Hello!

My name is Aga and I’ve been working with Hestia’s Modern Slavery Response Team (MSRT) as a Relief & Initial Assessment Advocate for nearly two years now.

It has taken me quite a while to figure out what I wanted to do “as an adult” and Hestia was my first job in the care sector. When I first started, I was very wide-eyed and had lots of questions at all times. The management here has been so supportive, and I have had the best colleagues who have helped and supported me in this new world. I never felt like a task was too big or too daunting because support and advice are always available to ensure we succeed in our roles.

The role of a Relief Worker is super varied and diverse – I might spend half a day supporting one of our safehouses by doing health and safety checks, ensuring clients’ wellbeing, or helping them attend appointments. I also spend time contacting newly referred service users to welcome them into the service, assess their needs and provide payments within the community. I also hold a small caseload of service users who I support on an ongoing basis with any actions that would aid their recovery from the trauma endured as survivors of trafficking or slavery. This could mean facilitating access to mental, physical and sexual health support, ensuring they have access to free legal advice, and that their housing is safe and secure. Every individual is different and will come with their own needs, so both the client and I will work together to come up with a personalised plan to ensure that their goals are met and that they feel empowered to take their lives back into their own hands.

Our team also acts as first responders in a crisis, and we take turns working out of hours (5PM to 10PM). This involves advocating on behalf of destitute clients to help them find accommodation or working with emergency services such as the police, ambulance service and fire brigade to safeguard vulnerable clients when other organisations are closed for the day.

I would truly recommend this job for anyone passionate about helping other people, or those wanting to start their career supporting people experiencing trauma, abuse, poor mental health, substance misuse and more. Plus, the nature of working on a rota means that you might be able to work around childcare commitments or education, as I have done.

 

Apply to be a Relief Worker in our Modern Slavery Response Team

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Career opportunities

We're looking for people with a passion to change lives, and who identify with our values: respectful, genuine, dedicated, collaborative, courageous. If Hestia sounds like your dream employer, then click here to see our current opportunities.

The Hestia Approach

The Hestia Approach represents our commitment to making the most effective interventions possible in the lives of those who use our services.

Our approach is based on a single principle: in order to add real value to people’s lives it is essential that we work with them as equals. Our expertise and experience of working with people on their recovery journeys is valuable, and we believe this gives us a great deal to contribute, but we never impose our ideas.

Read more about the Hestia Approach

Equality and Diversity

Hestia is proud to be a Disability Confident employer and offers a lot of support to candidates who may require extra help with their disability. To ensure we can support you to the best of our ability, please ensure you complete our Equality and Diversity form as accurate as possible.

We will only highlight any potential disability to our hiring managers so they are aware they may need to offer reasonable adjustments, not only for the interview process but during your employment with Hestia as well. All other information from the Equal Opportunities form is strictly confidential and only available to our HR department.

Samantha Uwadiae, Head of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at Hestia said:

“What excites me about joining Hestia is the organisation’s genuine commitment towards creating a more equitable, diverse and inclusive organisation. I appreciate their dedication towards wanting to build an inclusive culture, courage to challenge themselves and admit more needs to be done and willingness to work in collaboration with staff, volunteers, and service users to identify, understand and address inequities. So, their people feel respected and more able to bring their authentic and full selves to work, free of discrimination and barriers”.