Support Worker – Look Ahead Care and Support, Croydon

We’re looking for three compassionate and resilient Support Worker's to join our Forensic Mental Health service located in Kingston.

£30,784.00 per annum, working 40 hours per week.  

Want to feel like you have an exciting future? You’ll feel at home here. 

Making you feel at home here means helping you thrive in every way. That’s why we offer a wide range of benefits, award-winning Learning & Development and a culture that welcomes all. These aren’t token gestures - we’ve thought long and hard about how best to support our team. After all, our people are doing something amazing: helping to transform lives every day.

• Annual leave increasing up to 30 days with length of service
• A generous pension – we will contribute up to 8% and life assurance cover up to 3x Pensionable Salary (T&Cs apply)
• Exclusive discounts and cashback via Reward Gateway® and opportunity to buy a Blue Light Card
• Fully paid induction programme and further training
• ILM courses and Apprenticeship Programmes
• Cycle to work scheme
• Employee Assistance Programme for 24-7 confidential support
• Online wellbeing resources
• Quarterly Staff Awards to reward & recognise our amazing staff’s commitment and contribution
• Free DBS 

All applicants must be legally eligible to work in the UK by the start of employment as Look Ahead are not able to offer sponsorship. 

To provide consistent, recovery-focused and formulation-informed support that helps customers live safely, build independence and progress through the forensic step-down pathway. 

What you’ll do:  

• Build respectful, reliable and professionally boundaried relationships with customers. 

• Deliver planned keywork and practical support with routines, cooking, budgeting, self-care, appointments, travel, physical health, medication and tenancy responsibilities. 

• Contribute to support, risk, crisis, relapse-prevention and move-on plans and follow agreed actions consistently. 

• Notice changes in presentation, engagement, behaviour and risk; record what you have observed clearly and escalate concerns promptly. 

• Support community access, meaningful activity, positive risk-taking and graded independence rather than doing things for people that they can learn to do themselves. 

• Understand and follow statutory conditions, safeguarding arrangements and agreed relational, procedural and physical-security measures. 

• Respond calmly to distress, conflict and incidents using de-escalation and individual response plans. 

• Maintain accurate records and give clear handovers so important information does not disappear between shifts. 
• Help maintain a safe, respectful shared environment and support customers to sustain their accommodation. 

This is not an exhaustive list of all the duties and responsibilities that may be required from time to time and is subject to change in accordance with the needs of Look Ahead  

What you’ll bring: 

Essential:

• Some experience supporting people with mental health, social care, housing, criminal-justice or other complex needs, whether paid, voluntary or through personal experiences. 

• A genuine interest in people and the patience to keep offering support when engagement is inconsistent. 

• Ability to stay calm, respectful and curious under pressure while maintaining clear boundaries. 

• Good listening, communication and basic written-recording skills. 

• Organised enough to follow plans and appointments, but flexible enough to respond when the day changes. 

• Willingness to be visible and involved in the life of the service rather than waiting in the office for customers to approach you. 

Desirable: 

• Forensic mental health, restricted-patient pathways and the role of the FOS. 

• Risk formulation, relational security, safeguarding and positive risk-taking. 

• Medication-support competencies and relevant digital recording systems. 

• Working within a multidisciplinary forensic pathway and contributing confidently to reviews. 

Please attach a CV and send your personal statement to: Recruitment@Lookahead.org.uk 

The service is anticipated to open on 4 January 2027, subject to contract finalisation, successful mobilisation and confirmation of operational readiness.

About us: 

Look Ahead is a leading, not-for-profit care and support provider in London and the South East. Our vision is to build better lives through social care and housing in local communities. As an organisation we deliver over 100 services, providing support to thousands of customers each year. Our mission is to co-design and deliver services that offer innovative social care solutions and support people to thrive. We work across mental health, homelessness and complex needs, young people and care leavers and learning disabilities so there are plenty of opportunities to grow and progress your career with us. 

We have a strong social purpose and we live and work by our values: 

• We focus on Excellence and innovation. 

• We are Caring and Compassionate. 

• We are Inclusive and Trusted. 

• We work in Partnership and are One-Team. 

Look Ahead is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and adults at risk, and expects all employees, workers and volunteers to share this commitment. 

 If your application for this role is unsuccessful, but we feel that you would be suitable for another role, we may contact you to discuss alternative opportunities. If this occurs you would not need to submit another application for the alternative role. 

 We reserve the right to close this advert early if we are able to appoint to the vacancy before the advertised closed date. 

 We are committed to diversity and inclusion at work and are accredited with Silver in the Inclusive Employers Standard 2021. We are a proud member of the Employers Domestic Abuse Covenant and encourage applications from a diverse range of applicants of all backgrounds.