IRIS Advocate/Educator

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Job description

WE ARE RECRUITING AN IRIS ADVOCATE/EDUCATOR TO WORK AS PART OF A PAN-LONDON PROJECT

Role: IRIS Advocate/Educator

Salary: £28,785 pa (including London Weighting)

Location: Advance Head Office in Hammersmith with travel across assigned boroughs to GP surgeries and partners as required.

Contract: Contract until 31st March 2022; in line with current funding

Hours: 35 hours per week

About Advance

Advance is a well-respected charity established in 1998 to support women to cope and recover from experiences of domestic abuse and those who are at risk of offending or with short term sentences to reduce offending. At Advance we work alongside partner agencies to provide a dynamic response to survivors of Domestic Abuse.

The IRISi Project

IRISi has been commissioned by The Mayor of London's Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) to work with partners in the health and specialist Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) sector to rollout the IRIS programme in seven London Boroughs. Advance is working as one of the partners on this exciting new project.

The objective of the project is to improve the quality of life of patients by raising awareness of domestic abuse with GPs and improve the domestic abuse response and the provision of holistic care for patients by GP services. The project also aims to help families know how to identify issues and concerns and know where to access support, as well as offering them the opportunity to participate in the development of violence reduction solutions.

We currently cover Ealing, Brent, Hammersmith and Fulham, and Westminster where we work in partnership with GP surgeries to target and engage survivors from a diverse range of ethnic backgrounds who may not have access to mainstream domestic abuse services.

Currently based in our Head Office in Hammersmith, the two vacancies will geographically focus on Hammersmith & Fulham/Westminster and Brent/Ealing; providing an excellent opportunity for career development within the field of Domestic Abuse. The successful applicant will receive specific IRISi training to deliver this programme.

The role

You will be supporting and providing on-going training for health professionals in general practice to help them understand and respond to domestic violence and abuse (DVA) and encouraging health professionals to ask women about their experience of abuse and respond, record, safety check and refer.

A focus of this role is around building and maintaining effective relationships with general practice teams and providing individual needs-led information, support and advocacy (including signposting) for women who disclose their past or current experiences of DVA.

Advance works with a diverse range of women across London and are committed to our staff workforce reflecting the women we support. If you have any additional language skills, please let us know in your application as they will be highly regarded.

What you will bring:

• An excellent understanding of the dynamics of domestic abuse and the impact especially in relation to survivor's health and that of their children.

• Experience of working within a domestic abuse service ideally as an IDVA is required for this role.

• Confidence in advocating for the rights of survivors with professionals and effectively managing partner relationships.

Previous IRISi experieince/training will be highly regarded.

What we offer:

• 30 days holiday plus public holidays

• Pension scheme

• Access to our Employee Assistance Programme

• Various forms of wellbeing support

• Organisation wide away days

• The opportunity to work in a flexible, supportive environment with a team of committed, inspiring women and we will support you as you to continue to build your skills and experience and grow your career

To apply: Please submit your CV along with a supporting statement setting out how you meet the criteria for the role.