Job Description

This is a perfect role if you want support to advance your career, make a difference in the lives of young people whilst earning an additional income. You’ll need to be available 5 hours per week to lead ReachOut mentoring sessions to a group of 12-16 young people and their volunteer mentors in a primary or secondary school.

 Who we are and what we do 

ReachOut is a mentoring charity that works with young people from disadvantaged communities in London, Greater Manchester and Liverpool to raise aspirations and help them grow in character and academic attainment. Our mission is to help young people live good, happy and successful lives.

Pay & training 

• Receive extensive training and support to be a good ReachOut Project Leader, gaining experience in managing volunteers, working with young people, and taking a leadership role 
• Receive additional training on useful transferable skills such as time management & prioritisation, public speaking skills, interview skills and more
• Get paid 5 hours a week to prepare, plan and deliver your mentoring sessions with young people 9 –19 years old (£11.05 per hour in London and £9.90 per hour in Greater Manchester, Oldham and Liverpool) 
• You get £50 after completing the compulsory induction training in September 2022 

Job description

• Spend 3 hours preparing and planning your ReachOut mentoring sessions using ReachOut’s bank of activities to lead and deliver engaging sessions for 2 hours each week 
• Support the 12-16 young people in your sessions to raise their aspirations, develop their character, and build their academic attainment and self-confidence 
• Complete monitoring and evaluation activities to ensure sessions are as impactful as possible and set-up strategies with the help of your line manager to help each young person in your group reach their mentoring goal
• Manage and support a group of 12-16 volunteer mentors
• Keep in touch with the parents/carers of the young people in your group about attendance, successes and challenges 
• Run extracurricular activities in your session or support extracurricular practitioner run their sessions 
• Follow ReachOut’s policies and procedures to safeguard young people 

Person specification

• You are confident to engage and manage a group of 12 or 16 young people either in primary or secondary school
• You are passionate about ReachOut’s mission and demonstrate ReachOut’s Character Strengths: Fairness, Good Judgement, Self-Control and Staying Power 
• You are open to feedback with a genuine desire to learn and develop personally
• You have the desire and potential to take on a leadership role
• You have Maths and English skills 
• You have good communication skills (face-to-face, email, text, phone)
• You have good organisation skills (can manage tasks effectively, accurately and in a timely fashion)
• You are confident using IT; email, MS Forms, excel and video conferencing such as Zoom
• You are enthusiastic, energetic and excited by challenges 
• You don’t give up when faced with challenges, instead, you are resilient, adaptable and creative to solve problems and improve situations 
• You are available for 3 hours of flexible working remotely and for 2 hours at the same time and same-day on a weekly basis in a local partner school from 
  • 3:30 – 5:30 pm in primary schools from October to April during term time 
  • Either 5:00 – 7:00 pm or 6:00 – 8:00 pm in secondary schools from October to June during term time 
• You are available to attend the residential Leadership Development Programme Training on the weekend of 2-4 September 2022 (please note that this training might be adapted to Zoom online sessions on weekday evenings on 1st, 7th & 14th September and a weekend morning on 10th September, if needed.)

Diversity statement 

ReachOut is committed to being an inclusive and diverse organisation, and we live by our core Character Strengths of Fairness, Good judgement, Self-Control and Staying Power. We therefore welcome applications from people of all ethnicities, ages, religious beliefs, gender identities, sexual orientation and any other protected characteristics, to provide a diverse range of experience, ideas and insights into our work. 

We recognise that having support from staff and volunteers with a shared experience, can further help our young people develop and learn. More than half of the young people we work with are from Black Caribbean, Black African, Bangladeshi and Turkish backgrounds, yet we tend to get fewer applications from people within these communities. 

ReachOut wants to increase the representation of our young people amongst our Project Leaders, so if you are from these ethnic groups, we would particularly appreciate receiving your applications.

Application Instructions  

Please read our information pack for full details about ReachOut and the Project Leader job role.

To apply for the Leadership Programme, please visit our website to complete the application form and remember to attach your CV.

We aim to respond to applications within 2 weeks of receiving your application. Applications will be assessed as they come in and assessment centres will be held on a rolling basis. Once the position is filled the vacancy will be closed so applicants are advised to apply early. 

Please note, if you are a successful candidate you will be required to undergo an enhanced criminal records check with the Disclosure and Barring Service. ReachOut will cover the cost of the check and guide you through the process. All staff have a responsibility to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and adults. The post holder will undertake the appropriate level of training and is responsible for ensuring that they understand and work within the safeguarding policies of the organisation.