Participation Coordinator

ABOUT GROUNDSWELL

Groundswell started as a project within the National Homelessness Alliance and it has evolved into where it is now supporting people experiencing homelessness to address their healthcare needs.

Our story can be understood to have 4 ‘eras’ with our early days focusing on direct action and campaigning, moving to delivering Service User Involvement and Peer Research, becoming a support service provider ourselves and now growing our health focused research and services across the UK.

ABOUT THE ROLE

This is a new role in our Participation Team to help us deliver our work amplifying the voices of people with lived experience to find solutions to homelessness and health inequalities. The post holder will lead a few projects and partnerships, with responsibility for planning and delivering activities and monitoring their progress.

Your main task will be to coordinate groups of people with lived experience of homelessness and health inequalities, alongside Groundswell peers and colleagues, services, local authorities, funders and policymakers. We are looking for someone with great interpersonal skills who can comfortably engage with different stakeholders.

You will be well-organised, self-motivated, and confident facilitating groups to co-create positive change. We encourage a culture of learning and knowledge sharing. We are looking for someone who thrives on a flexible and varied workload and embodies participatory approaches.

MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE ROLE

Participation and co production

• Convene and coordinate groups of people with lived experience of homelessness or health inequalities alongside Groundswell peers and colleagues and external stakeholders (services, local authorities, funders and policymakers) to co-create positive change.
• Co-design projects with input from participants and partners and ensure they are kept up to date with project progress and findings.
• Design and facilitate group sessions, such as workshops, training, focus groups or regular meetings, both online and in person.
• Write and produce project resources such as toolkits or handbooks.
• Support Groundswell colleagues to co-design robust and ethical principles, processes and practices for participation of people with lived experience of homelessness or health inequalities.

Project coordination

• Plan and deliver activities in line with project objectives, timeframes and budgets.
• Record learning and feedback and monitor progress towards change.

Stakeholder engagement

• Engage with stakeholders from the health and homelessness sectors to promote good participatory practices and find opportunities to work together.
• Contribute to Groundswell’s internal communications and ensure our participation work is informed by all strands of Groundswell’s work.

Volunteer and peer support

• Promote opportunities for people with lived experience of homelessness or health inequalities to participate in projects and activities.
• Support peers with experience of health and homelessness inequalities to share experiences and insight to make positive change, ensuring psychological safety and removing barriers to participation.
• Work with Participation and Progression colleagues to ensure that peers are supported to progress towards personal goals.

Groundswell responsibilities and the Groundswellian Way

Act in line with our code of conduct, the Groundswellian Way, in all interactions with colleagues and third parties in the course of work.

The Groundswellian Way states:

• We want a safe, friendly and respectful working environment.
• We want to encourage transparent communication to ensure everyone knows what is expected of themselves and the organisation.
• We want everyone to feel valued and celebrate our individual strengths.
• We want to promote diversity, equity and fairness in all we do.
• We want to encourage collaboration and working together.

ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS

• Personal or work-related experience of homelessness and/or inclusion of health systems.
• Good understanding of co-production, participation and other users or lived experience engagement approaches.
• Experience of successfully coordinating or managing groups of people, providing regular support and communication and responding to feedback.
• Experience of engaging with a variety of stakeholders in different environments and sectors, influencing and communicating with people at all levels.
• Experience of organising, designing and facilitating online and in-person meetings and workshops.
• Experience of planning activities to meet project objectives and deadlines and monitoring their progress.
• Committed to participation; willing to listen and take direction from peers and contribute to a supportive and collaborative team.
• Exceptional interpersonal skills and ability to build trust and rapport quickly.
• Demonstrable ability to communicate information in clear, creative and accessible ways to different audiences.
• Self-motivated and well-organised, able to plan and prioritise workload and operate independently.
• Flexible and adaptable – enjoys responding to changing projects and relationships.
• Confident using the internet for research, Microsoft Office suite, and online facilitation tools such as digital whiteboards.
• Understanding of systems thinking approaches, including systems mapping and stakeholder analysis. (Desirable).
• Experience of project management. (Desirable).
• Experience of campaigning or influencing. (Desirable).

To view the full job description, please click here –> Groundswell-Participation Coordinator-Job Pack-March 2025

Interviews: Candidates will be notified if they have been invited to an interview by May 7th at the latest. If you have not been notified by this date, then please assume you have been unsuccessful on this occasion.

Interviews will then be held on week commencing May 12th 2025

Location: Hybrid – There will be frequent onsite working at the Kennington office and additional locations in London with the option to work from home when not required to travel, as agreed with your line manager. Travel to other areas may be required as and when needed.

Contract: Fixed Term until March 31st 2026 (role to be reviewed and extended dependent on funding)