Homeless Service Support Worker

• Full-time, 37 hours per week, Monday to Saturday (Saturdays worked on a team rota basis)
• £27,943 per annum
• Based at Ashkirk, Sunderland
• Closing Date: 7 November 2025

Could you commit to changing the lives of those at risk of homelessness?  Do you have experience of working with clients who may demonstrate challenging behaviour?  Do you have the ability to relate to people?  Do you have a sound working knowledge of safeguarding?  Do you have the ability to document information in an accurate and concise manner?

We are looking for an enthusiastic worker to provide needs-led support to homeless families based at Bernicia’s Homeless Unit in Sunderland. Working as part of an effective team, the successful candidate will be responsible for monitoring and reviewing individual support needs and providing appropriate advice, advocacy and practical support to enable families to secure and sustain permanent accommodation.

Role Benefits:

• 28 days annual leave (plus bank holidays) for full time employees; pro-rata to part time employees.
• Health cash plan membership so you can save money by claiming cash back – over £1000 each year - towards essential healthcare such as dental, optical, physio and loads more.  We’ll also cover the costs of including any dependent children in the scheme – up to the age of 21 or 24 if in full time education – that you may have.
• Access to savings on gym memberships plus cash back and discounts on purchases from major retailers including supermarkets, travel, cinema and more.
• Generous pension scheme with life insurance of 3 x salary 

Your Experience: 

Successful candidates will need:

Essential:

• Full current driving licence and have access to a car for business use
• Good standard of general education
• Demonstratable experience of safeguarding practice
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, written and verbal

Desirable:

• Demonstratable experience of working in a housing related support service
• Advanced IT skills

About us 

• We’re all about helping people in need of housing.  We believe a good home makes lots of other things possible, so we provide great homes and services that do just that.
• We’ve built Bernicia to be a business that people want to be a part of.  We’re one of the North East’s largest and most successful housing providers; building, renting, selling and managing homes as well as providing services to over 60,000 customers.
• Everything about Bernicia is people focused, that’s why we’ve held the Investors in People Gold Award since 2010.
• We operate within a set of simple, but effective values, which blend perfectly to create our unique ‘Bernicia Way’ culture. This ensures we are customer focused, through working together, respecting each other, being accountable for our actions and demonstrating integrity and leadership.

This post is subject to an enhanced DBS disclosure.

For further information on this role, please download the role profile available via the links.

To discuss the role in more detail please contact Dionne Thompson:

Email:  dionne.thompson@bernicia.com            Tel: 0191 238 3902

We reserve the right to close this vacancy earlier than advertised, should we receive a large volume of applications.

Bernicia is fully committed to the promotion of equal opportunities and we particularly welcome applicants from people with disabilities and groups who are currently underrepresented at Bernicia.