Job Introduction

Trainee Recovery Worker and Recovery Worker – Suffolk Drug & Alcohol Service

Do you want to help build a brighter future for communities and individuals in Suffolk doing a highly rewarding job. Turning Point’s drug & alcohol services are currently expanding during a really exciting time in the sector with new funding and investment. We have a range of roles for people passionate about supporting others to make change.

We have roles in different teams including:

•    Community based treatment services – positions available in Bury St Edmunds, Ipswich and Lowestoft: providing assessment, coordinating treatment and working partnership to support individuals. The roles include delivering structured psycho-social interventions in group and one to level to enable our service users to acquire thinking skills and behaviours to make lasting change.  

•    Criminal Justice rehabilitation/recovery services positions available in Lowestoft and countywide (choice of base):  working closely with the Probation Services, Prisons and Police to provide a rapid, tailored response to individuals that support their recovery and rehabilitation

•    Foundations team (young people, young adults, safeguarding and families team) recovery services positions available in Lowestoft and countywide (choice of base):  working closely with young people, schools, youth justice service, mental health teams to support people need support for or are affected by drug and / or alcohol use.

As a Trainee Recovery Worker we offer a starting salary £22,284. For a Recovery Worker we offer a starting salary £25,116 with annual pay progression up to £29,383. (Dependent on experience you may be offered a starting salary above the initial starting salary).

You will have opportunities to progress your career with a structured learning journey and clearly defined career pathways that will enable you to achieve your long-term goals and work to your strengths.

Whether you are looking to progress into a management and leadership role or to be a specialist in your field as an Advanced Recovery Practitioner at Turning point we will support and encourage you on your career journey.

Role Responsibility

Recovery workers act as ‘key workers’ to a caseload of service users, supporting them to decide their goals around treatment and develop plans to achieve these. The role includes maintaining regular contact with your clients, offering advice, information and psycho-social interventions as well as providing assessments, risk management planning and working closely with our clinical staff around prescribing needs and partner agencies. 

You will be responsible for delivering a range of harm reduction evidence-based interventions to reduce drug related harms, including needle and syringe provision, safer injecting information and support and advice around blood borne virus prevention and treatment.

No day is the same in this role but an ability to communicate effectively with a range or service users and colleagues, an ability to manage different tasks and a commitment to Turning Point values are essential. You may have lived experience of substance use/mental health/homelessness (self or a significant other), come with experience supporting people in health and social care or just have a keen interest in supporting this group; if your values are right, we have a role for everyone.

You will need good IT and communication skills.

This is a front-line role providing support to people around their use of drugs and alcohol.

The Ideal Candidate

You’ll have an understanding of substance and alcohol use and the challenges and opportunities for individuals on a recovery journey. 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 roles are varied, so flexibility, an ability to work dynamically on a one to one and group basis and knowledge of relapse and other barriers to recovery will be vital but we can help to shape these skills where needed. We also look for candidates with excellent communication skills and who share our values as an organisation. We value individuals with lived experience but also those who are just interested in this line of work; our Trainee Recovery Worker program enables individuals without all relevant experience to gain an entry level position within the organisation before moving on to other roles.

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.

Suffolk will be holding the following recruitment events over the coming weeks and this will provide an opportunity to find out more information about the services and the kind of work that we do.

•    Bury St Edmunds: 14 Woolhall Street, Bury St Edmunds, IP33 1LA     

Saturday 17th May 2025 - 11am – 3pm                    

•    Ipswich: Sanderson House, 17-19 Museum Street, Ipswich, IP1 1HE

Saturday 24th May 2025 - 11am – 3pm                    

•    Lowestoft: Woodbury House, Mill Road, Lowestoft, NR33 0PP

Wednesday 28th May 2025 - 5pm – 8pm  

Following the recruitment events, if you are interested and you have been shortlisted, we will then be holding assessment centres on the dates below.

Bury St Edmunds:          Thursday 29th May 2025

Ipswich:                           Friday 30th May 2025

Lowestoft:                       Monday 2nd May 2025

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 closed date.

Turning Point