work for us: Journey Enterprises - A North East Charity supporting people with learning disability.

What do we offer?

We welcome Staff from a wide range of backgrounds.

Whether you are experienced, starting your career, want to change careers or are returning to working life, Journey might just be for you.

We offer:

A competitive salary
Recent pay awards: 10%, 8%, 8%
36 days' annual leave
Holiday buy-back scheme
'Gifted' additional holiday days over the Christmas period
Disability Leave and Carers' Leave
Benenden Healthcare (private diagnostic and therapies healthcare including counselling)
Discounted meals and free refreshments at our sites
Cycle2Work Scheme
Salary Sacrifice new car Hire Purchase Scheme
Contributory pension scheme
Enhanced Training & Development Programme
Journey 'swag bag' goodies pack

Bank Staff - work when you want to

We have a register of Bank Staff who are offered occasional work covering when we have planned or unplanned employee absences.

Bank Staff are paid at the same Spinal Points as our employees, accrue their pro rata paid allocation of Journey's leave entitlement, and also enjoy the benefits of discounted lunches and free refreshments on our sites.

Bank Staff choose if they want to work when work is offered.

If you would like to join our Bank Staff register please contact us.

Current Vacancies

Bank Staff: flexible hours up to 37/week

Salary: SP1 and SP2

Journey's Bank Staff are regularly offered work covering both planned or unplanned Staff absences across all four of Journey's Day Centres.

Bank Staff find these roles flexible and enjoyable because working days/hours fit around other commitments including unpaid Caring roles, family commitments, management of disability, phased re-entry to employment or phased movement to retirement. With different roles and Day Centres, the variety also appeals.

Journey's Bank Staff are paid at the same rates as our employees and also enjoy benefits such as accrued annual leave, free refreshments and discounted lunches at our Community Cafes. Our leave entitlement is 36 days annually.

We are currently recruiting Bank Staff for Driver and Learning Disability Support Worker roles.

Bank Minibus Drivers work two shifts/day. The first shift is from c. 07.30, collecting Clients from their homes and bringing them in to Day Centres in our small fleet of minibuses. Clients are then collected from 15.30 to return to homes as the second shift.

Learning Disability Support Workers work between 08.30 and 16.30 from Monday-Thursday and 08.30 - 16.00 on Fridays. Depending on your booking with us, the hours we can offer can vary from 4 to 37/week. Sometimes we can offer bookings for longer periods of time if we have longer planned Staff holidays or longer term Staff sickness. Learning Disability Support Workers work with Clients on site and in activities off site.

For both Driver and Learning Disability Support Worker roles you will need to have a clear enhanced DBS for Adult Services, UK full driving licence without endorsements and be able to supply two relevant professional references (from recent employment or academic studies).

If you would like to apply to find out more about Driver and Learning Disability Support Worker roles and apply to join our Bank list please contact info@journeyenterprises.co.uk indicating which role and which Day Centres you would like to be offered work at. Our Centres are in Blyth, Bishop Auckland, Hexham and Newcastle.

Please note: we are not able to accept applications by CV. All applicants must use Journey's application form.

More info

Your professional development

Find out how Journey can help achieve your goals

Journey Enterprises provides services which support adults with a learning disability to develop life and work skills and to manage their health & wellbeing.

We do not provide any personal care services.

All Clients must be able to manage continence and medication to attend Day Service.

Clients are on site from 09 .30 to 15.30, giving front-line Staff an hour pre and post Clients for preparation, reporting and clearing/cleaning.

Training and Development

Journey's Training and Development programme enables all Staff to develop their skills and practice and progress in their career. The Charity has training agreements in place and can advise on additional funding and scholarships for wider course fees.

Supporting our staff

Journey holds Disability Confident Employer, Investors in People, Mindful Employer and Better Health at Work and Leaders Council of Great Britain quality marks.

Our Staff are managed in small teams led by a Manager. New members of Staff are assigned a buddy who will provide information, advice and informal support.

Every Staff member receives 3-4 support & supervision sessions and an annual appraisal each year from their Manager.

The Charity has a commissioned private healthcare programme including counselling. This service is available to its employees 24/7 and their immediate family members. Our Line Managers are trained in supporting mental health and the workplace, to identifying and supporting employee carers and colleagues with disabilities.

We provide Carers and Disability Leave.

Connecting with Colleagues

Journey works across four sites and in the community. Making sure Staff meet regularly and keep in touch is a priority.

Our Teams meet every month and Hub teams have daily handovers. Whole Company, Managers and Leadership Team meetings are held bi-monthly.

Two Away Days are held annually giving everyone a chance to meet together, undertake some professional development in a fun and informal setting and meet our Trustees.

Special events and productions give Colleagues and Clients the opportunity to meet and enjoy time with others. During 2022 we celebrated our 40th year and had a wonderful Gala evening and summer fete for all Staff/ and Clients.

365 - Outlook, Yammer and Teams are used daily to communicate across the Charity, share news and best practice, and to link Staff to additional resources. All Staff are asked to login at the start of each day both to Microsoft and to our CRM, Charitylog.

Working patterns

The Charity’s normal operations are 08.30 – 16.30 (Monday – Thursday) and 08.30 -16.00 on Fridays.

Some Staff have site-based roles, some combine community-based roles with site-based delivery and some undertake flexible working from home.

The Charity has a ratio of Staff working part-time and we can offer job share.

Occasionally staff are asked to undertake unsocial hours at weekends, early starts or evenings, for which Time Off in Lieu (TOIL) is given. For part-time staff agreed overtime may be paid in place of TOIL.

Pay and benefits

In 2020 the Charity adopted the National Joint Council Scale in place of its current pay scale. Progression through our pay scale is based on role scope and responsibilities: we do not offer PRP.

Our benefits package: competitive rates of pay, generous leave allowance, employer pension, sickness pay, private healthcare, Cycle2Work, Salary Sacrifice Car HP Scheme, annual leave buy-back, discounted meals and refreshments and a Journey swag-bag.

“There is a genuine feeling of dedication and commitment around fun and a ‘can-do’ attitude.” (feedback from Staff during IIP inspection)