Peer Support WorkersNHS

Job summary

The East London NHS Foundation Trust (ELFT) Crisis Caf is a welcoming, trauma-informed, and recovery-focused out-of-hours service designed for adults facing emotional distress or mental health crises. This compassionate alternative to Accident and Emergency departments provides immediate support, including de-escalation, safety planning, and guidance toward appropriate resources.

Operating during evenings and weekends, the Crisis Caf ensures that the successful candidate will work during these times. The service caters to a diverse range of individuals, from those already connected to secondary mental health services to first-time seekers of support. People can drop in whenever they are grappling with overwhelming stress, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, feelings of social isolation, or other significant life challenges.

The environment is intentionally non-clinical and psychologically safe, offering a calm and respectful space where individuals can openly discuss their experiences and find practical ways to move forward. While the atmosphere is informal and supportive, the service maintains clear professional boundaries and strong risk-management procedures to guarantee the safety and well-being of all who visit. The ideal candidate will draw on their own lived experiences of mental health challenges and recovery to provide hope, empathy, and understanding to those at critical moments.

cant distress.

Main duties of the job

**Key Responsibilities**

• Provide one-on-one and group peer support to individuals visiting the Crisis Caf. - Facilitate recovery-focused groups that encourage personal growth. - Take the lead in gathering information about local services available to peers. - Use your lived experiences thoughtfully to inspire hope and illustrate that recovery is achievable. - Assist with emotional regulation, grounding techniques, safety planning, and immediate coping strategies. - Identify and raise safeguarding concerns and risks according to service protocols. - Keep accurate and timely documentation in relevant records or electronic systems. - Collaborate effectively with clinicians, peer colleagues, and partner organizations. - Champion co-production and actively involve service users in the process. - Participate in supervision sessions, peer group supervision, and mandatory training. - Contribute to quality improvement initiatives and the development of services.

This role is ideal for someone who can stay composed under pressure, communicate with empathy, and draw on their personal recovery journey and resilience to support others on their healing paths. The successful candidate will need to have completed the ELFT Accredited Peer Support Worker Training.

Job description

Co-production is one of the foundations at ELFT, and you will work closely with experts-by-experience, local communities, and Community and Voluntary and Social Enterprises to co-produce and co-develop services. Other key tasks will involve partnership working and liaising with various stakeholders in the system, e.g., GPs, primary and secondary care mental health services, colleges and universities, and the 3rd sector. The post-holder will also be involved in raising awareness of the complexity of the health and social challenges many people face, and of the impact this has on mental health & well-being, and vice versa. A key aim of the service is to help people build resilience, feel more connected to their community, and instill a sense of belonging.

About us

Our mission is to make a positive difference to people's lives by improving the quality of life for all we serve. Our values are: We Care, We Respect, We are Inclusive - so we are looking for people who live and breathe these qualities when supporting service users and carers, and in their relationships with colleagues in the Trust and our partner organisations.