Community Integration and Engagement Practitioner Location: Essex Salary: £24,479 Vacancy Type: Permanent Advertising End Date: 19 th March 2026 About The Role Are you passionate about supporting people on their journey to sustained recovery? Join our team at Essex Community Rehabilitation Service and make a real difference in people’s lives as they transition from structured treatment into connected, meaningful futures. This is a full-time role (35 hours/week), with some flexibility for evening and weekend sessions to meet client needs. As a Community Integration & Engagement Practitioner, you’ll deliver a dynamic blend of group sessions, 1:1 support, and community engagement, helping clients prevent relapse, build recovery capital, and thrive in their communities. What you’ll do: Facilitate recovery groups, post-treatment sessions, weekly support groups, and relapse prevention groups, both online and face-to-face across Essex. Provide tailored 1:1 support, weekly sessions after graduation from SHARP, MPACT, or BOC, with quarterly check-ins for a year. Promote community engagement, guide clients to ERF activities, mutual aid fellowships, and meaningful social connections. Signpost & navigate, connect clients to mental health, employment, education, volunteering, and wellbeing opportunities. Develop volunteer & peer networks, support clients in volunteering and peer-led initiatives. What we’re looking for: Strong communication and facilitation skills Empathy, resilience, and a genuine commitment to recovery Flexibility to work evenings and weekends when required Ability to work independently and as part of a multidisciplinary team If you’re ready to empower individuals and help them build lasting recovery, we want to hear from you. 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 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. 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. 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. 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. To Apply If you feel you are a suitable candidate and would like to work for Forward Trust, please proceed through the following link to be redirected to our website to complete your application. https://careers.forwardtrust.org.uk/vacancies/541/community-integration-and-engagement-practitioner.html