Casual Support Worker

Variable / 0 hours per week casual contract

Are you someone who believes in the power of dignity, choice and independence? Do you have a heart for helping others live life to the fullest? If so, we’d love to welcome you to our team as a Support Worker.

As a Support Worker, you’ll play a vital role in providing support and longer-term care for individuals with Learning Disabilities. Your mission? To help people regain or maintain their independence by promoting daily living skills and offering compassionate, person-centred care.

You’ll be supporting individuals in line with their personal support and goal plans—offering not just practical help, but emotional encouragement and genuine connection.

What You'll Be Doing

• Working with people, not for them, empowering individuals to develop skills, confidence and independence.
• Using Active Support approaches to enable people to participate in all aspects of daily life and make meaningful choices about how they spend their time.
• Supporting individuals to engage in meaningful activities that reflect their interests, aspirations and personal goals, both at home and within the local community.
• Promoting positive risk-taking, encouraging residents to try new experiences, develop new skills and achieve outcomes that matter to them, whilst ensuring appropriate support and safety measures are in place.
• Delivering personal care with dignity and respect, including support with washing, dressing, toileting and mealtimes.
• Following individual support plans and communicating updates to senior staff to ensure support remains responsive and person-centred.
• Supporting safe mobility, emotional wellbeing and healthy lifestyles.
• Maintaining accurate records and contributing to reviews that support positive outcomes for residents.
• Building trusting relationships and being a consistent source of encouragement, reassurance and motivation.

Supporting Meaningful Lives

As part of our team, you will support residents to lead fulfilling and rewarding lives through a range of meaningful activities and experiences. This may include developing independent living skills, accessing education and employment opportunities, pursuing hobbies and interests, maintaining relationships, and participating in community events and leisure activities across the Isle of Wight.

Using the principles of Active Support, you will encourage residents to take an active role in everyday tasks and decision-making, ensuring they are fully involved in shaping their own lives. You will also promote positive risk-taking, recognising that taking managed risks is an important part of personal growth, independence and achieving individual goals.

Our aim is to support people to live the lives they choose, maximise their independence and enjoy opportunities that are meaningful to them, whilst receiving the right level of support to remain safe, healthy and connected to their community.

What We're Looking For

• A compassionate and respectful approach to supporting people.
• An understanding of, or willingness to learn about, Active Support, person-centred approaches and Positive Behaviour Support.
• A commitment to promoting independence, choice, inclusion and positive risk-taking.
• The ability to support people to engage in meaningful activities and achieve personal goals.
• Strong communication, observation and record-keeping skills.
• A team player who can also work confidently on their own initiative.
• Previous experience in care or support work is desirable but not essential, as full training will be provided.

Why Join Us?

• A supportive and inclusive working environment.
• Regular structured supervision and ongoing support.
• Comprehensive training and development opportunities.
• The opportunity to make a meaningful difference in people's lives every day.

As part of our team, you'll support residents to enjoy all that Island life has to offer. Activities may include:

• Coastal walks between Shanklin and Sandown.
• Visits to feed the ducks.
• Bus trips around the Isle of Wight.
• Trips to local garden centres, clubs and Pubs and shows at the Theatres
• Day trips and excursions to attractions including Tapnell Farm, Robin Hill and Rylstone Gardens.
• Annual Holidays or days away to visit families residing on the mainland.

Our residents have a wide range of support needs and personal interests, so you'll need to adapt your approach to ensure everyone can enjoy activities that suit them best.

You will play a key role in delivering a high-quality service that is person-centred and focused on maximising residents' independence, confidence and life experiences. We are looking for people with energy, enthusiasm and a positive attitude, alongside the patience, understanding and calm approach needed to support residents who may communicate non-verbally.

Contact us today to discover how you can fit in with our team as a Support Worker at Plean Dene! The typical shift times are as follows:

Shift Patterns

• Early Shift: 07:15 - 14:45
• Late Shift: 14:30 - 22:00
• Wakeful Night: 22:00 - 07:30

Candidates will be expected to demonstrate an appropriate level of literacy and numeracy, together with a commitment to delivering excellent care and support.

It is important that residents can access a wide range of community activities, and applications are particularly welcomed from candidates who are able to drive vehicles used by residents.

Interested?

For further information or an informal discussion, please contact Christine Grimes on 01983 866015.

Join our team at Plean Dene and help make a real difference every day.

Join #TeamIWC and you'll receive our staff benefits package, including:

• Annual leave entitlement of 32 days p/a PLUS public holidays!
• Local Government pension scheme
• Discounted Solent ferry travel
• Island bus network discount
• Cycle to work scheme
• Staff parking permit scheme
• Discounted island sports & leisure gym membership
• National and local discounts & benefits schemes
• Relocation scheme of up to £8,000 may be available for some roles (subject to criteria)
• Travel allowance may be available if commuting from the mainland (subject to criteria)

To discover more about our careers please visit Jobs and careers - Isle of Wight

Find out more about Our culture and environment & living on the Isle of Wight

The Isle of Wight Council currently does not have a license to sponsor overseas workers.

We actively promote the diversity of our workforce, and provide flexible working options (where appropriate) to support the different needs of our employees. We are an equal opportunities employer, proud to encourage applications from all cultures, backgrounds and abilities to better reflect the diversity within our local community.

We are a Disability Confident employer. Along with a number of commitments, this means, providing you meet the basic essential requirements of the advertised role and have declared yourself as disabled, you will be offered an opportunity for an interview within the council.

The Isle of Wight Council protects its employees from discrimination, and this is supported by;

unacceptable behaviour policy

employee code of conduct

The Isle of Wight Council’s Terms & Conditions of employment are available upon request. Please contact our recruitment team via adverts@iow.gov.uk if you would like to receive a copy.

The Isle of Wight Council reserve the right to close vacancies earlier than stated, if required. To ensure your application is considered, it is recommended to submit your application promptly.

Please note, appointment to a regulated role will require you to provide additional personal details, including full employment history, referee information, and consent for any required safeguarding checks, as part of the Council’s commitment to safer recruitment and compliance with regulatory requirements.

Out of Hours Standby and Call Out. You may be asked to provide support in exceptional circumstances, outside of usual business hours. Unless stated otherwise in the job summary for the role this is not part of the department’s usual standby arrangements.

For support completing your online application or for further information on how to apply, phone 01983 823134 or email callcentre@iow.gov.uk Only applications submitted online by the closing date will be accepted.

We often receive a high volume of applicants for our vacancies. If you do not hear from the recruiting manager within three weeks of the closing date, we regret that your application will not have been successful on this occasion. Please revisit our job page for alternate posts that may be suitable.