Victims of Slavery Support Services Adviser

Location: Belfast

Contract: Fixed Term until November 2023

Salary: £25,467

Increasing to £29,580 following successful completion of a 6 months probation period. Salary review pending

Closing Date: 28 April 2023

We are currently looking for two Victims of Slavery Support Services Advisers to join our dedicated and compassionate Victims of Slavery Support Services (VSSS) team, on a Fixed Term Contract. 

The successful candidate will be hard working and accountable, have demonstrable experience of working in a client focussed environment, providing excellent customer service and be passionate about protecting our vulnerable clients.

This role will work as part of Migrant Help’s Victims of Slavery Support Service team and to provide a professional support service to victims of trafficking and ensure a seamless service to clients. This includes the provision of support, advice and guidance in addition to providing assistance with the completion of any relevant support applications.

If you are a strong communicator, have demonstrable experience of prioritising and working on your own initiative whilst respecting boundaries and a looking for an exciting role within a charity that is making a difference, we’d love to hear from you!

As the Victims of Slavery Support Services Adviser your duties would include:

• Provide support to victims of trafficking (known as clients), as directed by the VSSS Team Manager
• Manage a case load offering appropriate individual support to client
• Refer clients to health and specialist agencies as necessary
• Arrange for the provision of necessities, including accommodation, food, clothing, toiletries
• Arrange meaningful activities, which may include social events, language lessons, orientation briefings, etc
• Support the process of clients being able to obtain employment and affordable housing, where appropriate
• Arrange the process of supporting a return to a client’s country of origin, where appropriate
• Collect management information as required
• Arrange for the preparation of appropriate documentation with Home Office/embassies, as appropriate in NRM referral
• Provide support to other colleagues as and when required
• Provide telephone assistance and new referral meet and greet during unsocial hours on a rota basis
• Keep up to date with legislation and the impact it may have on service users, and disseminate as appropriate to the team
• Undertake any other duties which may be assigned from time by the VSSS Team Manager

The experience and skills you need:

• Demonstrable administrative and organisational skills
• Excellent computer skills, competent in the use of MS Office applications and specifically the ability to use Microsoft Excel to a good standard
• Excellent Customer Care Skills with meticulous attention to detail
• Have high attention to detail and ability to problem solve
• Excellent organisational skills with the ability to work under pressure, both individually and in a team

What else to expect:

• An induction and training period, where you will learn about the National Referral Mechanism and our systems, meet your new colleagues, develop your customer service skills and learn what makes our VSSS team and organisation a ‘Great Place to Work’
• Our VSSS department is open Monday to Friday, you will work hours between 9am and 5pm. You will also need to be available to help on our Out Of Hours service on a rota basis.
• You will be required to work in one of our offices regularly, depending on operational needs, the remainder of your time will be home-working or travelling to visit clients in the region.

About Migrant Help:

Migrant Help is a leading charity that has been established for over 50 years and delivers a range of support and advice services to migrants across the UK. Our vision is for a global society that protects vulnerable migrants, treats them with respect and enables them to reach their full potential.

We place a high value on employees in relation to the work that they do and the benefits the organisation offers, with an ethos of being a Great Place to Work.

These are some of the benefits we offer:

• Flexibility and work life balance
• Enhanced family friendly provisions
• Additional holiday entitlements
• Perkbox benefits
• Non-contributory pension scheme.

At Migrant Help, we foster a culture in which equality, diversity and inclusion are recognised, valued and encouraged. It doesn’t matter who you are or where you come from, we match your skills with the needs of our organisation. As long as you share our values, vision and goals. We welcome applications from candidates regardless of their age, religion or belief, race, gender reassignment, disability, sexual orientation, sex, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity.

Migrant Help is committed to safeguarding those we provide a service to, applicants will have to undergo strict vetting procedures throughout different stages of the recruitment process.  

– This post is subject to a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check

Therefore the applicant must:

• Be able to provide documents to show their right to work in the UK i.e. passport or other right to work documents such as work visa, settled status document, certificate of registration, naturalization as a British citizen, Biometric Residence Permit etc.

• Provide full employment history for the previous 3 years and/or suitable documentation to cover any gaps in employment.

We encourage applications from disabled people by offering them an interview if they meet the minimum criteria for the job

See the Job Description for full person specification.

How to apply

To apply for this role, please click on the ‘use this link to apply’ button and complete the online application form attaching a copy of your CV and cover letter.

Selection Criteria

Your application will be assessed against the job description and person specification, which can be found via the above link, we therefore recommend you review both before you apply.
Closing Date: 28 April 2023
As part of your role, it is important you operate within Migrant Help’s values:
Protection, Diversity, Equality, Partnership, Innovation and Excellence.
Migrant Help is proud to be an equal opportunities employer.

https://migranthelp.peoplehr.net/Pages/JobBoard/Opening.aspx?v=4f8eaf85-f484-4b2c-923a-0dc33d4e746f

Belfast Telegraph Feature Story 18.04.23

Can Northern Ireland do more to improve diversity, equality and inclusion in entrepreneurship and help fuel a better and more inclusive economy? Ulster Bank hosted leaders from across the sectors to discuss what can be done to improve the business landscape here.

Nisha Tandon, of ArtsEkta – one of Ireland’s largest cultural organisations – says it’s about building confidence, and also moving away from seeing the same people at events or on panels, and creating something more representative.

“We are going to see the same old people. I have been here for 45 years and have the confidence… but there are many others who are really better business people than what I am but they just don’t have that confidence to come out,” she said. “It is very important to bring that out in a person of colour.”

That move away from business or event panels which are not diverse is a key step along the way.

“It’s difficult to get started on the journey but I don’t think it’s difficult once you get on the journey – when you speak to someone and say ‘we’re looking for someone who has this experience’,” John Ferris said.

Diane Wabo of the Ethnic Minority Employment & Entrepreneurship Network NI came to Northern Ireland around 11 years ago, as a trained accountant, but initially struggled to find the path in which she needed to take in order to get back to work.

That prompted her to launch a new awards scheme – the Minorities Recognition Awards NI, which is currently seeking sponsors and takes place on October 7 – to showcase and celebrate the high-performing, diverse and exciting range of businesses that make up the further integration of minority business owners and contribute to the country’s economy.

“It’s about trying to build confidence and encourage people,” she says. “The awards are to showcase excellence among the minority community – business owners and professionals. To help build that confidence.”

Orla McKeating, Diversity Mark NI, said that as an organisation it’s continuing on its journey to promote diversity and inclusion.

It now deals with some 155 organisations and 200,000 employees across the UK and Ireland. “My personal mission and purpose is about creating those trusted spaces for people to have the difficult conversations and move into a more equitable, diverse and inclusive society,” she said.

Susan Nightingale of the British Business Bank told guests gathered that the organisation recently produced a report looking at diversity and entrepreneurship across the UK.

“We realised it goes a lot broader than gender and ethnicity,” she says. “We opened that up and included disability, neurodiversity and those who identify as coming from a socio-economically disadvantaged background.”

The organisation asked entrepreneurs what the key barriers were and what they wanted to see to make the process easier and more accessible.

It’s identified four new workstreams, including accreditation within entrepreneurship, a female-focused finance programme, looking at the socio-economically disadvantaged side and producing a resources guide across areas of diversity.

Eoin McFadden of the Department for the Economy said his department has a number of colleagues working directly and specifically on the area of diversity and inclusivity in the workplace. “The door is well and truly open,” he says. “One of the things we are looking at actively is saying that if we are serious about diversity and inclusion, it’s a cornerstone of what we are doing and we should be building it in as a matter of design.”

Source article can be found at https://m.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/business/ulsterbusiness/features/whats-needed-to-make-ni-a-more-diverse-entrepreneurial-landscape/554860941.html 

In partnership with Community Advice Lisburn & Castlereagh (CALC) and funded by Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council Advice NI and CALC will be hosting a number of information sessions aimed at Asylum seekers, Refugees, and Migrants living in Northern Ireland and those who work with them.

The aim is to ensure that everyone has access to information about their rights, entitlements, and responsibilities.

Interpreters will be available for sessions as needed.

Confidential benefits and one-off immigration advice are also available through this project.

Sessions

We are offering sessions on the following topics:

• Asylum and Refugee Rights
• Refugee Family Reunion, Joining Family Members of EU Nationals, Family Visa
• Settlement in the UK
• Benefits for Refugees
• British Citizenship
• Cost of Living Support

Note: Further information about session content is available via the Event Bright link.

Register Now

Places are limited so register today.

Review the programme of events below and choose the topic area and location that suits you. Follow the link for your preferred session/s to register.

You need to register separately for all sessions you wish to attend.

Contact

If you are based in the Lisburn/Castlereagh council area and would like to host an advice or information session for a group, please contact the Advice NI office on 02890 645919, email comms@adviceni.net.

Programme of Events

You can also download the schedule below as a PDF.

Online via Zoom

Belfast area

Thursday 27th April

Thursday 4th May

Thursday 11th May

Venue address

• Advice NI Office – Forestview, Purdy’s Lane, Newtownbreda, Belfast, BT8 7AR

Lisburn and Castlereagh area

Friday 5th May

Friday 12th May

Venue address

• Community Advice Lisburn & Castlereagh – 50 Railway Street Lisburn BT28 1XP

Please note that JMS Solicitors will not be conducting the Free Immigration Clinic this week (Wednesday 12 April)  due to Easter Holiday considerations. The free  Immigration Clinic will continue as normal from Wednesday 19 April 2023. Please inform and share with others who benefit from this service

For your information:

On Sunday 23 April 2023, there will be a national test of the UK Emergency Alerts service.  A national “welcome/test” message is due to be sent to all mobile devices on Sunday 23^rd of April 2023.

Mobile device users will receive a test message on their phone or tablet.  Note your mobile phone or tablet may:

• make a loud siren-like sound, even if it’s set on silent
• vibrate
• read out the alert

The sound and vibration will last for about 10 seconds.  You do not need to do anything when you receive the message, as this is just a test.

The UK Emergency Alerts service is basically a system that can send a message to every mobile device in the UK which is 4G or above and will be used to communicate to the public at a national down to electoral ward level only in the event of the most serious emergencies.  It will not replace any of the already established emergency communication methods, for example weather or flood warnings.

A fuller summary of the system can be found here:  Emergencies and major incidents | nidirect.  Please note nidirect website has a translation option at the bottom of its webpages (what it looks like below) which will translate the web content into different languages.

Please see below updates related to ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) and English language support initiatives.

(further details – PDF format E-zine document attached)

ESOL NI – E-zine April 2023

1. ESOL NI – Learner Survey – Results – January 2023

Attached documents with further information (PDF stats & Excel documents)

1. Guidance on how to use the ESOL NI website to find information and effectively search the directory of ESOL providers in Northern Ireland –

See further details- PDF E-zine document attached to this email.

You can search the ESOL NI website for ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) classes in Northern Ireland offered by:

• Further Education (FE) Colleges
• Free community provision
• Private English language schools and providers

https://esolwebapp.azurewebsites.net/

News! Our ESOL NI Facebook new page is now live – Please like and follow

ESOL NI | Belfast | Facebook

1. Displaced Student Opportunities UK is a new portal featuring access to university opportunities for refugees and people seeking asylum.

For more information visit the site here: displacedstudent.org.uk

1. New useful resources about refugee integration (Migration Yorkshire)

Our Colleagues from Migration Yorkshire have released a useful new set of resources about refugee integration:

See further details and links – PDF E-zine document attached.

There’s a new set of FREE, practical and creative resources on the Migration Yorkshire website for people who work with and support refugees to settle and integrate with the local community.

1. The Learning & Work Institute has some useful resources for those who want to offer conversation classes online or in person.

https://learningandwork.org.uk/resources/research-and-reports/volunteers-english-language-learners-and-conversation-clubs/

Resources for volunteers who may want to start conversation classes / groups online or F2F. Scroll to the bottom and you will find many units of resources based around functional English like Shopping for example. There are 15 units in total.

1. Updated list of ESOL classes delivered within community in Belfast and surrounding areas by postcode (Word document attached – kindly prepared and updated by volunteers Johanne Martin and Angela Russell)

Belfast Met – Offer of free English language classes online – students at higher levels – ESOL Levels 1 & 2 (B2 to C1) – non-accredited.
See flyer attached (2nd page) – please share

FREE for displaced migrants, refugees and asylum seekers.

Details on how to register are attached.

The Executive Office has launched a consultation into Race Relations legislation. The current legislation does not adequately protect people from racism. It is hoped that n Northern Ireland’s race legislation can be strengthened so that it offers at least the same level of protection, if not better, than other jurisdictions across these islands. It is so important that your voice is heard as part of the consultation to ensure that genuine change is made.

The legislation comes in full and easy read format and there is also a children’s questionnaire. The links are below:

Consultation on the Review of the Race Relations (NI) Order 1997 | The Executive Office (executiveoffice-ni.gov.uk)

Note the consultation closes on the 18th June 2023.