Job Title: Children and Young People Coordinators (Maidstone/West Kent)
Current Office Location: Howard de Walden, Bluett Street, Maidstone, ME14 2UG
Contract type: Permanent
Salary: £18,500 FTE pro rata
Hours per week: between 8-15 hours per week, options include afterschool fortnightly/ Saturday mornings, in term time; 4-6 hours a week school holidays.
Responsible to: Space 2 Be Me Manager
Holiday allowance: 5 weeks holiday pro rata
Anticipated start date: ASAP

Context: Space 2 Be Me is a local parent driven charity providing services to families in the Kent districts of Maidstone, Tunbridge Wells and Tonbridge & Malling. We have three strands of work:
1. With disabled children; helping them to gain independence through youth groups, clubs and holiday activities.
2. With their parents via family support work, training, support groups and workshops, helping them to feel less isolated, learn strategies to support their children and build a peer support network.
3. With the whole family; siblings come to some of our clubs and holiday activities and we run at least one family activity a month to local attractions, enabling our families to enjoy quality time together as well as the opportunity to meet other families who are facing similar challenges.

Purpose of the Job:
[Please note: as we are taking a flexible approach to this role, we are happy to hear from if you want to discuss any element of our activities outlined that appeals or that you would like to look at in isolation (eg dance stars, early years, employability, particular age groups etc). Training will be provided.]
Space 2 Be Me has around 250 member families at any one time. When a family becomes a Space 2 Be Me member they have access to all our services: from youth clubs and school holiday activity days, support and family events.
We are recruiting at least two Coordinators to work together to deliver youth groups and activities for Space 2 Be Me. We will consider people who are interested in particular areas of work only eg early years, dance, KS2/KS3 etc. Space 2 Be Me currently runs the following clubs:
• In Maidstone, we have fortnightly term time clubs for children with additional needs between 6-17. These are based at the Howard de Walden Centre and take place in early evening. These are Rockets (6-10), Comets (11-13) and Galaxy (14-18): there is some overlap between Comets and Galaxy which run on the same evening.
• In Tonbridge we have two fortnightly term time youth clubs: Starships (7-12), Cosmic Club (13-18). These are based at a local church hall or at The Hub respectively.
• We run clubs for young adults with additional needs between the ages of 18 and 25 alternating between Maidstone and Tonbridge on a weekly basis. Aside from social activities and building peer support, we explore aspirations, independence skills and employability with this group.
• We run under 6s stay-and-play sessions each week alternating in Maidstone and Tonbridge called SAMs Club, which is supported once a month by our Family Support Officers who are on hand to help parents with specific information and support while their children explore varied activities and play.
• In school holidays many of the same children, and some others, attend our Space 2 Be Me Times holiday club comprising activity sessions of 2-3 hours, designed to provide respite for parents and create safe environments to undertake varied activities from cooking, art, sports and guest speakers etc. We aim to run one in each area each week or fortnight of the holidays.
• In additional from time to time the Children and Young People Coordinators might be required to help alongside other team members at family events which also run during the school holidays.
• We currently have a weekly Dance Stars club for children with additional needs in Maidstone (supported by sessional workers) and we are looking at bringing board a yoga/relaxation class (supported by an external provider), possibly in Tonbridge.
We are ideally looking to recruit two or more team players who will work together across these clubs, ideally to include one based in Maidstone and the other in Tonbridge. We are taking a flexible approach to recruitment of these posts and want to hear from people who have experience in any of these areas or age groups.
Main Duties and Responsibilities
• To plan and deliver fortnightly youth clubs either face to face, planning out activities or themes every week, with other options and activities available, supported by a team of experienced sessional workers in either Maidstone or Tonbridge.
• Where not possible to deliver face to face, to deliver above clubs via Zoom, facilitating activities and challenges.
• To plan and deliver employability support for teenagers and young adults, developing aspirations and focusing on learning life skills, employability and wellbeing.
• To share news and activity suggestions regularly in the Members Closed Facebook Group for each club you are responsible for and to share messages
• To keep accurate registers, records and observation sheets for each club, to ensure monitoring is completed and to further support the manager in reporting back to funders.
• To design and deliver Space 2 Be Me Time (holiday club) sessions in holidays.
• To create a schedule and activity plan for all clubs in line with the Space 2 Be Me marketing schedule and to work with team members to provide information for advertising clubs and holiday activities and to support with occasional social media messages and other publicity for clubs and activities.
• To work with other Space 2 Be Me staff to ensure that memberships, termly invoices and payment in person is recorded and processed in a timely manner.
• To help maintain current member attendance lists on Space 2 Be Me’s online databases.
• To maintain and update regular risk assessments for all clubs and off-site trips/activities. To monitor and record all accidents, incidents and safeguarding issues in line with Space 2 Be Me policies.
• To recruit, train and supervise a team of sessional staff aiming to have around 6 regular employees of varying ages and experience levels who help in Maidstone and/or Tonbridge.
• To conduct regular supervisions with staff and raise any issues, particularly safeguarding concerns or incidents, immediately with the Manager.
• To carry out DBS checks and assist new staff in completing relevant paperwork.
• To help organise project and fundraising events where required.
• To assist the Manager with general administration duties, including but not limited to, maintaining efficient record keeping and filing systems in accordance with data protection regulations.
• To undertake general and specialist training as necessary.
• To work within all Space 2 Be Me policies, procedures and standards of work practice.
• Represent Space 2 Be Me at meetings, exhibitions and networking events as requested.
• To undertake any other duties within the overall scope of the role, as requested by the Space 2 Be Me Manager and Trustees.

Person Specification

Education/Professional Qualifications:
• Minimum 5 of GCSE’s (including English) or equivalent
• Educated to a minimum of NVQ level 3 equivalent or above, preferably in relevant area (D)
• Good level of literacy and numeracy (E)
Key Skills and Experience
• Experience of working with children and/or young people with additional needs, carers and families (E)
• Evidence of ability to run a child friendly, family stay and play group, youth clubs or school/college based sessions. (E)
• Experience of supporting children with disabilities and additional needs and understanding of issues affecting their families (E)
• To hold a relevant child care/ play qualification equivalent to NVQ Level 3 (D)
• Experience of dealing with the public in person, electronically and on the phone (E)
• Experience of working or volunteering within a charity (D)
• Good communication skills, both written, oral and listening (E)
• Good organisational and planning skills (E)
• Ability to prioritise workload to achieve agreed deadlines with a minimum of supervision (E)
• Excellent IT skills including use of databases and MS Office (E)
• Excellent record keeping skills (E)
• Experience of report writing and / or monitoring (D)
• Experience of managing events or playgroups (D)
• Experience of managing volunteers or staff (D)
• Risk assessment experience and willingness to develop knowledge in this area (E)
• Experience of providing information and support within a voluntary organisation (D)
• To have knowledge of communication, behaviour and sensory strategies for children with SEND (E)
• Experience of providing support, showing empathy whilst maintaining professional boundaries (D)
• Understanding of confidentiality and data protection (E)
• Knowledge of child protection and safeguarding good practice (E)
Key Competencies and Behaviours
• Empathy and people skills (E)
• Excellent communication skills (E)
• Flexible and adaptable approach to work (E)
• Good time-management and organisational skills (E)
• A good communicator with excellent interpersonal skills (E)
• A strong team worker, with the ability to use own initiative and be confident and motivated to work unsupervised and at times alone (E)
• Reliable committed and motivated (E)
• Knowledge of PECs, Makaton and/or other communication techniques (D)
• The ability to prioritise and manage your workload (E)
• Ability to work in a diplomatic, professional and confidential manner (E)
• Willingness to explore training and professional development (E)
Special considerations
• Willingness to undertake an enhanced DBS check (E)
• Full driving license and own transport (E)
(E) Essential
(D) Desirable


As we are taking a flexible approach to this role, we are happy to hear from if you want to discuss any element of our activities outlined that appeals or that you would like to look at in isolation (eg dance stars, early years, employability, particular age groups etc). Training will be provided.