York Road Project
Job Description: Homeless Support Worker
Reports to: Direct Access Manager
York Road Project supports people experiencing homelessness in Woking and the surrounding boroughs. Our shelter operates 24 hours a day and is a direct access facility for those who are homeless in the local area. The service comprises of 10 single bedrooms, offering temporary accommodation to anyone over the age of 18.
The role of a Homeless Support Worker is to create a welcoming environment at the shelter so that those living there feel safe and supported during their stay with us. The responsibilities of the Homeless Support Worker will be varied, responding to the needs of the clients as they arise. You will be allocated a number of clients that will be supported by you as their keyworker, referring them to other support providers were applicable and signposting to other services they may need such as drug and alcohol support, debt management and more.
As part of the role there will be general cleaning tasks, such as stock taking, cleaning rooms when clients move and mediating conflicts between clients if they arise whilst they live at the direct access service, supporting clients in crisis, and contacting emergency services when necessary, and detailed record keeping.
Homeless Support Worker – York Road Project
York Road Project supports people experiencing homelessness in Woking and the surrounding boroughs. Our shelter operates 24 hours a day and is a direct access facility for those who are homeless in the local area. The service comprises 10 single bedrooms, offering temporary accommodation to anyone over the age of 18.
The role of a Homeless Support Worker is to create a welcoming environment at our direct access accommodation so that those living there feel safe and supported during their stay with us. As a Homeless Support Worker, you will work with clients from the moment they seek help—taking initial calls, assessing their needs, and supporting them from the street through to securing longer-term accommodation.
Your responsibilities will be varied, responding to the needs of clients as they arise. You will act as a keyworker for a number of clients, referring them to other support providers where applicable and signposting them to services they may need, such as drug and alcohol support, debt management, and more.
Additionally, the role involves general cleaning tasks, stock-taking, and preparing rooms when clients move in and out. You will also be responsible for mediating conflicts between clients, supporting individuals in crisis, contacting emergency services when necessary, and maintaining detailed records.
Hours of work are alternate weeks of 8am -4pm and 10am - 6pm shifts
Main Responsibilities
- Complete full needs assessments, risk assessments and risk management plans with all new clients.
- Support clients holistically through general personalised support plans, individually tailored to the needs of the client and reviewed bi-weekly.
- Offer each client a minimum of 4 hours of personalised support weekly, tailored to their needs including referrals for longer-term housing, mental and physical health support.
- Help clients to find and engage in meaningful activities.
- Plan workshops and provide at least one workshop a week at the service that clients would find useful.
- Ensure that all clients are adhering to the standards of cleaning and sharing of our communal spaces.
- Deal with any disputes or other reasonable eventualities as they arise.
- Ensure that clients understand and adhere to their Licence Agreements and our code of conduct.
- Complete daily welfare checks of all rooms ensuring that they are clean and that the fridges, kettles and TVs are in good working order in each of the rooms.
- Organise and assist with the laundry and the cleaning of our premises both inside and out.
- Support clients to pay their rent on time and record appropriately.
- Attend rough sleeper walks in and around the town and Borough to find and support anyone sleeping rough.
- Ensure fortnightly ‘House meetings’ are held at the DAA for all clients to attend and feeding back areas for improvement and best practice.
Administrative Tasks
- Complete full booking in and housing benefit documents on client arrival.
- Assess new rough sleepers on arrival to understand their individual needs.
- Ensure all client interactions are record on our online record keeping system.
- Answer the phone and deal with general enquiries.
- Complete a comprehensive handover of client notes for the night shift.
General Tasks
- Be responsible for the security and safety of the building.
- Respond to street link reports in a timely manner.
- To undertake any tasks as identified by your manager, as and when required, to meet the needs of the Organisation.
- Liaise with other agencies locally and nationally as appropriate.
- Maintain punctuality and reliability to support business operations
Meetings
- Attend a full team meeting quarterly.
- Attend regular support meetings with your manager
- Attend meetings with external services as required
Training
- We offer comprehensive training to ensure you have the skills and knowledge needed to succeed in this role. No prior experience is necessary—just a willingness to learn.
Essential Skills
- A good command of English (oral and written)
- Experience of Microsoft Word, Excel and Outlook.
We will be interviewing for this role early October
Job Type: Full-time
Pay: £25,500.00 per year
Work Location: In person
