Compassionate Communities Engagement Officer

(Temporary 12-month contract due to external funding)

Do you think that people should talk more about illness, death, dying and loss? Would you like to help the hospice reach more people and communities and bust myths of hospice care, address taboos around death and dying and empower communities to care for each other?

Compassionate Communities is a relatively recent social movement, that believes death, dying and loss is everyone’s business. Help us to tackle the barriers and stigmas often associated with end-of-life care, bereavement support and advance care planning, by working with community groups, places of worship, public services, charities, health and social care professionals and partners. You will also be helping to spread the word that hospice services are for everyone.

You’ll be a natural communicator with excellent interpersonal skills, with a flair for storytelling, to share the difference our committed and caring hospice teams make to people and their loved ones with life-limiting illnesses. You’ll also be a great listener, developing relationships with community groups and working in partnership with a wide range of people and volunteers, building rapport quickly with new people and strengthening existing relationships.

A natural organiser, you’ll love arranging and delivering training and events, often in partnership with other third sector organisations. As an agile worker, you’ll be out and about a lot of the time, representing the hospice at external events, seeking out new opportunities and liaising closely with hospice colleagues.

Since starting in summer 2022, the Compassionate Communities team support four community Bereavement Cafes, run in partnership in the community; made sustainable through training amazing volunteers and community leaders. Encouraging people to support each other through loss and bereavement is a key part of this role. Full training will be provided and you don’t need a background in health and social care. An interest and empathy with grief would be advantageous.

The hospice wouldn’t be here without our incredibly generous and caring communities. Help our Fundraising, Trading, Mill Café and Education teams to promote their income-generating events, services and initiatives, whilst engaging with local networks, partners and people.

We’re looking for outstanding communicators and enthusiastic and innovative candidates with experience in areas like project management, community engagement or development, events, workshops, networking, teaching, collaborative working, research and training.

The hospice’s mission is quality of life until the end of life. If you’d like to help us in our mission to encourage people to talk more about death and dying and increase local awareness of hospice services, we’d love to hear from you.

Other benefits include:

Hybrid working opportunities

• Ample, free parking in the beautiful grounds of St Catherine’s Park when based at the hospice

• Access to training and development opportunities
• Generous annual leave entitlement of 36 days per year (inclusive of Bank Holidays), as well your birthday off every year
• Existing NHS pensions would be transferable or access to a competitive pension scheme

For informal discussion, please contact Jenny England, our Compassionate Communities Project Lead on jenny.england@stcatherines.co.uk or ring 01772 629171.

Closing date: Tuesday 3^rd December 2024 at 4pm

Interview date: Thursday 12^th December 2024

To apply for this opportunity, please submit your CV and supporting information as to why you should be considered for this position to recruitment@stcatherines.co.uk

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