EAST LONDON CARES

VOLUNTEER AND
OUTREACH COORDINATOR

PERMANENT, FULL TIME POST (40 HOURS PER WEEK)

LOCATION: LONDON FIELDS, HACKNEY
SALARY: £25,000 (PLUS TRAVEL)

To apply please send a CV and covering letter telling us why you’re right for this
role to Rosa Friend at rosa.friend@eastlondoncares.org.uk.

Applications should be received no later than 1pm on Wednesday 19th June

2019.

First round interviews: Tuesday 25th and Wednesday 26th June 2019.
Second round interviews: Thursday 4th July 2019.
Starting date: Wednesday 4th September 2019.

Please read the full job description below for further information.
EAST LONDON CARES
East London Cares is a brand new community network of young professionals and older neighbours
hanging out and helping one another in our rapidly changing city.

Our objectives are to tackle the growing plight of isolation and loneliness not just amongst older
people but amongst younger Londoners too; to help improve the connection, confidence, belonging,
purpose and power of all participants so that older and younger neighbours alike can better navigate
our rapidly changing world; and to bring people together to bridge social, generational, digital, cultural
and attitudinal divides.

We do this because, while east London is one of the most exciting places on earth – full of creativity,
heritage, activism, business and people from all over the world – it can sometimes also feel
anonymous, lonely and isolating. Globalisation, gentrification, digitisation, transience and rapid
community change have made our city a place of extremes – one in which some of the best
connected people live directly alongside some of the most isolated, with particular challenges to do
with loneliness and disconnection.

The result is that many older people (over 65) have deep roots in their communities – from
Limehouse to London Fields, from Dalston to the Docks – but few connections, while many young
professionals (aged 21-35) can have hundreds of connections across the world but fewer roots in
their communities. This disconnect wastes human potential, perpetuates social division, entrenches

OUR PROGRAMMES
isolation and is ultimately corrosive for our society. In an ever-changing city like ours, these two
groups, living side-by-side but seldom interacting, have so much to gain from one another in shared
time, laughter, new experiences and friendship.

East London Cares therefore seeks to mobilise a new generation of young professionals to build
relationships and share experiences with older neighbours in a variety of authentic ways. We speak
the language of younger and older people alike – and make interaction on a personal level mutually
accessible, sociable, enjoyable and fun.

As part of the wider ‘Cares Family’ of local charities (North London Cares, South London Cares,
Manchester Cares and Liverpool Cares), East London Cares is built on a strong national model,
infrastructure, experience and funding. We have secured investment from The Mercers' Company,
The National Lottery Community Fund, Garfield Weston Foundation and Nesta.

But East London Cares is also uniquely ‘east London’. Our programmes will centre on the inspiring
past, present and future of our great neighbourhoods – and the history, diversity and people that
make this place so special. So from Poplar to Stoke Newington, the network will help older and
younger people to feel part of their changing world, rather than left behind by it.
We are already connected with Tower Hamlets and Hackney Councils, local voluntary and
community groups, businesses and individuals to identify isolation where it occurs and to create
new opportunities for older and younger people to share time. Our approach will attract many
people who live on their own, may not naturally have wide social networks and love and look
forward to new experiences with their new friends. East London Cares' programmes will begin in
autumn 2019.

OUR PROGRAMMES
East London Cares will run four core programmes. Our Social Clubs will be group activities that
bring younger and older people together in cafes, pubs, parks, community centres and local
businesses to share time, laughter and cultural exchange. Events, taking place several times a week,
(during evenings and weekends as well as on weekdays), will include dance parties, film nights,
choirs, technology workshops, ‘back to work’ business visits and themed get-togethers – everything
from brick-laying to Pride parties to graphic novel workshops.

Meanwhile, our Love Your Neighbour programme will match younger and older neighbours to build
friendships one-to-one, in people's homes and community locations, to improve the life experiences
of all parties and to help bring a little of the outside world in for those who can struggle to get out.
Neighbours will build relationships on their own terms, enjoy meals together, and often become long-
standing friends.

Our unique Outreach will enable us to identify isolation in our neighbourhoods proactively through
ongoing community engagement. East London Cares will be a visible presence in the community –
placing ourselves in GP surgeries, pubs, chemists and supermarkets to invite older people to be part
of the network. And we will run an intensive annual Winter Wellbeing project including reaching out
through door knocking on local estates, to help older neighbours stay active and connected during the
most isolating time of year.

Finally, our Community Fundraising will offer another exciting way for younger and older
neighbours to contribute to East London Cares together. From individual challenges including
marathons, to building a network of business supporters, to creating engaging digital campaigns and
inviting regular donations, local people will be able to support East London Cares in a variety of
engaging ways.

Each of these programmes is integrated and fundamental to the Cares approach. We will often meet
older people through a chat in a local supermarket, invite them along to the next social club in their
neighbourhood, and then introduce them to younger neighbours with whom they can develop an
ongoing friendship throughout Love Your Neighbour programme. Sometimes, those friends will then
raise money together to sustain the network that will give them so much new connection.
THE ROLE
East London Cares is a brand new organisation and this is one of the first roles we are hiring for. The
Volunteer and Outreach Coordinator will be fundamental to East London Cares' success: it will be
your job to identify and invite the older people who will be part of our activities, to inspire a growing
volunteer network, and to bring those two groups together. All of that requires a broad skill set
including open communication, great organisation, patience in abundance, and characteristics
including an outgoing personality, personal warmth and determination.

You will meet hundreds of older people and young professionals all across Tower Hamlets and
Hackney – helping them to build strong friendships, applying good judgement as well as proven
guidelines, leading the induction and onboarding processes, and ensuring safeguarding, records and
storytelling procedures are upheld to the highest standards.

You will meet older neighbours in various circumstances – from the most active, outgoing fun-loving
90-somethings to people with huge and complex challenges navigating a complicated world. You will
be able to confidently and clearly articulate East London Cares’ vision and the aims and objectives of
the organisation so that all participants and stakeholders – including older and younger neighbours,
family members, local authorities and other business and community partners – understand the
unique role we play.

You will also lead our annual Winter Wellbeing project, helping older neighbours to stay warm, active,
healthy and connected during the most isolating time of year – through a combination of innovative
outreach, interactions and interventions. In short, you will represent East London Cares and its
values, ethos, and unique community network model with surety, skill and a belief in and passion for
better connected communities.

When you join our team, you will work partly from our shared office, and partly from the communities
across Tower Hamlets and Hackney.

ABOUT YOU
Because we are looking for an exceptional colleague to build our vital Outreach and Volunteer
management processes from the ground up, you will need to be full of ideas, versatile, determined
and with a strong sense of responsibility. You will be a powerful storyteller, in writing and in person,
and someone who can talk to and relate to people from all backgrounds, no matter their
circumstances – someone equally comfortable discussing illness and isolation with a housebound 95-
year old neighbour in Bow as you are talking about work and weddings with a 25-year-old volunteer in
Canary Wharf.
You will be outgoing and tenacious; with an organised approach and an intrinsic understanding of
the power of networks, including through digital media. Crucially, we need a real people-person:
someone who can build trusted partnerships from scratch including with other voluntary
organisations and statutory referral partners. We also need a numbers person – someone
committed, tough and focused working alone as well as collaboratively; who is passionate about
developing East London Cares from the start and over the coming years and in environments
where the only constant is change.

Finally, we need someone who understands and is motivated by the demographics and social
challenges of our city and the issues we work on – and in particular who is passionate about and
can clearly promote our vision for building close community networks in order to tackle loneliness
as east London continues to change at pace. So the standout candidate will have deep
knowledge of and passion for the unique communities and cultures of Tower Hamlets and
Hackney's neighbourhoods, alongside experience managing people and projects. This is a
wonderful opportunity to build something special in east London. The wider Cares Family team
and board will therefore support you with everything we have: proven staff induction programmes,
access to training and guidance, and also the autonomy and responsibility of working to your own
initiative.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Working with East London Cares' Programme Coordinator for Social Clubs and reporting to our Head
of Programmes, you will:

Be responsible for East London Cares’ outreach in the community – by placing yourself in
supermarkets, GP surgeries, chemists and other locations and by working closely with partners to
develop referral routes so that at least 400 older people can get involved in East London Cares in
year one;
Inspire, engage, screen, manage and mobilise at least 400 students and young professionals in
the first year, providing the best possible experience for some of our key participants – including
by leading the delivery of volunteer inductions to make East London Cares as inclusive and
welcoming as possible;
Lead the delivery of Winter Wellbeing – by intensifying outreach during this period, distributing
blankets and other warm items across the city, making referrals to partner organisations and
writing our annual Winter Wellbeing report;
Take responsibility for providing appropriate
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Research and manage new and existing partnerships, including with other local community
groups, universities, health agencies, businesses, members of the public and individual
supporters of our work;
Operate our customer relationship management and data tools to ensure all records are kept
up to date and relevant;
Enhance the day-to-day involvement of participants in our activities through regular

REQUIRED
communication with older and younger people in the city, plus innovative retention and re-
engagement efforts where required;
Constantly communicate with and support our Programme Coordinator (Social Clubs) who will
be responsible for delivering 15 group activities a month and all other members of East London
Cares' and The Cares Family’s staff teams;
Represent East London Cares and our values and vision with the highest standards of quality,
professionalism, creativity and integrity.

REQUIRED
You are positive, outgoing, approachable, hard-working, self-starting, ambitious, reliable,
confident, creative, empathetic, determined, methodical, agile, resilient, discreet and organised;
You are an authentic high-quality communicator and storyteller: you have great written skills, and
are confident creating important materials to promote the work of East London Cares externally –
and you're also excellent at communicating one-to-one and to large groups in person;
You have an excellent understanding of the culture and socio-economic context in east London
and can build relationships with people from all backgrounds;
You have high standards and aspirations for your work and want to make a lasting contribution to
Tower Hamlets and Hackney on some of the defining issues of our time – and you're excited to
build something from the very beginning;
You are professionally agile, and able to adapt to the rapidly changing needs of a growing
organisation;
You are happy working alone as well as in a team;
You have the flexibility to work evenings and weekends in order to meet specific targets (with time
off in lieu);
You are able to obtain a clear DBS certification (provided).

We seek to live our values in everything we do. We are actively seeking candidates from
diverse backgrounds who represent the communities we work in.
DESIRABLE
You have strong local networks in Tower Hamlets and/or Hackney;
You have experience doing casework;
You have experience starting something up from scratch.

ROLE FEATURES
26 days' annual leave plus bank holidays;
Staff counselling service;
Travel covered.

We seek to live our values in everything we do. We are actively seeking candidates from
diverse backgrounds who represent the communities we work in.