Befriending Coordinator

Befriending Coordinator 

Dublin (Back Lane, Peter's Place and Little Britain Street Services) 

30 Hours per week 

€30,605.88 per annum 

Scope of Responsibility:

To deliver an efficient and high quality service to the participants in our Community Befriending Programme. The role will involve managing a team of Volunteers, with the support of a part time Befriending Assistant (26 days per annum) in order to provide community based support for men who have moved on to independent living from Back Lane Hostel. This post will involve some evening and weekend work. The Community Befriending Co-ordinator is responsible for the maintenance and development of the Community Befriending Programme.  

The Community Befriending Coordinator will be line managed and is responsible to the Project Group Manager of Backlane. S/he will work in conjunction with the Back Lane local management team to identify and support the service users living currently and leaving Back Lane who are moving into independent living.  S/he will have the responsibility for liaising with the Community Befriending Programme Steering Committee, Back Lane staff team, LBS staff team and Peters Place Staff team on a regular basis to manage and risk assess referrals to the programme. 

Key Areas of Responsibility:

1. Volunteer Recruitment, Selection, and Staffing 

To be responsible for the recruitment of Community Befriending Programme Volunteers. 

To ensure that all volunteer enquiries are communicated to the Volunteer Department. 

To liaise with the Volunteer Department to ensure recruitment of a sufficient number of volunteers for the Community Befriending Programme to ensure that all participants can be appropriately supported in the community. 

To ensure that volunteers are inducted and trained and adhere to all Depaul Ireland policies and procedures particularly those relating to Confidentiality, Code of Practice, Boundaries, Equal Opportunities, Risk Management, and Lone Working issues. 

To provide regular supervision and support to the Befriending Assistant in carrying out their tasks (e.g. social inclusion activities/participant committee meetings). Training and management of staff performance through probation, and Jars. 

To ensure a safe and secure environment for participants and volunteers, required risk assessment processes are carried out in relation to all activities and where necessary risk management plans are implemented. 

2. Volunteer Training, Support, and Performance Management 

In conjunction with the Volunteer Coordinator, to organise, design, and facilitate volunteer training courses where appropriate. 

To be responsible for organising a training programme for Befriending Volunteers. 

To organise and facilitate volunteer team meetings at minimum on a quarterly basis. 

To provide link-ins and support to all Befriending Volunteers in their role. 

To oversee and inform management of any volunteer issue that appears to compromise any Depaul Ireland Policy, Procedure, or practice. 

To inform management of any complaints by participants or volunteers or staff. 

To organise and facilitate volunteer recognition events for volunteers (minimum 1 per year). 

To adhere to Depaul Ireland Volunteer Management Policy and procedures. 

3. Oversee Continuum of Support to Participants in the Befriending Programme 

To ensure that the programme operates in conjunction with Back Lane local policies and best practice following the lead of Back Lane local management team and Back Lane steering committee. 

In conjunction with Back Lane team, develop referral and risk management best practices for identifying and linking residents into the befriending programme. 

In conjunction with Back Lane ensure plans are in place to meet the needs of service users as they make the transition from Back Lane to independent living. 

To anticipate and monitor individual participants' needs, through contact with participants and volunteers, and to offer relevant support or referral to other services as appropriate. 

To be informed on appropriate services in the community that participants may access. 

4. Partnership Work 

To coordinate Steering Group inputs in the development and delivery of the project and ensure the programme is run to reflect the standards and ethos of Depaul Ireland. 

To represent the project at various internal development forums and keep informed of relevant changes to policies and procedures that are relevant to the development of the project (e.g. fundraising & communications). 

To attend the Back Lane staff team meeting on a monthly basis minimum and attend LMT meetings in Back Lane on request. 

To build up good working relationships with other projects and agencies in the homeless sector and attend where possible relevant networks (i.e. Resettlement network). 

5. Administration 

To ensure that appropriate paperwork is completed and collated on a regular basis to support the programme. 

To ensure that adequate best practice record systems and risk assessments are in place. 

To write reports on the aspects of the project's work (e.g. quarterly reports, statistics, Programme annual reports). 

To represent the community befriending programme at existing or potential funding meetings as required by Project Group Manager or Fundraising Manager. 

6. General Responsibilities 

In conjunction with your Line Manager to continuously develop the role to ensure that all tasks are being undertaken in an effective and appropriate manner which meets the strategic aims and objectives of Depaul Ireland. 

To participate in internal/external meetings as required, and attend training events, conferences, and other functions as necessary. 

To participate in regular supervision and annual appraisal, and help in identifying your own job-related development and training needs. 

To ensure that all Depaul Ireland policies and procedures are being adhered to, particularly those relating to Health and Safety, Code of Practice, Confidentiality, and Equal Opportunities. 

To at all times undertake your role in a professional manner maintaining a high-quality standard of work, and to always work in accordance with the aims, values, and ethos of DPI. 

Undertake any other duties that may be required which are commensurate with the role in consultation with the manager 

Person Requirements: 

• Experience in volunteer recruitment, training, and support 


• Strong understanding of volunteer management principles and best practices 


• Ability to design, organise, and facilitate training sessions and meetings 


• Leadership and supervision skills, including staff performance management 


• Strong communication and interpersonal skills, including experience handling complaints and sensitive issues 


• Ability to risk assess and implement safety procedures for volunteers and service users 


• Knowledge of community services and referral pathways 


• Experience in partnership work and inter-agency collaboration 


• Excellent administrative, report-writing, and record-keeping skills 


• Familiarity with the ethos, policies, and procedures of Depaul Ireland or similar organisations 


• Proactive in role development and continuous improvement 


• Flexibility, professionalism, and alignment with Depaul Ireland’s values 


• Competency in IT systems and data management 

WHY WORK FOR US?

Depaul is a cross border charity supporting some of the most marginalised individuals, couples and families experiencing homelessness. Our mission is to end homelessness and change the lives of those affected by it. Would you like to help us to meet our mission?

We are a values led organisation and aim, at all times, to live and breathe these values in our everyday work. Our values are based on four key principles:
• We celebrate the potential of people
• We put our words into action
• We aim to take a wider role in civil society
• We believe in rights and responsibilities

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EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES:
Depaul strives to create a diverse and inclusive programme and is committed to ensuring equality of access to our opportunities and equality of treatment for our staff in all our policies and practices. We welcome applications from individuals aged 18 and over from a diverse range of backgrounds.

If you choose to work for Depaul we offer:

Our Benefits

• Annual Leave Up to 3 years' service: 25 days per year
  3 years' up to 5 years' service: 27 days per year
  Over 5 years' service: 30 working days per year (Exclusive of bank and statutory holidays)
  10 public holidays each year with Good Friday as discretionary day. Day off and day pay for Christmas Day,
  St.Stephen's Day, and New Year's Day worked for shift workers.
  Non-Shift Workers: Paid day off on public holidays.
  Shift Workers: Expected to work on public holidays; receive an additional day of annual leave in lieu.
  Non-Rostered Employees: May be entitled to one-fifth of the normal weekly rate of remuneration for the public holiday.


• Pension Matched by the employer


• Health Assistance Each staff member gets access to a health cash plan so you can claim money back, up to set limits, on a number of treatments. This includes dental, optical, acupuncture and many more. Your children under 16 are also included on the plan.


• Life Assurance Four times salary


• Maternity /Adoptive Leave 18 weeks full pay


• Paternity Leave 2 weeks full pay


• Sick Leave Entitlement to sick pay starting from day 1 with level of entitlement increasing with length of service (subject to policy terms)


• Employee Assistance Program EAP is a confidential counselling service that provides support to company employees and their family. It is available 24/7, 365 days a year covering; Counselling, legal advice, financial information, career guidance, life coaching, mediation, health information, cancer support, autism support, infertility and pregnancy loss, elder care support, parent coaching and international employee support.


• Learning and Development Depaul’s Vision, Mission and Values course, this involves travel to meet the Depaul International family.


• Emerging Leaders, supporting workers that would like to develop their leadership skills and to progress to a management role.


• Online learning resources within Depaul’s award nominated online learning platform, Moodle. Mandatory training including, MAPA, Health and Safety, Child Protection, Fire Safety, and First Aid