Women's Alliance Volunteer Peer Adviser

Are you passionate about supporting women to overcome challenges and make positive changes in their lives? Do you want to use your skills, experiences or lived experience to help empower women facing adversity?

If so, St Giles Trust is looking for Women’s Alliance Volunteers to join our new Women’s Alliance Service across York and North Yorkshire.

About St Giles Trust

An ambitious, well-established charity that helps people facing adversity to find jobs, homes and the right support they need. Central to our ethos is our belief that people with first-hand experience of successfully overcoming issues such as an offending background, homelessness, addictions and gang involvement, hold the key to positive change in others.

About the service

The Women’s Alliance Service is a partnership between St Giles Trust, Waythrough and Changing Lives, providing gender-responsive and trauma-informed support to women across York and North Yorkshire.

Working from Women’s Centres in York and Scarborough, alongside community-based drop-in sessions, the service provides holistic support to women facing a range of challenges. Through a partnership approach, women can access a wide range of support in one place, helping them to build stability, confidence and positive futures.

About this volunteer opportunity

As a Women’s Alliance Volunteer, you will work alongside experienced Caseworkers to support and empower women to stabilise their lives, build confidence and work towards their individual goals.

This is an excellent opportunity to gain experience in a supportive environment while making a real difference to the lives of women in your community.

What you’ll be doing

• Support women accessing the service through drop-in sessions and activities

• Help create a welcoming and inclusive environment within the Women’s Centres

• Work alongside Caseworkers to provide encouragement, mentoring and practical support

• Support women to identify positive goals and make informed choices

• Build positive relationships with clients, staff and partner organisations

• Follow safeguarding, health and safety and organisational policies and procedures

• Participate in training, supervision and reflective practice opportunities

What we are looking for

• Understanding of the possible issues faced by females involved in, or at risk of becoming involved in, the criminal justice system

• A knowledge and understanding of providing support, advice and advocacy to vulnerable clients and the ability to communicate this knowledge in a variety of ways

• Good written and communication skills, including familiarity with form filling, letter writing and advocacy and following instructions

• Ability to develop positive working relationships with other staff, volunteers, managers, and other professionals within the community

Lived Experience Welcome

We actively encourage applications from people with lived experience of challenges such as homelessness, substance misuse, debt, involvement with the criminal justice system, domestic abuse, exploitation or other forms of adversity.

We recognise the value that lived experience brings and welcome applicants who can use their experiences positively to inspire and support others.

What we will do to support you

We are committed to helping our volunteers succeed and develop. You will receive:

• A full induction programme

• Ongoing training and development opportunities

• Regular supervision and support

• Reflective practice sessions to build your confidence and skills

• Opportunities to gain valuable experience within a supportive and professional environment

We are an equity and inclusion confident employer. We welcome all applications, and we particularly encourage applications from people of the global majority (black, brown, multi- heritage) and those who identify as disabled, neuroexpansive, neurodiverse, with any protected characteristics and/or social barriers or challenges. We value the empowering and informative impact that all lived experiences and diversity of thought can offer the organisation.

St Giles will guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria set out in the Job Description for the vacancy.

This role is subject to a basic DBS check.

In your application form, please provide a written statement (maximum 1,000 words) showing how you meet the criteria outlined in the Person Specification. In your statement, please address the following three areas:

• Experience, Knowledge & Qualifications – Give examples of your professional and/or voluntary experience, highlighting how you meet the criteria.
• Skills & Abilities – Explain the skills you bring to this role and how you have applied them in practice.
• Personal Qualities & Values – Describe the personal attributes and values you would bring, including how you align with the values of St Giles.