Finance Officer

Responsible To: South Riverside Community Development Finance Manager
Hours: 21 per week
Salary : £26,260 pro rata
Fixed Term Until : 31st March 2016
Base: Butetown, Riverside or Grangetown
Responsible for: Assisting in finance support for BRG Communities 1st

Applications Close 12th June 2015
for job description and application form click here

Health Ambassadors Programme
The national and regional Communities First Programme (across Wales and Cardiff) aspires to
improve  health  outcomes  for  all  people  resident  within  our  target  communities.  As  such  the
Butetown, Riverside & Grangetown (BRG) programme will deliver activities  that will contribute
to  this aspiration.

As part of our Community Involvement Plan we will aim to involve members
of our local communities to be actively involved in participating in the changes we wish to see.
Volunteer Ambassadors will be trained to support community residents in a  participatory  way
to  address  health  shortfalls  in  their  lifestyles,  and  to  encourage  community  members  to
participate in health screening activities. The programmes activities will seek to support cluster
residents  to  access  appropriate  health  information  and  support  based  on  thematic  groups.
Trained volunteer ‘ambassadors’ will operate throughout the BRG cluster area.
Through group work and 1-2-1 support it is intended that this project will –
  Engage community members in early diagnosis opportunities
  Develop thematic groups to enable specialist liaison with appropriate healthcare professionals and providers
  Encourage peer support
  Identify potential opportunities for health and wellbeing support to participants
  Provide a conduit through which to get appropriate advice and support on a 1-2-1 basis using trained ambassadors.
  Support for other family members including lifestyle advice to attempt to break a family cycle of poor health.
The  project  will  be  open  access  –  and  will  be  themed  around  key  conditions.  They  will  be
delivered  in  the  community  and  will  be  targeted  on  those  areas  which  have  the  highest
incidences of limiting long-term illnesses – Riverside 2, Butetown 2 and Butetown 1
Improved health and wellbeing for all, with the pace of improvement
increasing in proportion to the level of disadvantage.

Butetown, Riverside & Grangetown Communities First
Why are we promoting a Health Ambassadors approach?
The primary purpose of the project is to reduce the  disproportionate  poor health experiences
of the local population through creating a community based support service that offers a nonthreatening  and  accessible  means  to  support,  early  diagnosis  and  lifestyle  improvements.
Alongside  identifying  additional  physical  and  emotional  well-being  opportunities  our
programme will aim to enhance residents’ quality of life.
We know that the death rate, and incidences of limiting long-term illness across our cluster are
unacceptably high and all above the Cardiff average; there are a number of reasons for this.
Many people within the cluster are unaware of the opportunities for screening that exist within
the healthcare system.
Equally  lack of confidence,  poor  communication  and essential skills  (which can sometimes be
linked to the culture of community members) can also play a key part.
Whilst we know that many life-limiting illnesses do have national / regional  support groups, we
find these to be lacking in their ability to –
  Develop locally based peer relationships
  Recognise  that distinct approaches are needed when  working with the diverse make-up of the cluster to
  improve accessibility through location and language of provision.
Through  the  development  of  groups  and  trained  volunteer  support  we  will  provide  a
sustainable solution to assist residents to improve their knowledge and access to services in a
manner appropriate to community demographics.

All participants will receive induction & training  in  preparation  for  the  work  they  will  undertake.  Opportunities  to  enhance
professional and personal development will be offered throughout the life of the programme.
As such prospective applicants will be required to make a time commitment equivalent to a ½ day  per  week.  This  will  enable  participants  to  attend  relevant  training  and  organise  and participate in activities and events.
Activities will primarily focus around the key areas identified within the BRG Programme Plan;
these are as follows:
  Adult Health & Wellbeing
  Mental Health
  Healthy Food
  Healthy Youth
  Engagement of Vulnerable Residents
  Health & wellbeing within the Elder Population
However the programme will also accommodate activities linked to local, regional and national
health campaigns and associated concerns.
Health Ambassadors – recruitment, training and baseline data collection

Recruit 10 community members who have the potential to become Community Health
Ambassadors and provide them with the relevant training and support;
Once recruited Health Ambassadors will be required to collate baseline data on their
target community(s)
The Health ambassadors will organise and promote a health awareness events within
their target community, liaising with the key health service providers and health
professionals;
Data collection over the course of the programme to provide de baseline data/
information to evaluate the impact of the project, as well as identifying health issues
affecting the local resident  communities.


The project seeks to engage participants through active and well known members of the
community that; to ensure culturally appropriate interventions and effective
communication is provided throughout the project we will actively seek to ensure a
broad cultural base of recruits.

Evaluation and Results dissemination


Evaluating community participant health status and journeys through the programme
will be used to develop case study examples of work undertaken.
End of the project report. The report will capture: lessons learned, case studies,
description of the community health ambassadors model and recommendations. Also
the benefits for participants, health ambassadors and local residents will be
documented.
Dissemination of the learning and experience of the model through various local and
national health networks and interested parties (including the communities who have
participated in the project)
Networking and additional connections developed between the Community Health
Ambassadors and mainstream health agencies.
Health Ambassadors – Training
Phase 1
  Advocacy – role and responsibilities,
  Health inequalities – influences and impact,
  Cardiff health sector awareness,
  Safeguarding – POVA (Protection Of Vulnerable Adults)
Phase 2
  Training tailored towards Ambassadors projects
  Introduction to planning and managing events,
  Budgeting and managing money,
  evaluation and monitoring tools,
  The programme includes 2 sessions to design and plan a health promotion
event/activity for targeted audiences/ communities within the cluster.
To register your interest in becoming a Health Ambassador please contact a member of the
team:
Tony Hendrickson (Health Lead Officer)
T: 07969 065371 E: TonyHendrickson@srcdc.org.uk
Lucy Chandler (Development Worker – Health)
T: 07969 066093 E: LucyChandler@srcdc.org.uk
Rebecca Grace (Development Worker – Health)
T: 029 2034 0975 E: RebeccaGrace@srcdc.org.uk

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