Living Well Peer Support Worker

Posted Thursday 19 March 2026 at 01:00 Expires Thursday 2 April 2026 at 23:59

Join Our Team as a Living Well Peer Support Worker
Location: Derbyshire (Field Based role)

About Derbyshire Recovery & Peer Support Services and Living Well

Derbyshire Recovery & Peer Support Services offer friendly, recovery focused support to people living in the community. We help individuals build confidence, connect with others, and work towards long term wellbeing through peer led groups, practical support, and community activities.

As part of this, we also deliver the Living Well service in partnership with the local NHS Trust. Living Well is built on the values of peer support, shared experience, and co production. Our local service managers lead teams of Wellbeing Coaches - many with their own lived experience - to provide supportive, person centred help across Derbyshire. Together, we create safe, welcoming spaces where people can receive the right support, at the right time, from people who truly understand.

We're looking for compassionate people with lived experience of mental health challenges to join us as Living Well Peer Support Workers. In this vital role, you'll use your own recovery journey to offer hope, empathy, and practical support to others in the community.

Working as part of our VCSE team within the Living Well service, you'll support individuals alongside a range of professionals, helping promote wellbeing and empowering people in their recovery.

Your role will be to:

• Provide compassionate companionship, encouragement, and peer support to people experiencing mental health difficulties.
• Use my own lived experience of mental health challenges and recovery to build trust, offer hope, and help individuals regain confidence and control in their lives.
• Model self awareness, personal responsibility, self belief, self advocacy, and hopefulness in my daily practice.
• Support people to engage with the service, including welcoming them and helping with first conversations.
• Offer emotional and practical support one to one and in groups, helping individuals build skills, confidence, and the ability to self manage their wellbeing.
• Help people access community services and opportunities, such as housing advice, financial support, education, and social activities.
• Maintain strong knowledge of safe, accessible community spaces that can support people's recovery.
• Co facilitate peer led and recovery focused groups within the community.
• Work collaboratively as part of a multi agency team, sharing information appropriately to safeguard individuals and support their recovery journey.
• Participate in team huddles and multi disciplinary meetings.
• Contribute my lived experience insight to service design, co production, and continuous improvement.
• Create lived experience informed resources and materials that support the delivery of the service.
• Support individuals to transition onward from the service when they are ready.
• Provide helpful feedback on my role and activities to aid ongoing service development.

Essential Skills and Experience:

• Lived experience of mental health challenges and recovery, used to encourage and inspire others.
• Commitment to making a positive difference in local communities.
• Active engagement in my own self care and recovery.
• Understanding of mental health difficulties and their impact on daily life.
• Willingness to learn about mental health systems, trauma informed practice, safeguarding, and confidentiality.
• Openness to ongoing training and development.
• Ability to maintain professional boundaries and work safely.
• Good communication skills and ability to work well within a team.
• Basic IT skills and confidence using digital systems.
• Ability to reflect on my work and use supervision constructively.
• Willingness to travel across the local area.

Apply today and be part of a team that truly makes a difference!

At Rethink Mental Illness, we believe that when you feel supported, you can make the biggest difference. That's why we offer a range of benefits to help you thrive:

• Inclusive Culture: Join staff networks that champion diversity and inclusion.
• Wellbeing Support: Access our Wellbeing Hub, Employee Assistance Programme, and the Unmind mental health app.
• Recognition & Rewards: Enjoy discounts, cashback offers, and celebrate achievements through our PULSE platform.
• Flexible Working & Generous Leave: Starting at 25 days annual leave (plus bank holidays and your birthday off), with options to buy or sell extra days.
• Learning & Development: Grow your career with structured onboarding and training opportunities.
• Financial & Family Support: Contributory pension scheme, enhanced family leave, and travel benefits like season ticket loans and cycle to work schemes.
• Referral Bonus: Earn up to £300 for introducing someone to our team.

Diversity is important to us, and we appreciate difference through difference, inclusiveness and belonging. It gives us a deeper understanding of the world, our society and the diverse communities we're working with. By including everyone, we are able to draw on the unique experiences and expertise of our people to help shape and enrich our workplace and improve our services. One way we are doing is through our valued staff networks which play a critical and highly valued role in keeping us focused on creating a diverse, inclusive and engaged employer. We recognise and support staff networks and support groups for our ethnically diverse and LGBTQIA+ colleagues. We are also proud to have been awarded Disability Confident Employer status and are a signatory to the Business in the Community Race at Work Charter.

We aim for our workforce to reflect the diversity of the communities we serve; for those who work for us to feel heard, valued and feel they belong; and for our work to help tackle wider mental health inequalities. We therefore actively encourage and welcome applications from everyone, including applicants with lived experience of mental illness, those who are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Questioning, Intersex, Asexual and any other gender identity not expressed here (LGBTQIA+); people who are neurodiverse, have a health condition, or a disability or hidden disability and people from an ethnically diverse background- regardless of your age, religious or spiritual belief, sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status, pregnancy, political view or socio economic status.

We have an ambition of become a truly anti racist employer, campaigning organisation and service provider - and in our efforts to influence policy and wider societal factors impacting on mental health set out in our anti racist statement . We have designed a multi year anti racist programme of work contained in our Race Equality Action Plan which demonstrates our intention to hold ourselves accountable and be judged on our progress on becoming a truly anti racist organisation.

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