Consultant - community social care start-up

The concept of Wye Caring for Wye was one of the very first objectives identified in the setting up of Our Place Wye CIC in 2015. Public consultation at the time revealed dissatisfaction with current social care provision – both among recipients and those providing the care. The management committee of Our Place Wye has ever since then been monitoring small scale social care projects throughout the country to see if we might set up our own form of provision in Wye and neighbouring villages. The intention is that this organisation should mirror the catchment area of Wye Surgery and will therefore consist of provision for up to 8,000 patients.

Now we are delighted to announce that we have been funded (£14,840) by Power to Change to carry out a feasibility study into such a project. To carry out this work we will be recruiting a Project Consultant to research and advise us on possible management structure, fees and levels of pay for care providers. And later in the year we will also be recruiting a Project Researcher to carry out interviews in the community to assess demand.

This work is completely innovative. To our knowledge, no-one has investigated the potential of such small-scale care provision before.

Background

Our Place Wye was set up in 2016 and initially focused on small scale projects within the community: the creation of a village Facebook group; provision of a once-a-week community lunch; distribution of a bi-monthly newsletter to the whole community; a befriending service called Wye Community Companions; various activities which were designed to create better communication and understanding between different generations. You can read about some of the initiatives on our website: www.ourplacewye.org.uk and everyone is welcome to join the Our Place Wye Facebook group which now has over 2500 members: https://www.facebook.com/groups/706096346250773.

Our Place Wye has been extremely active during the pandemic, initially leading on the local response by providing coordination for food and prescription deliveries, and subsequently organising supportive activities to keep the community both informed and in a positive frame of mind. There is a dedicated COVID-19 page on the website: https://ourplacewye.org.uk/covid-19/

However, in the company’s business plan (drawn up in 2015: https://www.wyeparishcouncil.gov.uk/uploads/our-place-wye-business-plan-2015-web.pdf) much mention was made of the need to address the issue of social care and to investigate an alternative system of care for the village and surrounding area. In the business plan you will find data about how many people required social care in the village of Wye in 2014, quotes from local residents about what they would like in terms of social care provision, and thoughts about which management structure might be appropriate. 

We are now looking to build on these initial thoughts and to make the notion a reality. 

ROLE:  OUR PLACE WYE BRIGHT IDEAS PROJECT CONSULTANT

LOCATION: Wye and Surrounding Area of East Kent.  

 CONTRACT: Part time flexible working based on an estimated 2 days (14 hours) a week over 18 weeks between March- August 2021 

SALARY: A daily rate of £200. Total fee for the project will be a maximum £7000

CLOSING DATE  5 pm Thursday 25^th February 2021

Essential Requirements for the ‘Wye Caring for Wye’ consultant 

The successful candidate will –

• Be educated to degree level or beyond in a relevant discipline (eg. Business Studies) or a relevant professional qualification. 
• Demonstrable experience of successful financial planning and forecasting.
• Have knowledge of alternative business models, cooperatives and community benefit companies.
• Have experience of drawing up sustainable business plans.
• Have demonstrable skills in oral, written and social media communication.
• Have a working knowledge of, or an in interest in the Health and Social Care Sector.
• Have experience of community consultation.
• Have experience of working with volunteers.
• Have interpersonal skills.
• Have demonstrable experience of community businesses.
• Have the ability to work from home/ in their own office (away from Wye is fine)

Desirable Attributes 

• Good strategic vision and a ‘can-do’ attitude 
• A willingness to accept new ways of doing things
• Flexibility
• Accepting of other people’s points of view
• A commitment to ‘change’ 
• Knowledge of the village of Wye in Kent and surrounding area
• Access to a car (with a driving license) might be desirable

KEY ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES.

The consultant will need initially to work closely with both the project researcher and the Our Place Wye management team to:

• Agree the project timetable. This will have been drawn up by the OPW management team but will need to be agreed by both the consultant.
• Help with the recruitment of the researcher later in the year.
• Work with the researcher and Health and Social Care providers on the best way to secure one-to-one interviews with the recipients of care, which questions to ask and how to store and share the data received.
• Work with the researcher on the best way to secure one-to-one interviews with care providers, being mindful that many of them will be working for potentially rival organisations and that such interviews may need to be carried out with discretion, with anonymity ensured to the interviewee.
• To look at other small-scale care providers from other parts of the UK and abroad to see if there is an organisational structure, which is particularly, appropriate for Wye.
• The project has a budget for two short films. The idea behind the films is show the local community that there are success stories elsewhere: alternative forms of domiciliary social care, which are being appreciated by both recipients and providers. The consultant will work with the film-maker to produce these films and to make them available to the researcher who might use them to facilitate their interviews. 
• The consultant will use the data assembled by the researcher to take a view as to the best way forward for Wye Caring for Wye. On one level this will be about deciding what sorts of care such an organisation might be able to manage, together with pay scales and a list of fees. On another level we will be eager to find out the best management structure for such an organisation to ensure maximum wellbeing and satisfaction for both recipients and care givers – and ideally some form of participation of both groups in the long-term running of the business. 
• We will be looking for the above information to be delivered in the form of a business plan and, furthermore, are currently to set up the business directly after the feasibility study has been completed. (ie. in September 2021.) There is no requirement that the consultant would be involved in the running of the business after September 2021 but identification of individuals who might occupy key roles (trustees of any business for example) would be a great help.

Employment status 

The successful candidate will enter into an agreement with Our Place Wye Community Interest Company (CIC) that sets out their role as a service provider and the terms and conditions of the arrangement. This will not constitute an employment contract.  

Our Place Wye is all about community so we welcome applications from all members of our own community and beyond. We strongly believe that a celebration of diversity is a key aspect of a healthy society.

More information

Please see the Our Place Wye website and Facebook page (links above). Please also feel free to contact Jasper Bouverie on 07561 600889 or email coordinator@ourplacewye.org.uk

How to apply 

Please send CV and covering letter explaining why you are suited to the role to coordinator@ourplacewye.org.uk.

Closing Date for Applications Thursday 25^th February at 5 pm. 

Interviews will be carried out during the following week. We will endeavour to contact everyone who makes an application but will not be able to give feedback on individual applications prior to the interview stage.

This post is funded by the National Lottery Power to Change.