LOCATION
Thatcham, Reading, Slough, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Horley, central London

SALARY
£20-£25 per hour (inter-city travel will also reimbursed)
One/two afternoons per week (2-3 hours per session) in one or more of the listed locations

APPLICATION DEADLINE
Rolling

 

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About the Position

Refugee Youth Service (RYS) is looking for individuals to support its activities with age-disputed unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in the locations listed above. The children supported by RYS are residing in accommodations intended only for adults, and therefore require support to have their ages assessed or reassessed, in order to enter the appropriate care systems. The Support Worker’s language competencies and communication skills will strengthen the current team’s ability to communicate with these children, and support the successful delivery of site-visits and child-friendly activities. 

RYS will provide a compulsory and thorough induction process to ensure that the Support Workers feel confident and fully equipped to support the children. The induction process will include safeguarding training and our capacity-building training, “Journey with an Unaccompanied Child”. 

 

About the Project 

The project takes action to support age-disputed asylum-seeking children to leave adult hotel accommodations and enter the appropriate child protection systems. The project provides immediate emotional support and respite, and referrals to statutory services or pro-bono lawyers who can make this happen. Through recreational activities and connection with local services RYS aims to improve children’s wellbeing and reduce feelings of loneliness and isolation.

 

Tasks

• Accompany an RYS Social Worker to visit children at their accommodations
• Provide cultural mediation and interpretation for interactions between RYS staff/ volunteers and children, applying the principle of confidentiality at all times
• Be a positive role model
• Support the delivery of activities to children from a diverse range of cultural backgrounds, aged between 13 and 17 years
• Communicate with the RYS team, sharing all necessary information regarding the child
• Comply with all RYS’ policies and procedures, including the RYS Code of Conduct, Safeguarding Policy and Data Protection Policy and Procedures

 

Relevant skills and experience 

Essential 

• Fluency in at least one of the following languages: Farsi, Pashto, Arabic, Tigrinya
• Ability to work with people from different cultural backgrounds, genders and sexualities 
• A commitment to the human rights of all people, irrespective of immigration status
• Preparedness to work with disadvantaged children who have likely experienced trauma on their journey to the UK
• Commitment to all training opportunities provided by RYS 
• Ability to work in teams and take initiative
• An enhanced DBS check (this can be completed by RYS free of charge)

 

Desirable 

• Experience working with children and young people who have been displaced and are unaccompanied
• Lived experience of the issues faced by unaccompanied children and/or of forced migration
• Knowledge of children’s/adolescent’s rights and related matters 

 

How to apply 

To apply for this position, send your CV and either a single-page motivation letter or a short video* (2 minutes max) to: info@refugeeyouthservice.org. 

If you have any questions about the role and/or the application process, please contact us via email. 

*To submit a video, upload it to a video-sharing platform and send us the link. Please note we are not judging the production or video quality, a recording on a phone is fine. 

 

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