Mental Health (Asylum Seekers) Coordinator

Job Purpose

This role sits within our new project supporting male asylum seekers accommodated in hotels based in Ealing. The service aims to address mental health challenges exacerbated by displacement, trauma, and isolation, with a culturally sensitive approach that prioritises language accessibility, stigma reduction, and improved access to onward referrals.

This will be achieved through in-reach targeted group sessions and 1:1 tailored support sessions, addressing:

• Psychoeducation
• Emotional regulation and coping support
• Peer-based and social connection activities
• Creative and expressive activities (art, drama, storytelling)
• Better accessibility with onward services

The Role

The role of the Mental Health (Asylum Seekers) Coordinator is to engage male asylum seekers who are accommodated in hotels in Ealing; arrange, coordinate and facilitate a range of culturally appropriate psychoeducation, peer-led and expressive activities which will be delivered twice a week. The role will also include 1:1 sessions; providing mental health stabilisation, advice and support to connect with wider services including multilingual engagement. This role includes autonomous and creative thinking.

Key Responsibilities

• Providing a person centred and recovery orientated approach in all aspects of the roles and responsibilities.

• Promoting people rights and responsibilities

• Considering each person as an individual

• Working collaboratively with clients to understand their needs and developing flexible and realistic crisis support packages/person centred plans

• Understanding of safety planning

• Experience of working within mental health services

• Understanding and experience of challenges and stigma asylum seekers face

• Understanding of social climate and an advocate to challenge biases and stigma

• Understanding and experience of challenges men experience regarding mental health and society

• Experience of leading workshops

• Creative approach

• Experience with de-escalation, recognising and mitigating risks.

• Experience of working with those in crisis and challenging behaviour

• Listening to clients and encouraging positive steps towards self-management of wellbeing and recovery

• Understanding safeguarding adults and children processes and legal requirements

• Understanding of social issues such as debt, housing and welfare benefits

• Promoting people rights and responsibilities

• Providing advice, information, practical and emotional support to clients

• Proactively recognising the indicators of deteriorating mental health and facilitate appropriate action, whilst liaising with relevant agencies e.g., CATT, Emergency Duty Teams, CAMHS, Safe Space, SCFT etc

• Engaging with clients to show empathy, inspire hope and promote recovery

• Establishing supportive, empowering and respectful relationships with clients and carers/ family

• Maintaining accurate records, detailing interventions

• Ensuring that outcomes, outputs and impact are recorded

• Providing administrative and management support to the team

• Attend reflective practice, clinical supervision, peer supervision and line management supervision

• Create and maintain good working relationships with partner agencies

• Follow workplans

• Actively participate in training and development

• Provide and manage resources for clients and staff

Person Specification

• Minimum of 1 year working in mental health services and with clients experiencing mental health distress

• Minimum of 1 year working within trauma-informed approaches

• Understanding of cultural sensitivities

• Ability to challenge biases and stigma

• Experience of raising awareness and participation in outreach events

• Experience of managing challenging behaviour and dealing with clients with complex needs

• Minimum 1 year of project coordination/management

• Experience of facilitating workshops/group sessions

• Experience of managing safeguarding risks and understanding legal requirements for safeguarding adults and children

• Evidence of continual professional development

• Understanding of the principles of trauma informed care

• Understanding of suicide prevention and safety planning

• Understanding of the relationship between mental health and social issues and how these issues may impact on physical, mental and emotional wellbeing

• Understanding of relevant legislation and policies

• Awareness of issues in mental health service provision

• A good understanding of mental health conditions

• Experience of working with vulnerable individuals

• Creative and flexible approach to working with individuals

• Ability to deal with stressful and difficult situations in a calm manner and de-escalate challenging situations

• Ability to prioritise and manage workload

• Ability to involve clients and carers in all aspects of work

• Empathy and non-judgemental approach

• Good communication skills

• Capacity to work within an agreed shift pattern

• Experience of delivering information and advice (housing, benefits, debt etc)

• Experience of non-clinical, therapeutic interventions like psychoeducation

• Good IT skills including Word, Outlook, Excel and PowerPoint, with proven ability to input and extract information and produce reports

• Multilingual is desired

• Staff within this role will be considered key workers, so in the event of a government lockdown, staff will be expected to continue working