The Young Westminster Foundation (YWF) is seeking a Programme and Engagement Manager to join the YWF team.

Job title: Programme and Engagement Manager
Salary: Up to £35,000 (pro rata)
Contract: 1 year contract (with potential to extend), 3-4 days per week 
Location:YWF Office Soho, community working and home-working (hybrid)

We are looking for a Programme and Engagement Manager to deliver Young Westminster Foundation’s Helping Hands Programme to tackle Serious Youth Violence in North Westminster. The role is focussed on directly engaging local voluntary organisations and community members in North East Westminster who have been directly and indirectly affected by youth violence.

About Young Westminster Foundation:

The Young Westminster Foundation is a vibrant local charity established to support young people growing up in Westminster to have healthy, safe and bright futures. The Foundation brings together youth organisations, young people, businesses, Westminster City Council, schools, funders and the wider community to create opportunities for Westminster’s young people. We’re part of a growing network of Young People’s Foundations (YPFs) established nationally by John Lyon’s Charity.

Since 2017, we have been supporting local youth clubs and organisations through grants, training, research and networking opportunities. Forging partnerships with businesses, public sector partners, individuals and major funders, our work helps strengthen services for all young people in our central London borough. We have grown from a small start–up charity to an established go–to organisation for the youth sector, awarding £2 million+ in grants to our membership of over 80 youth organisations throughout our 6 years.

Our aims:

• Members: Helping youth clubs and youth organisations to thrive
• Partnerships: Fostering a community who care about Westminster’s young people
• Funding: Generating long term investment for youth organisations and young people in Westminster
• Knowledge: Listening, learning and sharing

The Role:

The Programme and Engagement Manager will be responsible for delivering Young Westminster Foundation’s Helping Hands Programme to tackle Serious Youth Violence in North Westminster. The Helping Hands Programme is a VRU-funded programme set up in 2021 to address the impact of Serious Youth Violence in 3 wards in North Westminster. The programme is led by the voices of young people and community members who have been directly and indirectly affected by youth violence. A community-led fund is available for local organisations and community members to give local people ownership over creating innovative opportunities for the community.

You will be responsible for taking this work to Westminster’s Church Street ward in the North East of the borough, using the learning from the existing programme. You will directly engage with local voluntary organisations and community members, assessing their needs and supporting them in accessing opportunities already available in their area, whilst also identifying any gaps in provision. You will identify forums and proactively create opportunities and spaces through outreach for people to listen and share views.

You will work closely with our Helping Hands Programme Lead and Westminster City Council’s Integrated Gangs and Exploitation Unit (IGXU) to deliver this work, and with the entire YWF team to ensure learning from the programme is joined up with YWF’s other programmes. In particular, you will work closely with our Membership Manager and refer local organisations into our membership for further support, if applicable.

Responsibilities:

• Build and maintain effective relationships with local communities, including voluntary organisations, young people, parents, schools, businesses and community groups
• Build trust to ensure that communities feel comfortable in sharing and explaining their views and issues
• Oversee a steering group of local young people
• Establish a steering group (Core Community Group) in Church Street ward, made up of local practitioners working with young people and the community affected by Serious Youth Violence, taking learning from the North-West
• Create bespoke, accessible Serious Youth Violence resources for community groups and community members and give local people the opportunity to influence the direction of the Helping Hands programme
• Provide knowledge of local issues; remove barriers to communities accessing information or voicing needs; and improve understanding of the complexity of local issues
• Work closely with our Helping Hands Programme Lead, ensuring that learning from our existing Helping Hands Programme is utilised and both parts of the delivery are joined up
• Support a group of community members in leading our Helping Hands Community Fund, a funding initiative for local people by local people. This includes holding funding surgeries with community members, supporting them through the application process and managing the entire grants process
• Support our Grants Manager in assessing grant applications for YWF’s other grant making initiatives
• Work with both our Helping Hands Programme Lead and our Data and Evaluation Specialist to maintain monitoring reports, provide evidence and understand the impact of the work in Westminster, ensuring learning is shared across the whole YWF team and beyond
• Support community capacity building in response to violent incidents in conjunction with Westminster City Council’s IGXU team

What we are looking for:

To be successful for this role you must:

• have experience of community engagement and building relationships with a range of different communities.
• be able to easily engage with people from different backgrounds and perspectives and meet the needs of diverse stakeholders.
• be a good listener and able to follow through with implementing a strategy reflecting on what you have heard.
• be able to connect on a personal basis with the people and organisations we work with, build trust and shows empathy and a genuine commitment to the work.
• be proactive, creative, adaptive, and organised; being able to work independently with a positive approach to problem solving.
• have knowledge of safeguarding requirements and a commitment to ensuring practices which promote safeguarding.

The cause – you will be passionate about our vision to support children and young people and be aware of the issues young Londoners are facing.

At Young Westminster Foundation we offer an attractive package of benefits to our staff. This includes:

•  Competitive pay package and pension scheme
• Annual leave – 28 days plus Christmas closure
• Enhanced maternity pay
•  Sabbatical scheme
• Flexible working
• Cycle to work scheme
• Learning and development opportunities

Accessibility: Please note that our office is located on the second floor without lift access.

Diversity & Inclusion:

At Young Westminster Foundation we are committed to equality and diversity among our workforce, and eliminating discrimination. We aim to create a workforce that is as diverse and welcoming as the borough of Westminster itself; promoting positivity, and instilling a can-do attitude which is inclusive in design and delivery of services. We encourage candidates that are able to support the development and inclusivity of the communities of Westminster.

How to Apply:

Please apply for this role via the CharityJob website.

Closing date for applications: Tuesday 2nd April 2024

Interview date: w/c Monday 15th April 2024