Job Description

This is an exciting opportunity to join a small but ambitious grassroots charity run by and for women seeking asylum. WAST has a proud track record of providing a safe space for women to come together in solidarity and campaign for justice in an increasingly hostile environment.

We are looking for the right person to work alongside WAST’s management group of women seeking asylum to successfully take forward WAST’s development priorities – supporting women through the asylum system, campaigning on the issues affecting them and supporting wellbeing through a trauma informed approach. You will work to maintain and develop WAST’s infrastructure and resources to ensure its continued strength and stability.

You will need to have relevant experience in charity or public sector management and fundraising, with a positive participatory leadership style. You will have excellent interpersonal and partnership building skills with a commitment to supporting women seeking asylum and to WAST’s values of compassion, respect, inclusion and empowerment.

WAST has recently restructured and expanded its staffing team. As Manager, you will be assisted by two part-time coordinators: the Engagement and Programme Coordinator (an established member of staff) and a new Coordinator role, which you will be expected to help define and recruit.

This is an exciting time for WAST as we look to develop with the growing needs of our organisation.

Background Information

WAST is run by and for women seeking asylum and currently has around 170 members. It was started in 2005 by WAST’s current Chair whilst fighting her own anti-deportation campaign and became a constituted charity in 2014. Its purpose remains to provide a safe space for women coming together in solidarity to offer support, share information and help each other to survive and to get their leave to remain in the UK. Women are at the sharp end of the ‘hostile environment’ with punitive government immigration policies and practice. WAST enables a process of empowerment through which women gain the confidence and strength to voice their experience and campaign for justice.

WAST is a place of hope and belonging with its core values of compassion, respect, inclusion and empowerment and its continuous development of its trauma informed peer support approach.

WAST is proud of its pioneering work giving a voice to women seeking asylum and inspiring other women around the country to set up similar groups. WAST has been at the forefront of national campaigning against detention, has published three books and created two plays, giving voice to women’s experiences.

Activities are led by the WAST Management Group elected by the membership and supported by WAST staff, currently a part-time Engagement and Programme Coordinator (and we will soon be recruiting for a second part-time coordinator role).

Application information

The post is based at the WAST office in central Manchester with some opportunity for remote working. The post is for 28 hours a week.

We welcome applications from all sections of the community. As an organisation led by and for women seeking asylum, we particularly encourage women with lived experience as a refugee or migrant.

There may be scope for the appointment to include a development phase for the right candidate. This could include the provision of some training and support to enable the post holder to fully meet all requirements of the role.