Job Description

Job Title:

GROW Trainee/Peer Advocate

Salary:

24,570 per annum

Contract Type:

Fixed Term for 24 months

Working Hours:

37.5 hours per week (part-time hours will be considered)

Location:

Bedford Borough/Central Bedfordshire

Reporting to:

Service Manager

Number of Positions:

1

What you will be doing?

As GROW Trainee/Peer Advocate, you will work under the close guidance of the Service Manager to contribute to successful delivery of service operations for the Bedford Borough/Central Bedfordshire SAMAS contract, criminal justice pathway, rough sleepers' initiative contracts. You will develop your skills and knowledge to provide practical one-to-one weekly support and constructive activities to help those we support. You will act as an ambassador for CLI locally and will work in partnership with staff, volunteers, and the people we support to guarantee that we maintain a high-quality service which meets those engaged.

The role will involve working with a maximum caseload of 10 mentees at any one time and your aim within the role will be to support mentees with building positive changes in their lives and achieving their goals and/or facilitate recovery and peer support groups. You will be required to follow instructions from the Service Manager and Team Leader to ensure your performance is in line with KPI's and contract requirements whilst ensuring you operate in line with CLI's strategic plan, mission and values. It is essential that you have excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to organise your workload whilst working as part of a team.

What we are looking for?

Lived or learned experience of the common issues faced by people with alcohol or substance misuse problems. Understanding and empathy of the issues faced by the people we support. Good administrative skills and the ability to maintain records effectively. Strong belief in change and a desire to support people to make positive lifestyle choices. Flexible and responsive approach. Empathy and understanding of the issues faced by the people we support. Willingness to learn and develop own knowledge and practice. Good communication skills. Current driving license, use of car and appropriate business use insurance.

What we offer?

Holidays:

28 days plus bank holidays with Christmas closure between Christmas and New Year for all employees. Annual leave increases in line with length of service.

Birthday:

Enjoy an extra day off on your birthday.

Training & Development:

2 hrs per month to focus on learning and career development.

Reflective Practice and Monthly Coaching:

An opportunity to evaluate actions and experiences to gain insights and improve future performance.

Employee Social Fund:

An initiative designed to bring the organisation together on a social level, fostering relationships and incorporating our values.

Employee Assistance Programme (EAP):

This provides all employees a safe space to discuss any of their personal or professional challenges. It is a confidential service available 24/7 for all employees and their immediate families that includes, short-term counselling, legal advice, and financial guidance.

Pension:

Peoples Pension scheme, contributions are 3% employer and 5% employee.

Life Insurance:

Five times salary.

Annual Awards Ceremony and Celebrations:

An annual awards ceremony tied into a Christmas Party to celebrate the amazing work our employees do. CLI Staffing Group: An active forum to share your opinions to influence and change the way CLI operates.

Wellbeing:

Your health and wellbeing matters to us. We run regular monthly wellbeing activities, giving you dedicated time with your colleagues to focus on your wellbeing. We also hold regular social events to help you connect with your colleagues in a relaxed and fun setting.

Volunteering Days:

An opportunity to give back to the community.

Refer a Friend Scheme:

An opportunity to qualify for a 250 reward voucher if you refer someone you know into any paid, externally advertised position (permanent or fixed-term) within CLI.

We are Gold accredited by Investors in People, accredited by the Living Wage Foundation and supporters of the Greater Manchester Good Employment Charter.

About Community Led Initiatives

Community Led Initiatives are a lived experience organisation that believes in the capacity for

human change.

We support those who have been through the criminal justice system, have been affected by drug and alcohol addiction, homelessness or mental health issues. We help them to

overcome the barriers preventing them from achieving their goals.

We inspire people to believe that change is possible. We seek, recruit and develop employees who personify change as they will have encountered and overcome many of the barriers which the people we support will face.

We provide one-to-one peer support and group work activities to help the people we work with to achieve their personal goals. In addition to addressing their practical and emotional needs we help them to develop a new positive sense of self. By the end of our mentoring relationship, the people we work with feel empowered to move their lives forward independently and build upon the successes achieved with us.

Many of the people we work with go on to volunteer here at CLI to help build their CV, develop skills, gain meaningful work and bring utility to their past. And we are proud to say that a significant number of CLI mentoring programme graduates go on to become long term ambassadors for change.

We work in partnership with other organisations that are striving to deliver positive impacts, support change, and share out commitment and values.

We actively welcome those with lived experiences of offending, addiction, homelessness or mental health issues as part of our team. Where others see risk, we see opportunity.

We believe everyone deserves to feel valued, to be happy, to belong.

The successful candidate will commit to working in line with our workplace values which are:

People first - people are our top priority. We care so everyone can be their best. Community - our actions and support help build stronger communities where people can find their place and thrive. Transformation - we do challenging work, creating positive change that helps people move on with their lives. Excellence - we strive to always be our best, to exceed expectations, to learn from our mistakes. Trust - we trust ourselves, our colleagues and those we work with to do the right thing, to show integrity, acceptance, respect and fairness in all we do.
To apply for the GROW Trainee/Peer Advocate position, please visit www.communityled.org.uk/vacancies where you will find the full job description and application form. Please submit your application to vacancies@communityled.org.uk

by 12:00pm 26th September 2025.

Community Led Initiatives is an Equal Opportunity Employer and welcomes applications regardless of race, nationality, ethnic origin, sex, marital status, disability, or age. All applicants are considered based on their merits and abilities for the job. All posts are subject to enhanced DBS checks however it will not be used to discriminate unfairly against any individual. We actively promote equality of opportunity for all with the right mix of talent, skills, and potential and welcome applications from a wide range of candidates, including those with criminal records.

Job Types: Full-time, Fixed term contract

Pay: 24,570.00 per year

Application question(s):

Do you have either direct or indirect lived experience?
Direct lived experience means that you have either been directly affected by the issues in which we seek to support our clients with (homelessness, addiction, prison etc)

In-direct lived experience means that someone close to you (e.g., a parent, child, sibling, or partner) has been affected by the issues which we seek to support our clients with.

Do you have a car and valid drive licence for this role?
Work Location: In person