The role involves providing 1:1 mentoring to young people at risk of gang involvement, violence, and exploitation, using lived experience to promote positive lifestyle changes. Embedded within Coventry's Youth Justice Service, the position prioritises safeguarding, resilience-building, and collaboration with multi-agency partners to reduce offending and support vulnerable youth.
Responsible to:
SOS+ Manager
Responsible for:
Providing 1:1 mentoring for youth justice service clients at risk of serious youth violence, gang activity and exploitation
Hours:
Full Time, 35 hours per week Fixed term until 31/03/2026
Grade:
Band 3
Location:
Coventry
Holiday:
30 days + bank and statutory holidays (pro-rated if part time)
Salary:
£27,000 per annum
Please note successful candidates should expect to be appointed at the starting point of the salary scale and consideration may be given to a higher salary depending on the experience of the individual.
Application Deadline:
Monday, 6th October 2025 at 9:00am
Interviews to be held week commencing 13th October 2025
Please note this role requires Enhanced Child Workforce with Child Barred DBS check
St Giles Trust is a Charity helping people facing severe disadvantage to find jobs, homes, and the right support they need. We help them to become positive contributors to local communities and wider society. We passionately believe everybody is capable of changing their lives. Our mission is we empower people to overcome injustices for themselves, their families and their local communities – we achieve this through offering support from someone who has been there. Our peer-led services form the backbone of our work.
St Giles Trust's SOS+ Embedded Mentors work within the Youth Justice Service offering our bespoke service to support young people who are at risk of serious youth violence, gang activity or exploitation.
Utilising a multi-agency approach, combining sessions to young people, their parents and professionals, the project aims to:
* Prevent young people from becoming more entrenched in serious youth violence and criminal activity by demystifying gang culture and educating them about the harsh realities of knife crime and prison life.
* Impart real tools that young people can utilise to make better informed decisions and to avoid negative lifestyle choices.
* Endorse the benefits of pro-social careers
* Equip parents and professionals with the knowledge, understanding and tools to help safeguard their young people
Our award-winning approach puts trained staff with lived experience at the heart of the solution. Having previously been involved in gangs, crime and street life; they are imbued with a passion and collective desire to ensure the young people they work with do not make the same mistakes they once did. This approach allows for pro-social modelling and our staff use their lived experience to offer an alternative to the 'street' narrative. It has proven successful where more conventional approaches have failed.
THE ROLE:
Within this role, you will be embedded within Coventry's Youth Justice team, completing one to one facilitation based around St Giles Trust's SOS+ Model. You will work alongside the Youth Justice team and other supporting, local authority services. Raising awareness around risks associated with all aspects of gang involvement, exploitation, county lines and violence and offering intensive 1:1 mentoring to young people who have been identified as needing targeted support.
Through the 1:1 mentoring sessions, you will ensure children and young people are equipped to think critically, assess risk and make better life choices. The resulting mindset shift and confidence makes them more resilient to the risks of gangs, exploitation and violence.
You will work closely with St Giles Trust and partner agencies to prioritise safeguarding and contribute to a shared aim of reducing risky behaviour and raise aspirations.
* Young people will be seen to have a reduction in offending/anti-social behaviour/ reduction in contact with police, reduction in re-offending
* This role will be instrumental in bridging the gap between clients and professionals and be there for the young person during key reachable, teachable moments.
(1) Key Deliverables
* To establish positive and professional relationships with the children, young people, parents/carers and professionals accessing the service
* To build trust and create a safe space for young people in which to explore challenging and potentially traumatic issues and topics
* To promote the value of lifestyle changes to young people accessing the service
* To deliver 1:1 mentoring sessions that tackle mentees perceptions of gang involvement, violence and exploitation, encouraging them to develop a positive self-identity, healthy relationships, to feel safe and to raise their aspirations.
* To actively listen to children and young people, and appropriately plan structured, tailored group and 1:1 mentoring sessions
* To upskill parents and professionals when required
* To maintain accurate records of 1:1 mentoring work, session work and data collection
* To develop and maintain professional relationships with the YJS, Horizon, Social workers, mental health teams and safeguarding leads
* To contribute in multi-agency meetings, utilising expertise around lived experience and local knowledge
* To assist with providing monitoring information and the evaluation of the project. Ensuring a high-quality service is delivered to schools and communities
* To represent the organisation externally as required. This includes the ability to work collaboratively with external organisations, partners and corporate supporters, adapting to their culture where relevant.
* To comply with relevant safeguarding policies of the provision(s) and St Giles Trust. Ensuring that all systems are in place to protect the confidentiality of clients who use the service, and appropriate disclosure procedures are followed
* To attend and engage positively with training as required
* To implement the policies and procedures of St Giles Trust
* To carry out any other similar duties as required, including providing support to other St Giles Trust Projects when needed.
(2) Person specification
When completing your application form please address the points marked with (A) set out below.
Experience
* Personal experience of the criminal justice system, or lived experience of the issues facing this client group (i.e. involved in gangs or knife crime). (A)
* Experience of working positively with socially excluded children and young people able to engage successfully despite 'challenging' behaviour. (A)
* Experience of delivering sessions to young people (A)
* Proven experience of working in a high intensity environment, being self-motivating, with an ability to effectively manage your own wellbeing.
Qualifications
* To have a relevant qualification to a good standard or be willing to work towards one.
Knowledge
* Knowledge of the issues facing this client group, such as gangs, knife crime, social exclusion and isolation, child criminal exploitation, adverse childhood experiences and trauma. (A)
* Knowledge of and commitment to safeguarding practices and policies, and an ability to promote safeguarding among vulnerable clients and colleagues. (A)
* Knowledge of anti-discriminatory working practices, and the implications of both within the working environment.
* Practical application of diversity awareness and unconscious bias in employment. (A)
Skills & Abilities
* Ability to confidently speak in front of large groups delivering key messages, following a session plan and hitting learning objectives. (A)
* Ability to actively listen and motivate young people (A)
* Ability to be work remotely and autonomously, effectively communicating to managers by email and phone.
* The ability to use monitoring systems to record all aspects of the work, including action plans, outcomes and session data on a day-to-day basis.
* Strong IT skills including proven experience of using Word, PowerPoint, Excel and Outlook in a similar work environment.
* Ability to work alongside teachers and other professionals, professionally representing St Giles Trust.
* Ability to be a positive role model, demonstrating the virtues of a crime-free life to young people. (A)
* Ability and willingness to work flexibly across a wide geographical area.
Attitude
* Personal and professional integrity.
* Proactively emotionally Resilient.
* Professionalism and a willingness to implement constructive feedback.
* Commitment to consultative & collaborative ways of working.
* Commitment to and understanding of safeguarding and professional boundaries. (A)
* Respect for the values and ethos of St Giles.
* Positive attitude towards staff, clients and our Peers/volunteers.
(3) About Us
In St Giles, you can expect a competitive salary, generous leave allowance, staff pension, flexible working, a mentoring programme, an advice and counselling service, season ticket loan and much more.
We are an equity and inclusion-confident employer. We welcome all applications and we particularly encourage applications from people of the global majority (black, brown, multi-heritage) and those who identify as disabled, nonresponsive, or neurodiverse, with any protected characteristics and/or social barriers or challenges. We value the empowering and informative impact that all lived experiences and diversity of thought can offer the organisation.
St Giles will guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria set out in the Job Description for the vacancy.
Ready to Apply?
1. Click HERE to download the application form.
2. Complete the application form, including the personal statement in relation to the job description.
3. Once completed, please return it by email to Please include the Job Title and Job Code in your email subject.
4. The deadline for this job application is Monday, 6th October 2025 at 9.00am.
This job description is a statement of requirements at the time of writing and is not contractual. It should not be seen as precluding future changes after appointment to this role.