Peer Support Worker

The closing date is 25th Oct 2026

Job summary

Use your lived experience to make a difference.

We are looking for compassionate and motivated Peer Support Workers to join our Community Mental Health Team.

This unique role uses your personal experience of mental health challenges and recovery to support others on their own journey. By sharing your experiences appropriately, you will help people build hope, confidence, and resilience while working towards the goals that matter to them.

As a Peer Support Worker, you will:

• Build positive and trusting relationships with service users.
• Provide emotional and practical support through shared lived experience.
• Encourage recovery, independence, and wellbeing.
• Help people access community resources, groups, and activities.
• Work alongside clinicians and other professionals as part of a supportive multidisciplinary team.

You will:

• Have lived experience of mental health difficulties and recovery.
• Be able to use your experiences safely and positively to support others.
• Have excellent communication and listening skills.
• Be passionate about recovery-focused and person-centred care.
• Enjoy working with people and helping them achieve their goals.

If you are passionate about supporting others and want to use your experience to inspire hope and recovery, we would love to hear from you.

At present, the Trust is unable to offer Skilled Worker visa sponsorship for this post. Applicants must have the right to work in the UK at the time of application.

Main duties, tasks & skills required

The post holder will use their personal lived experiences of recovery from mental health challenges to offer empathy and understanding to others, inspiring hope and belief that recovery is possible. In this role, the peer worker will offer empathetic support alongside practical assistance in order to empower people to feel in control of their lives and their own unique recovery process. Within a relationship of mutuality and information sharing, they will promote choice, self-determination and opportunities for the fulfilment of socially valued roles and connection to local communities.

The peer support worker will act as a recovery champion within the team, and an ambassador for recovery for the Trust when working with external agencies and partner organisations. Peer workers will also be supported to continue their own personal and professional development as well as taking part in the ongoing development of peer roles in the Trust.

About us

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust provides joined-up mental and physical healthcare for around two million people across our communities. With over 13,000 staff working in the community and local hospitals, we deliver care at every stage of life, helping people live their best and healthiest lives.

Our mental health services include community-based support and early intervention in psychosis (EIP) for both adults and young people, alongside a network of specialist inpatient wards covering forensic, learning disability, eating disorder and older person's care.

We deliver extensive physical health services too, from urgent community response teams helping frail and older patients remain safely at home, to hospitals at home teams providing acute-level care in familiar surroundings. Our neurological services offer rehabilitation and treatment for conditions including Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's Disease, Motor Neurone Disease, Head Injury, Cerebral Palsy and Stroke. Across Hampshire, our community hospitals provide inpatient rehabilitation as a step down from acute care, and our dedicated teams also staff Treetops Sexual Assault Referral Centre in Portsmouth, offering expert, compassionate support.

Everything we do is underpinned by our CARE values of compassion, accountability, respect and excellence

Job description

Further information about the Trust and this role can be found on the Job Description and Person Specification document attached. It is important to us that we ensure our recruitment processes are accessible and inclusive to everyone - if as a potential candidate you are concerned a person specification may prevent or restrict your application for employment as a result of unintentional barriers on the grounds of your sex, race, age, sexual orientation, religion/belief or disability please initially contact the Trust's Recruitment team - detailed in the advert. The Trust will seek to resolve this issue wherever possible.

We are happy to talk Flexible Working - all requests for flexible working options can be discussed as part of the interview process.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential

Level 4 Peer Support accredited training or commitment to work towards

Desirable

Training for lived experience practitioners

Evidence of further related training.

Health related qualification.

Recovery college qualification.

Experience

Essential

Personal lived experience of mental health distress.

Personal experience of accessing primary or secondary mental health service.

Basic understanding of Peer Support

Ability to support others in a recovery orientated way.

Good motivational techniques and abilities.

Clear effective planning and decision-making skills.

Understanding of how lived experience of mental health problems can be used to support others

Understanding of recovery

focussed principles and how they can influence support for service users.

Understanding of the issues and concerns that people using services may have in relation to their care.

Able to maintain the profile of the peer support service within a multidisciplinary/ multi-agency setting.

Demonstrates the ability to role model, empower and enable others,

Good organisational skills and time management.

Ability to receive highly complex and sensitive information and maintain confidentiality.

Ability to use information and communication technology (computer literacy)

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

For help with your application, contact:

Laura George

[email protected]

02381031573

Pay scheme

Agenda for Change

Band

Band 3

Salary

£25760.00 to £27476.00 Yearly

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Part-Time, Full-Time, Flexible Working

Reference number

348-PSE-12832

Job locations

The Parkway Centre - Havant
51 Leigh Road
Havant
Hampshire
PO9 2BF

Petersfield Hospital
Swan Street, Petersfield
Petersfield
Hampshire
GU32 3LB

Fareham Community Hospital
Brook Lane, Sarisbury Green
Fareham
Hampshire
SO31 7DQ

Gosport War Memorial Hospital
Bury Road
Gosport
Hampshire
PO12 3PW

St.Mary's Community Health Campus (Portsmouth)
Milton Road
Portsmouth
Hampshire
PO3 6AD