Support Worker

Support Worker

Rate of pay: £15.00 per hour for employed workers and £18.00 per hour for self employed worker.

Hours of work: 17 hours/week term time x 38 weeks (weekends) and 12 hours/week. During school holidays (possibility of increased hours following education review) x 14 weeks

Days/Times: To be arranged with family

About the recipient

An 18-year-old young person who’s preferred pronouns are THEM/THEY

What do people like about me?What amazing things can I do?

I am kind, caring and generous and love to make things for people as gifts. I have taught myself various types of crafting. Penguins are my special interest, and I know everything about them.

What do I like?

I love anything to do with animals and enjoy different forms of crafting. I volunteer with dogs at the RSPCA, take horse riding lessons and care for horses and other farm animals as part of my education package. I spend a lot of time making things, particularly through crochet, but also enjoy learning new crafting skills including Macrame, felting and jewellery making. I have an ‘alternative’ fashion sense and regularly change the colour of my hair. I like to go to the cinema but prefer to sit near the back and use my ear defenders to reduce the volume of the film. I enjoy markets, charity shops, car boot sales, walking my dog Louis at the beach, visiting zoos/farms and theme parks.

What do I dislike?

I dislike busy places with lots of people and loud noises. I am becoming more comfortable visiting cafes etc but prefer not to eat/drink in a busy environment such as pubs/restaurants.

What do I need help with?

I have Autism and social anxiety and find social interactions quite uncomfortable at times. I am not comfortable going out and about without adult support and guidance as I find it difficult to communicate with strangers, for example shop staff, bus drivers etc. Hence, I do not use public transport and need a PA who is a car driver to enable us to access activities together. I find unexpected/uncommunicated changes of routine difficult but can manage this through explanation/preparation. I can struggle with understanding other people’s emotions and humour and sometimes need things explaining to me logically.

As I can be quite quiet, I would like a PA with a bubbly but kind personality to fill the awkward silences with chatter. I would also like a PA who loves animals as it would be nice to take out my dog Louis together and visit places where I can get hands on experience with animals.

About the role

The successful candidate will be responsible for:

• Encouraging the recipient to engage in activities.
• Helping to improve their social skills.
• Settling and supporting the individual.
• Keeping them safe in the community.
• Helping to fulfil their potential and aspirations.
• Attending/transporting the individual to social activities and appointments.
• Encouraging social interaction and inclusion and providing emotional support.

About the candidate

The suitable candidate must:

• Be conscientious and committed to providing support as necessary for the recipient.
• Be patient, caring and understanding.
• Be able to build a positive relationship with the recipient to both encourage and support them.
• Be flexible to meet the needs of the family.
• Have knowledge of working with or supporting a person with special needs.
• Have a driving licence and use of own vehicle with business use insurance (or prepared to update insurance).
• Be prepared to drive on country roads, local roads and longer distances as pre-arranged (eg. Yorkshire Wildlife Park).

DBS/Reference checks will be required for this post – Cost to be met by the local authority.