At Catch22, we are proud of our reputation as a modern and progressive employer. Our 1,300 colleagues and 300 volunteers work at every stage of the social welfare cycle, supporting over 60,000 individuals from cradle to career. 

The National Leaving Care Benchmarking Forum (NLCBF) is a forum of over 130 local authority leaving care teams and aims to improve services and support for care experienced young people. NLCBF delivers events for leaving care professionals and care experienced young people, supports local authorities through a members’ website and resources and works to influence national leaving care policy.

The Young Person’s Benchmarking Forum (YPBMF) is at the heart of NLCBF, with care experienced young people shaping the direction and priorities of the forum.  YPBMF gives care experienced young people the opportunity to have their voices heard and to influence leaving care policy & practice.

The Participation Officer will support young people to engage with activities of the Young People’s Benchmarking Forum including – attending and taking part in YPBMF events; engaging with volunteer opportunities; engaging with consultations and opportunities to speak to policy makers. 

In particular, we hope that this additional role will help us to connect and hear from groups of care experienced young people who we hear less from including Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking young people and those in custody.

The Participation Officer will also support YPBMF’s care experienced sessional workers and champions (volunteers) in their roles.

Please click here to download the full job description

We are looking for someone with the following skills and experience:

• A minimum of 2 years’ experience (paid or voluntary) of delivering participation work with young people – both in person and online
• Understanding of needs and issues relating to young people leaving care
• Experience of supporting emotional wellbeing before and after participation activities
• Experience of planning and facilitating events and workshops
• Able to liaise effectively and build good working relationships with staff and young people both internally and externally to the forum
• Ability to work flexible hours, that could include weekend and evenings, and travel nationally
• In the words of our young people ‘having a ‘good vibe’, being ‘approachable’ and good ‘group work skills’

Salary: £31,200 per year

Hours of work: Full time, 37 hours per week

Contract: Fixed-term, 3 years

Screening: Enhanced DBS

Closing Date: 9am, Monday 19th February

Interview Date (Online): Wednesday, 28th February. 

If you are applying for this role and are care experienced, Catch22 offers a mentor to assist with the application process.  Please contact [email protected] if you would like to find out more about this support.  This information will not be passed to the team recruiting for this position

To find out more about the role, we are holding two online information sessions: 12-1, 30th Jan & 5-6pm on 14th Feb.  Please email [email protected] for an invite to one of these sessions. 

See the benefits of working for Catch22 here.

Unless otherwise stated, interviews will be arranged as suitable candidates are identified, so early application is strongly advised.

At Catch22 we value equality, diversity and inclusion. We are wholeheartedly committed to the principle of equality of opportunity, both as an employer and as a provider of services. Diversity and Inclusion is part of what we do every day, working to deliver our vision to build a strong society where everyone has good people around them, a purpose, and a good place to live.

Catch22 is committed to rigorous safeguarding and safer recruitment practices; ensuring that every individual within the organisation has been safely and appropriately checked.