Job Title: Volunteer and Support Coordinator (Homelessness)
Internal Job Title: Wrexham Citadel Coordinator
Hours: 35 per week (full time)
Location: Wrexham: home-based with regular travel (mostly local)
Contract: Permanent, subject to ongoing funding
Salary: £36,192
About us
Housing Justice brings together communities and finds solutions to homelessness by building personal connections, a sense of belonging, and creating justice in the housing system. We train and support volunteers to offer various accommodation options while building a network of local support. This includes providing personalised assistance to help individuals access relevant local services and address their other needs. Through compassionate, courageous, and collaborative action, we implement innovative solutions to tackle housing injustice, enhance the quality of housing, and elevate the voices and experiences of groups affected by housing injustice to both local and national governments.
About Citadel
Citadel is a volunteer-powered homelessness prevention project that supports people experiencing, or at risk of homelessness, to find a place to live, settle into a home, and feel part of a welcoming and supportive community. Coordinators recruit and train volunteers before matching them with a person referred for support. Coordinators and volunteers work closely with people who have been referred, to establish what matters to them and how best they can support them.
About you
We are looking for an outgoing, confident and skilled communicator, comfortable with building relationships, including for support, influencing people, and with public speaking. You will be a self-motivated, committed person with experience of working and/or volunteering in the homelessness, housing or voluntary and community sectors.
About the role
The successful candidate will be responsible for developing our Wrexham project, continuing and growing the support we offer and relationships we’ve built. The focus of the role is volunteer management and support coordination: specifically the recruitment, training, support and supervision of volunteers; and overseeing the support volunteers offer. This role is currently funded by the local authority until 31st March 2027 - this project has run since 2021, and we expect to receive future funding.
Benefits
29 days annual leave, 3 of which are fixed between Christmas and New Year. This is in addition to bank holidays and pro-rata if part time.After 3 years of service, you are entitled to one additional day of holiday for each additional year of service, up to a maximum of 5 additional days, pro-rata if part time.We offer flexible working. Not all posts can be made flexible, but where possible we operate core hours of 10 – 3pm, with employees able to flex their working day around these. Any flexibility is at the discretion of the line manager and relevant senior manager.As this role is offered as Home Working, we will provide some financial support to get you set up with appropriate equipment.We offer an employee assistance programme through Spectrum Life, which can be used by you and your family for a range of advice and support.We offer a cycle-to-work scheme.
How to apply
If this sounds like the opportunity for you, please read the attached job description and fill out the application form, describing your capabilities for each of the numbered points in the person specification. For any queries, please email: recruitment@housingjustice.org.uk.
Housing Justice Job Description Wrexham Citadel Coordinator Job title: Internal Job title: Hours: Term: Location: Reports to: Salary: Volunteer and Support Coordinator (Homelessness) Wrexham Citadel Coordinator 35 hours per week Permanent, subject to ongoing funding Wrexham: home working with regular travel (mostly local) Citadel Manager £36,192 per annum About Housing Justice Housing Justice brings together communities and finds solutions to homelessness by building personal connections, a sense of belonging, and creating justice in the housing system. We train and support volunteers to offer various accommodation options while building a network of local support. This includes providing personalised assistance to help individuals access relevant local services and address their other needs. Through compassionate, courageous, and collaborative action, we implement innovative solutions to tackle housing injustice, enhance the quality of housing, and elevate the voices and experiences of groups affected by housing injustice to both local and national governments. As an Equal Opportunity Employer, we welcome applications from all sections of the community, and we recognise that personal experience of homelessness can make a very valuable contribution to our services. The Citadel Project Citadel is a volunteer-powered homelessness prevention project that supports people experiencing, or at risk of homelessness, to find a place to live, settle into a home, and feel part of a welcoming and supportive community. Since 2020 Citadel has grown to support people experiencing homelessness across Swansea, Neath Port Talbot, Wrexham, Newport, Hastings, Bristol, South-East and North-East London, along with previous projects in Sheffield and Cornwall. This is an exciting opportunity for a confident, proactive person, who is passionate about the role of community in ending homelessness, to support us to continue our Citadel support in Wrexham. Page 1 of 4 Housing Justice Citadel Coordinators work with people who’ve experienced or are at risk of homelessness, as they prepare to move into settled accommodation. Individuals are referred for social or practical support to settle into their home and/or sustain their tenancy. Coordinators recruit and train volunteers before matching them with a person referred for support. Coordinators and volunteers work closely with people who have been referred, identifying their needs and providing personalised support and opportunities to connect that go beyond the practical resources needed to sustain a home: helping that person (re)discover meaningful occupation, a sense of belonging, and the things that matter to them. About the role The successful candidate will be responsible for developing our Wrexham project, continuing and growing the support we offer and relationships we’ve built. The focus of the role is volunteer management and support coordination: specifically, the recruitment, training, support and supervision of volunteers; and overseeing the support volunteers offer – including maintaining direct support relationships with individuals we support, picking up casework as required and coordinating with other support agencies. We are looking for an outgoing, confident and skilled communicator, comfortable with building relationships, including for support, influencing people, and with public speaking. The successful applicant will feel confident to speak to people from a wide range of backgrounds and will proactively seek out opportunities to build partnerships and promote the projects. The postholder will effectively deliver and manage the project through: • recruiting, supporting and supervising volunteers • coordinating the support of people we’re working with • proactively developing beneficial partnerships to support the project. The successful applicant will work as part of a friendly remote team of Housing Justice staff across Wales and England. Duties and responsibilities Volunteer recruitment and support • Work independently and proactively to recruit volunteers for the project including by building links within the local voluntary sector. • Support volunteers through the application, training and onboarding process (including DBS checks). • Manage a cohort of (approx. 15-20) volunteers to support people who’ve experienced homelessness, with regular supervision, mandatory/additional training, and responsibility to report any safeguarding concerns. • Seek opportunities to involve volunteers and supported individuals in shaping and developing the project. Page 2 of 4 Referrals and direct support • Build and manage positive relationships with referral partners, including to bring in referrals and coordinate ongoing support. • Receive, assess and manage referrals for people needing support, including risk assessments. • Meet with people referred for support within the community, initiate support and together create a plan for the support they are seeking from the project. • Identify an appropriate ‘match’ between a volunteer and person referred for support; carry out introductory meetings to agree a shared plan for support. • Coordinate ongoing support through: regular check ins with volunteers and people being supported; identification and management of needs beyond volunteer’s remit; provision of direct support where required or further referrals to and liaison with other support providers. • Identify, respond to and follow internal procedures to report safeguarding concerns. Team collaboration and relationship management • Work as part of a remote team to ensure the effective running of the Citadel project in the Local Area. • Work with other local teams as part of the broader Citadel programme to share learning and resources; participate in cross-programme meetings and projects. • Work closely with the Local Authority and other partner agencies and stakeholders locally – to develop information and resource sharing as appropriate and ensure that referrals to the project are appropriate. Project and financial management • Maintain records and documentation to ensure the project has clear record keeping, demonstrating progress towards defined objectives. • Maintain accurate recording of spending locally and report to the Citadel Manager for the purposes of managing the local budget – making sure spending is in line with the defined budget. Event organisation • Set up and run Citadel events and activities to bring volunteers and people we support together, including in evenings. Fundraising • Proactively develop local fundraising to fund items and activities for supported individuals. Policy • Keep up to date with relevant policy developments and engage with local policy making activity. Other duties • Perform any other duties consistent with the role and or reasonably required by the Citadel Manager or Head of Citadel England. • Attend and engage with cross-organisation Housing Justice meetings. Page 3 of 4 • The role will necessitate frequent face-to-face meetings and, therefore, independent travel to meetings across Wrexham. There will also be some instances in which travel to elsewhere in Wales/England will be required. Travel and subsistence costs incurred due to your duties at work can be claimed back. Some evening or weekend work may be necessary, for example to run events. Housing Justice Person Specification Wrexham Citadel Coordinator Although we are keeping direct experience/knowledge requirements to a minimum, please use your application form to demonstrate your capabilities regarding each numbered point below. Where relevant, use your answers to illustrate how your skills and experience have helped you achieve positive results. This will give you the best possible chance of being shortlisted. Experience: 1. A track record of successfully influencing stakeholders, volunteers and/or community groups. 2. Experience providing support to individuals, working in homelessness or other frontline services. 3. Experience in a volunteer coordination role. 4. Experience of local community/voluntary networks. Skills and knowledge: 5. Highly organised and proactive, able to set own tasks and manage own workload. 6. Good relationship-building and partnership working skills, including empathy, patience, and conflict resolution. 7. Good communication skills (written and spoken), including public speaking. 8. Proficient in monitoring and recording information, utilising programmes such as Microsoft 365, Excel, and Word and customer relationship management programmes. 9. An understanding of Safeguarding principles, Housing policy and budget management. 10. Ability to collate and present quantitative and qualitative data and information. Page 4 of 4
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