The Roberts Centre Jobs

The Roberts Centre (formally The EC Roberts Centre) is a child-focused charity in Portsmouth that supports families facing homelessness, relationship breakdown and the wider difficulties that come with them. It grew out of a day centre for homeless families set up in 1987 in response to the large number of families living in bed and breakfast accommodation in Portsmouth and Southsea, and the permanent centre was opened in October 1990. It became an independent registered charity in 1998 (charity number 1066611, company number 03346119) and a fully autonomous organisation in 2009.

Accommodation and support services

The charity's approach is that having no home is only the tip of the iceberg, so its services tackle the underlying issues that lead to homelessness: debt, money management, parenting, mental health, isolation and family conflict. Its supported housing and temporary accommodation services were recognised as national models of good practice in the early 2000s. Today the resettlement services are based at Gamble Road in Portsmouth.

• Temporary Accommodation Support Service for families placed in temporary housing
• Intensive Tenancy Support Service (ITSS) helping people keep and manage a tenancy
• Raise and the ARAP scheme supporting Afghan families resettling in the area
• Children and young people's services, including support for young care leavers
• A nursery and family-time child contact service
• Support for vulnerable adults and families in crisis

Where they work and who they support

Services run across the City of Portsmouth, Havant and Gosport in Hampshire. The people supported are families with children, young people leaving care, and vulnerable adults who are homeless, living in temporary accommodation or struggling to hold on to a tenancy, often alongside poverty, mental health problems or the effects of relationship breakdown.

Working here

The organisation's values are working together restoratively, making a positive difference, thinking creatively, learning and development, respect, and trust and transparency. Its published employee benefit pack includes flexible and agile working, transparent pay grades, a workplace pension with a 5% employer contribution, life assurance at three times salary, an Employee Assistance Programme, mental health first aiders, 20 days' occupational sick pay after probation, reimbursement of the DBS Update Service fee, access to Portsmouth City Council training, staff consultation days, an annual away day and eligibility for charity worker and Blue Light discounts. Typical roles are tenancy and family support workers, children's and young people's workers, nursery staff and fundraising or business support posts. Vacancies are advertised on the website with downloadable Word job packs, and completed application forms (CVs are not accepted) go to HR@robertscentre.org.uk. General enquiries: info@robertscentre.org.uk or 023 9229 6919, 24 Gamble Road, Portsmouth PO2 7BN.