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Do you have a passion for supporting families during challenging times? Are you committed to making a positive impact on the lives of others? If so, we'd love to hear from you!

We are seeking a compassionate and proactive Family Support Worker to join our team. This vital role is based within the [name of prison], focusing on supporting families during prison visits and in the visits hall.

About the Role: as a Family Support Worker, you will:

Welcome families and visitors, providing a warm and friendly environment during their visit.

Offer emotional support and practical advice to families, helping them navigate the challenges of having

a loved one in prison.

Facilitate positive family interactions within the visits hall, promoting a child-friendly and respectful atmosphere.

Provide information on available services and resources for families affected by imprisonment.

Work collaboratively with prison staff, external agencies, and other team members to ensure the best outcomes for families.

About You

We are looking for someone who:

Has experience in a support or advocacy role, ideally working with families or vulnerable groups.

Demonstrates excellent interpersonal and communication skills.

Is empathetic, non-judgmental, and resilient in challenging situations.

Understands the impact of imprisonment on families, particularly children.

Is organised, proactive, and able to work both independently and as part of a team.

What We Offer

A rewarding role where you can make a real difference.

Ongoing training and professional development opportunities.

A supportive and inclusive work environment.

To work collaboratively with the Visitors' Centre service by aiding and support where required.

To support the delivery of services that provide a safe and welcoming place for the children of prisoners, by helping to provide play opportunities in the Visitors' Centre, facilitate play sessions in the visit hall when required and enrichment activities such as homework clubs, baby groups and children only visits.

To be able to oversee other aspects of the children's services including sessional risk assessments, the provision and maintenance of safe and clean toys, books, materials, and the play area facilities.
Recording all contacts and outcomes in accordance with the Barnardos systems and systems within the establishment

To support the team with developing and delivering activities for strengthening family relationships such as family days, homework clubs, play activities, peer support groups etc.

To coordinate plan and delivery the running of family days as required to include the preparation and assisting in the selection process. To provide an agreed number of family days which will be themed either on weekdays during school holidays or weekends for prisoners and their families. Support the service to deliver and high-quality facilitated play/activities appropriate for the age ranges attending the family days. Days and times to be agreed with the establishment.
Welsh language skills are desirable. We welcome applications from Welsh speakers and learners, as the ability to communicate in Welsh is valued and may enhance the support provided to families across North Wales.
A commitment to always maintaining professional boundaries and working within Barnardo's policies, safeguarding procedures, confidentiality requirements, and professional standards.
An understanding of the importance of culturally responsive practice, including supporting families to access services in their preferred language where possible.

This is an 18.5-hour post that works every other weekend

Week 1 (Working Weekend)

Day	Hours
Saturday	9.15
Sunday	9.15

Week 2 (Not Working Weekend)

Day	Hours
Monday	6
Tuesday
Wednesday	6
*Thursday	6.5
Friday	Off
Saturday	Off
Sunday	Off
Total	18.5

*Alternate working to work Friday when Family day

When completing your application please refer to your skills knowledge and experience in relation to the Person Specification and Job Description. This should be done with an understanding of the context of the service described.

Please note due to the high volume of applications for some posts, this advert might close before the displayed closing date. We recommend that you apply for this role as soon as possible

Pay & Reward Framework

We know that our colleagues go above and beyond in delivering our vital work, driven by their passion and commitment to Barnardo's values.  We also know that we can only realise our ambitions and achieve better outcomes for more children, thanks to the talent, hard work and creativity of our people.

For all these reasons, we are committed to a new approach to pay and reward, to ensure it is fair, attractive and progressive, which was rolled out in April 2023. This is a positive change for the charity, and a part of our People & Culture Strategy. It will assist us in supporting colleagues to belong, thrive and grow in their colleague journey at Barnardo's and in time will offer clear routes of progression for colleagues in both their career and their pay.

Whilst the full pay band and salary range is advertised, our approach to starting salaries is to appoint between the minimum to mid-point of the pay band – this ensures that pay steps are available to reward our colleagues annually based on their contribution to excellence and alignment to our values and behaviours.  More details on Barnardo's pay framework can be found upon application.

Benefits

Workplace Offer: What it means for you

Our hybrid working initiative is based on trust, flexibility and empowerment. We understand our workplace offer means different things to different people, and we encourage those conversations. This may mean working at one of our stores, services, working at home, in the community, at one of our Collaboration Hubs or depending on the role any combination of these. Please read through the advert carefully to understand the remits of hybrid working that will be specific to the role.

Barnardo's require colleagues to be UK residents, based in the UK and to complete their roles from within the UK (with the exception of colleagues providing Barnardo's services in Jersey and colleagues who live in the Republic of Ireland providing services in Northern Ireland)

Barnardo's believe in creating equality of opportunity in the workplace and supporting people to manage their work-life balance; we are therefore open to offering flexible working arrangements.
Annual Leave entitlement for full-time colleagues is 26 days per annum, increasing to 27 days per annum, after 3 years Barnardo's service, 29 days per annum, after 5 years Barnardo's service and 30 days per annum, after 7 years Barnardo's service. Those working less than full time are entitled to the same level of holiday pro rata
The ability to buy up to another 5 days annual leave via our Buy Your Leave scheme
A host of family friendly leave options including company Maternity Paternity and Adoption pay; together with all family additional leave options
Service related sick pay from day 1
Access to a Group Personal Pension with a matched 4% or 6% contribution from Barnardo's. Ability to pay via salary sacrifice to garner both tax and NI savings on your own contribution
Death in service cover of 4x annual earnings for all staff contributing to our Group Personal Pension
Cycle2work scheme
Interest free season ticket loans
Discounts and cashback from at high street shops including major supermarkets, cinemas, gyms, leisure/theme parks, holidays and much more via our Benefit Portal
20% discount at Barnardo's stores
Opportunity to purchase a health cash plan to claim towards dental, glasses, therapy etc
Free access to round the clock employee assistance program for advice and support
Access to Barnardo's Learning and Development offer

*T&C's apply based on contract

About Barnardo's

We are committed to being an inclusive employer and cultivating a culture where everyone can belong and thrive through inclusion and connectivity. We want our workforce to be reflective of the communities we work with, and for equality, diversity and inclusion to be embedded in everything we do. We are a Disability Confident Leader, are progressing our ambition to be an anti-racist organisation with Anti-Racism Commitments and actions in place and have networks for colleagues who are disabled, LGBT+, Black and Minoritised Ethnic and Women. We particularly encourage applications from Black and Minoritised Ethnic and/or disabled candidates who are currently underrepresented in our workforce. For disabled applicants, we offer reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process.

Our basis and values