Overview

Smoke Free Champion – East Kent

Permanent

£26,000

**Please be advised this position is a 12 month fixed-term contract**

About the Role

Are you passionate about helping people improve their health and wellbeing and making a real difference to the lives of people affected by substance misuse?

The Forward Trust’s East Kent Community Drug and Alcohol Service is looking for a Smoking Cessation Practitioner to join our team and help improve health outcomes for people accessing specialist drug and alcohol support.

Smoking rates are significantly higher among people experiencing substance misuse and other health inequalities. In this role, you will help integrate effective stop-smoking support into routine substance misuse pathways, raise awareness of the health harms associated with smoking and vaping, and increase access to high-quality smoking cessation support.

You will work directly with service users, colleagues and partner organisations across East Kent to ensure that smoking cessation is embedded into care planning, risk assessments and continuity of care.

You will also play an important role in strengthening the wider workforce by supporting staff to confidently deliver very brief advice and health improvement conversations.

Key responsibilities will include:

  • Using Power BI data dashboards to monitor smoking status and identify opportunities for intervention among people accessing substance misuse treatment.
  • Delivering Very Brief Advice (VBA) and smoking cessation interventions to service users.
  • Supporting service users to access Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) and providing behavioural support.
  • Delivering training and increasing staff confidence in providing smoking cessation advice.
  • Developing and promoting stop-smoking campaigns, events and awareness-raising activities aimed at target populations.
  • Monitoring outcomes and completing monthly reporting in line with service and commissioner requirements.
  • Working with local stop-smoking providers to develop and embed effective referral pathways and ensure appropriate outcome data is captured.
  • Embedding smoking cessation into care plans and risk assessments.
  • Working with prison and hospital settings to ensure smoking cessation support is incorporated into continuity of care plans.
  • Identifying and addressing barriers to engagement, including transport, digital exclusion, low confidence and previous negative experiences of services.
  • Improving referral rates to local stop-smoking services and supporting reductions in smoking prevalence among people accessing substance misuse services, particularly in areas of high deprivation.
  • Strengthening partnership working to ensure service users receive consistent advice and seamless support.
  • Working within existing outreach models to engage people experiencing homelessness and other underserved populations.
  • Supporting consistent smoke-free messaging across community venues and bringing cessation support closer to where people live.

The role will contribute to Forward Trust and local commissioner targets, with a strong focus on measuring outcomes and demonstrating positive health improvements.

Flexibility is essential, as the role may involve some evening and weekend working, as well as travel to different projects and community settings across East Kent.

About You

We are looking for someone who is compassionate, motivated and confident in supporting people to make positive changes to their health and wellbeing.

You will have experience of working within substance misuse and/or mental health services, with the ability to build positive, trusting relationships with people who may experience multiple and complex needs.

You will be confident delivering structured interventions on a one-to-one and group basis and have experience using motivational interviewing techniques to support behaviour change.

You will also be comfortable working collaboratively with colleagues and external partners, coordinating multiple programmes and contributing to service development and improvement.

Essential skills and experience:

  • Experience of working within substance misuse and/or mental health services.
  • Experience of delivering structured interventions to service users.
  • Experience of facilitating groups.
  • Experience and confidence using motivational interviewing techniques in both one-to-one and group settings.
  • Strong IT skills and confidence using digital systems and data.
  • Understanding of continuity of care, holistic care needs and community services.
  • Experience of promoting and supporting equality, diversity and inclusion.
  • Experience and confidence coordinating multiple group programmes.
  • Ability to work collaboratively with partner agencies and professionals.
  • Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to engage people from a range of backgrounds.

Knowledge and understanding:

  • Knowledge of the issues facing people experiencing substance misuse and mental health treatment needs.
  • Knowledge and understanding of the Recovery Agenda.
  • Knowledge and understanding of safeguarding.
  • Understanding of the barriers that can prevent people from accessing and engaging with health improvement services.

Qualifications:

  • Level 3 Diploma in Health and Social Care or equivalent.
  • National Centre for Smoking Cessation and Training (NCSCT) Level 2 qualification. This training is available online.

About Us

We are The Forward Trust, the social enterprise with charitable status that empowers people to break the often interlinked cycles of crime and addiction to move forward with their lives. For more than 25 years we have been working with people to build positive and productive lives, whatever their past. We believe that anyone is capable of lasting change. Our services have supported thousands of people to make positive changes and build productive lives with a job, family, friends and a sense of community.

We are committed to our cause and the work we carry out as a charity. Equally the wellbeing and the employees who work for us are also important. Joining us an employee, we will offer you the following benefits – 

  • Flexible working
  •  Support for Families – We support our employees through every stage of family life by offering enhanced maternity and paternity pay for eligible employees who have completed 26 weeks’ continuous service, alongside family-friendly policies and a supportive, inclusive workplace. If you’d like more information about our family-friendly benefits, please contact our Recruitment Team at recruitment@forwardtrust.org.uk 
  • Training and development opportunities
    • Simply Health Cashback Scheme (optional)
    • Season Ticket Loan Scheme 
    • Cycle to work scheme
    • Crisis Loan Scheme
    • Electric Car Scheme
    • 3 x Wellbeing Days (pro rata’d for part time employees)
    • Access to Blue Light Card
    • 25 days (rising to 30 with length of service) Annual Leave plus Bank Holidays 
    • Contributory Pension Scheme – Employer matched contributions of up to 6% in the first two years’ service and up to 9% thereafter 
    • Death in Service Payment (2x annual salary) 
    • Critical Illness Insurance (subject to qualifying criteria)
    Please note that we may close this vacancy early if we receive a high volume of suitable applications.
    Please note that remote roles may require occasional travel for site visits, training and meetings.
     
    Diversity at Forward Trust
    The Forward Trust commits to providing opportunities to everyone. We want to ensure we have a diverse team with a range of lived and professional experiences. This includes those with ‘Lived Experience’ of addiction, offending, or homelessness. Some of our roles may require a minimum period of sustained recovery (normally around 3 years). This is assessed on a case-by-case basis, and exceptions may be considered depending on the role and individual circumstances.

    When we recruit, we welcome applications from everyone. This is inclusive of age, gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion and/or belief, marriage and civil partnerships, pregnancy and maternity and socio-economic background. Where operationally possible, we will consider flexible working requests and make reasonable adjustments for all roles.

    To find out more about Forward’s commitment to being an inclusive employer and our current EDI strategy click here.  

    We want our recruitment process to be accessible to everyone. If you require any reasonable adjustments at any stage, please let us know.
     
    Employee Screening and Eligibility to Work
    Dependent on role you may be required to undertake a Disclosure and Barring Service Check, details of which will be shared with you at interview.

    If successful in your application, you will be required to provide eligibility to work evidence in line with the ‘Eligibility to Work in the UK’ requirements.

    Our Commitment to Safeguarding
    We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people, and adults at risk. Forward Trust follow safer recruitment practices and support a culture of openness and accountability.

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