Suffolk Reconnect Peer Support Worker

Location: Suffolk

Salary: £24,000 per annum

Vacancy Type: Permanent

About The Role

Are you passionate about supporting people to rebuild their lives?

We’re recruiting a Suffolk RECONNECT Peer Support Worker to join our NHS-commissioned service delivered by Forward Trust. This is a full-time role (35 hours per week) based across HMP Highpoint, HMP Hollesley Bay, and HMP Warren Hill, supporting people as they transition from custody back into the community.

This is a powerful opportunity to help individuals leaving prison rebuild their lives, improve their health and wellbeing, and break the cycle of reoffending.

What you’ll be doing

You’ll be at the heart of a person-centred, life-changing service:

• Supporting service users through holistic needs assessments and personalised care plans
• Acting as a trusted link between prison, community services, and healthcare providers
• Providing advocacy, mentoring, and practical support to help people reintegrate into society
• Maintaining meaningful contact post-release (up to 6 months) to support sustained recovery and wellbeing
• Managing a diverse caseload, ensuring tailored support for each individual
• Building strong partnerships with prisons, healthcare services, and community organisations
• Supporting peer mentors and contributing to training and development activity
• Keeping accurate records, assessments, and case notes to a high professional standard

About you

We actively encourage applications from people with lived experience, whether of substance misuse, mental or physical health challenges, or the criminal justice system.

You’ll bring:

• Empathy, resilience, and strong communication skills
• A non-judgemental, person-centred approach
• Confidence managing a busy and varied caseload
• The ability to build trust and motivate positive change
• Strong organisational and IT/admin skills

At Forward Trust, our purpose is clear: to break the cycle of crime. RECONNECT plays a vital role in ensuring people leaving prison don’t fall through the gaps, but instead step into coordinated, compassionate support.

You’ll help reduce health inequalities, improve continuity of care, and give people a real chance to rebuild their lives.

All prison-based roles are subject to enhanced DBS checks and HMPPS security vetting. These checks can take up to 5 months to complete. Any offer of employment will be conditional upon the successful completion of both checks.

Please note if you have lived overseas within the last 5 years then checks may take longer.

About Us

We are The Forward Trust, the social enterprise with charitable status that empowers people to break the often interlinked cycles of crime and addiction to move forward with their lives. For more than 25 years we have been working with people to build positive and productive lives, whatever their past. We believe that anyone is capable of lasting change. Our services have supported thousands of people to make positive changes and build productive lives with a job, family, friends and a sense of community.

We are committed to our cause and the work we carry out as a charity. Equally the wellbeing and the employees who work for us are also important. Joining us an employee, we will offer you the following benefits - 

• Flexible working
• Training and development opportunities
• Simply Health Cashback Scheme (optional)
• Season Ticket Loan Scheme 
• Cycle to work scheme
• Crisis Loan Scheme
• Electric Car Scheme
• 3 x Wellbeing Days (pro rata'd for part time employees)
• Access to Blue Light Card
• 25 days (rising to 30 with length of service) Annual Leave plus Bank Holidays 
• Contributory Pension Scheme – Employer matched contributions of up to 6% in the first two years’ service and up to 9% thereafter 
• Death in Service Payment (2x annual salary) 
• Critical Illness Insurance (subject to qualifying criteria)

Please note that we may close this vacancy early if we receive a high volume of suitable applications.

To Apply

If you feel you are a suitable candidate and would like to work for Forward Trust, please proceed through the following link to be redirected to our website to complete your application.

https://careers.forwardtrust.org.uk/vacancies/617/suffolk-reconnect-peer-support-worker.html 

Contact information

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