OUTREACH AND VOLUNTEER OFFICER

Salary £24,000 + travel

ABOUT LIVERPOOL CARES

Liverpool 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 reduce isolation and loneliness amongst older and younger people
alike; to help improve the skills, connection, belonging, purpose and power of all
participants so that older and younger people can confidently navigate the modern
world; and to bring people together to bridge social, generational, digital, cultural and
attitudinal divides.

We do this because our home city is a wonderful place, with music, laughter, personality
and spirit at its core. Liverpool has always been outward facing: a maritime hub that
welcomes the world with a universal love of sport, song and spontaneity. But the city we
love is also now changing at double speed, and that can leave some people feeling
anonymous, isolated and left behind.

For older neighbours in particular, many of whom have spent a lifetime in their home areas,
the pace of change can feel overwhelming. Getting around can be difficult, and trends
including globalisation, digitisation, urban regeneration and transience are transforming
some communities faster than ever before.

The multiplying effect of those pressures is that many older people have deep roots –
from Anfield to Everton, Fairfield to Fazakerly, Croxteth to Chinatown – but few
connections. Meanwhile, young people – often students and graduates from across the
country and around the world – can have hundreds of connections in the social media
age, but no roots in their communities.

The separation of those parallel worlds can leave many older and younger people alike
feeling disconnected: it wastes human potential, entrenches loneliness and isolation,
perpetuates social division and is ultimately corrosive for our city's togetherness.

Liverpool Cares therefore seeks to bring older and younger Liverpudlians together to share
experiences and build relationships in a variety of authentic ways. We speak the
language of older and younger people alike – and make interaction on a personal level
mutually accessible, social, enjoyable and fun.

As part of the wider ‘Cares Family’ of local branches that includes Manchester Cares, South
London Cares and North London Cares, Liverpool Cares is built on a strong national
model, infrastructure, experience and funding. We have secured investment from Nesta,

Liverpool Cares is a UK registered company (no. 11166325) and UK registered charity (no. 1177749).
The Big Lottery and Esmée Fairbairn Foundation to build and grow Liverpool Cares over at
least the next three years.

But Liverpool Cares is also uniquely Liverpudlian. Our programmes will centre on the
inspiring past, present and future of our great city – and the history, humour and solidarity
of this special place – to make sure people feel part of our changing city rather than left
behind by it.

We are already working with Liverpool City Council, 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.

Liverpool Cares will open in autumn 2018.

ABOUT OUR PROGRAMMES

Liverpool Cares will operate four core programmes. Our Social Clubs will be group
activities bringing older and younger people together in community centres, parks, cafes,
and local businesses to share time, laughter and cultural exchange. Events several times a
week, during evenings and weekends as well as on weekdays, will include dance parties,
film nights, choirs, new technology workshops, ‘back to work’ business visits and themed
get-togethers like summer barbeques and sports watch parties.

Meanwhile, our Love Your Neighbour programme will match younger and older
neighbours to spend quality time together one-to-one, often in people’s homes, to improve
the life experience of all participants. Neighbours will often become long-lasting friends,
bringing one another new experiences, perspectives and interaction. The programme is
designed to help bring a little of the outside world in for those who can struggle to get out.

Third, our unique Outreach will enable us to identify isolation in our neighbourhoods pro-
actively through ongoing community engagement. Liverpool 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 Liverpool 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 Liverpool
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.
Liverpool Cares is a UK registered company (no. 11166325) and UK registered charity (no. 1177749).
ABOUT THIS ROLE

Liverpool Cares is a brand new organisation and this is one of the first roles we are hiring
for. The post is fundamental to Liverpool Cares’ success – as 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 skillset
including open communication, good organisation, patience in abundance, and
characteristics including an outgoing personality, personal warmth and determination.

You will work closely with The Cares Family’s Head of Programmes (Northwest) and a local
Liverpool Cares team, in time, of up to three additional people. You will meet hundreds of
older people and young professionals all across the city – 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 Liverpool Cares’
vision and the aims and objectives of the charity 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 Liverpool 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 in Liverpool’s city
centre, and partly from the communities across the city in which Liverpool Cares will deliver
its programmes.

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 Kensington as you are talking about work and weddings with a 25-year-old
volunteer in the Baltic Triangle.

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 methodical, target focused and strategic. And we need a self-starter:

Liverpool Cares is a UK registered company (no. 11166325) and UK registered charity (no. 1177749).
someone committed, tough and focused working alone as well as collaboratively; who is
passionate about developing Liverpool 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 in Liverpool as the city continues to change at pace. So the stand out
candidate will have deep knowledge of and passion for the unique communities and
cultures of Liverpool’s various neighbourhoods, alongside experience managing people
and projects.

This is a wonderful opportunity to build something special in Liverpool. 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 Liverpool Cares’ Projects Officer (Social Clubs) and reporting to The Cares
Family’s Head of Programmes (Northwest), you will:

• Be responsible for Liverpool 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 300 older people can get
involved in Liverpool Cares in year one;

• Inspire, engage, screen, manage and mobilise at least 300 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 Liverpool Cares as inclusive and welcoming as possible;

• Take responsibility for providing appropriate recognition and feedback to volunteers

to cultivate their engagement, reward commitment and celebrate their efforts;

• Design and deliver promotional materials, including monthly programmes, diaries,

posters and letters for older neighbours, and blast emails and creative digital media
content for the younger volunteers;

• Research and manage new and existing partnerships, including with other local
community groups, Liverpool’s four 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

communication with older and younger people in the city, plus innovative retention
and re-engagement efforts where required;

Liverpool Cares is a UK registered company (no. 11166325) and UK registered charity (no. 1177749).
 • Constantly communicate with and support our Projects Officer (Social Clubs) who
will be responsible for delivering 15 group activities a month and all other members
of Liverpool Cares’ and The Cares Family’s staff teams;

• 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;

• Be agile to the dynamism required of a young charity, seizing new opportunities to

further our reach and impact as they arise;

• Represent Liverpool Cares and our values and vision with the highest standards of
quality, professionalism, creativity and integrity.

REQUIRED:

• You are ambitious, outgoing, hard-working, fun, approachable, self-starting,

reliable, confident, creative, empathetic, determined, methodical, agile, resilient,
discreet and organised;

• You are happy working alone as well as in a team;

• You have high standards and aspirations for your work and want to make a lasting
contribution to your city on some of the defining issues of our time;

• You have a good understanding of the culture and socio-economic context in

Liverpool and can build relationships with people from all backgrounds;

• You’re an authentic, high-quality communicator and storyteller – with the ability

to build relationships with diverse groups and individuals effectively and
appropriately (through design, and written as well as verbal communications);

• You have the flexibility to work during evenings and weekends in order to deliver
your work, with time off provided in lieu;

• You are able to obtain good references and a clear DBS certification (provided).

LOGISTICS

For more information or to apply please send a CV and covering letter to

alex.smith@liverpoolcares.org.uk, demonstrating why you are right for this role.

• Applications should be received no later than 5pm on Thursday August 16th 2018.

• First round interviews will take place during the week beginning August 20th, with
call backs for second interviews from August 27th and a start in early October 2018.

Liverpool Cares is a UK registered company (no. 11166325) and UK registered charity (no. 1177749).