Job Introduction

BBV Peer Support Worker (2-days)

Wiltshire Substance Use Service 

£22,284 pro rata (fixed term 6 months)

At Turning Point, we support people across the UK with substance use issues. Our Wiltshire Substance Use Service (known as Connect) responds to the needs of people across the county, working in locations throughout Wiltshire to maximise the opportunities for service users.

We are currently recruiting for an exciting new role. We’re seeking a Peer Support Worker to work 2 days per week primarily based in Trowbridge but with some scope for travel to other locations to support with the completion and co-ordination of Blood Borne Virus (BBV) screening activities and events. As a Peer Support Worker within Connect, you’ll make a real difference as you empower and enable people to change. Passionate about people, you’ll enjoy support to enhance your own life too, as you make the role your own in a friendly, supportive multidisciplinary team.

Role Responsibility

As a BBV Peer Support Worker, we are looking for a new colleague with a passion to support individuals with substance use issues to access and complete screening for Blood Borne Virus Screening for Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and HIV to support the service to work towards micro-elimination against Hepatitis C. 

Your role will be to work as part of a large multi-disciplinary team, building relationships with staff and external colleagues to organise and deliver harm reduction advice, BBV testing clinics, promote testing and treatment events, support the delivery of BBV testing and awareness training, provide guidance and support to colleagues to encourage access and engagement in testing and treatment to increase attendance levels of treatment clinics as well as supporting accurate timely data recording. The role will also include supporting in collecting service user feedback and contributing to weekly and monthly meetings.

The Ideal Candidate

You’ll understand substance and alcohol use and the challenges and opportunities for individuals on a recovery journey as well as an understanding of BBV transmission risks and potentially barriers for accessing treatment and testing. However, we also recognise that many people have transferrable skills from other backgrounds such as mental health, housing or other health and social care provision. 

The ability to travel to different locations is essential. The role involves adopting a ‘make every contact count’ approach, working across two sites with different teams, partnership working and active liaison with other agencies. Flexibility, and an ability to work dynamically on a one to one and group basis will be key for this role. We also look for candidates with excellent communication skills and who share our values as an organisation. This role is an excellent opportunity for people with lived experience and those wishing to progress from voluntary roles, such as a peer mentor, or looking to develop a career in substance use.

We value individual creativity and initiative and, whatever your role, you will be fully involved in identifying opportunities to improve the quality of our services and the service user experience. Your ideas will be listened to, and your suggestions implemented wherever possible. You will be supported in your role by extensive training to help develop your skills. Our learning culture encourages everyone to stay on top of the latest developments in their field and helps drive service improvement.

About us

As a leading health and social care provider with more than 300 locations across England, we take real pride in the services we offer.

We run all of our services on a not-for-profit basis; instead, we invest every penny back into our services and people. We never stop believing in change for the better, and we work constantly to improve the lives of the people we support.

What Benefits Will I Receive?

We know reward looks different to each person and so whether its ways to make your money go further, a culture supporting recognition and celebration, or opportunities to boost your career – we want to support you in every way we can with our total reward package that includes:

• 25 days’ paid holiday a year + Bank Holidays, increasing with each year of service up to 27 days + Bank Holidays. Plus the option to buy additional holidays and spread the cost.
• Join our team and discover the comprehensive benefits we offer by following this link to explore all the exciting perks available to our employees. Turning Point Benefits

We reserve the right to close this advert early if we are able to appoint to the vacancy before the advertised closing date.

Turning Point