificial intelligence (AI) when submitting an application is monitored and if you have used AI to generate an application, you are required to declare this on your application form. AI-generated content may lack specificity and fail to address key criteria outlined in the job description.Personalisation is essential when submitting an application form to convey your skills, knowledge, and experiences effectively.
Please ensure that you read the person specification attached below as your application will be measured against this document. Applications from job share partners are welcome and other forms of flexible working will be considered for all posts.
For all posts which require a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check please be aware of the Disclosure and Barring Service Code of Practice, a copy of which is available by logging on to the DBS website. If the post is subject to DBS disclosure, a charge will be made to the successful candidate(s).
You are advised to consider applying for LSCft vacancies as soon as possible as in some instances vacancies are closed as soon as a sufficient number of applications have been received. If you are not invited to interview within three weeks of the closing date then please assume that on this occasion you have been unsuccessful, as it is not possible to contact all unsuccessful candidates.
LSCft is committed to celebrating difference as an asset and we know that recruiting talent from diverse backgrounds helps to create a more flexible, creative and effective workforce. We actively challenge discrimination and welcome applications from people regardless of age, disability (particularly those with experience of accessing or caring for someone who has accessed mental health or learning disability services), ethnicity, gender, religion or belief or sexual orientation.
Our goal is for the Trust to be truly representative of the communities we serve so we are particularly keen to receive applications from people in under-represented groups. If there is anything you’d like to discuss in relation to your application then please ask.