EAST LONDON CARES

PROGRAMME
COORDINATOR
(SOCIAL CLUBS)
PERMANENT, FULL TIME POST (40 HOURS PER WEEK)
LOCATION: LONDON FIELDS, HACKNEY
SALARY: £25,000 (PLUS TRAVEL)

To apply please send a CV and covering letter telling us why you’re right for this
role to Rosa Friend at rosa.friend@eastlondoncares.org.uk.

Applications should be received no later than 1pm on Wednesday 19th June

2019.

First round interviews: Monday 24th and Tuesday 25th June 2019.
Second round interviews: Wednesday 3rd July 2019.
Starting date: Wednesday 4th September 2019.

Please read the full job description below for further information.
EAST LONDON CARES
East London Cares is a brand new community network of young professionals and older neighbours
hanging out and helping one another in our rapidly changing city.

Our objectives are to tackle the growing plight of isolation and loneliness not just amongst older
people but amongst younger Londoners too; to help improve the connection, confidence, belonging,
purpose and power of all participants so that older and younger neighbours alike can better navigate
our rapidly changing world; and to bring people together to bridge social, generational, digital, cultural
and attitudinal divides.

We do this because while east London is one of the most exciting places on earth – full of creativity,
heritage, activism, business and people from all over the world – it can sometimes also feel
anonymous, lonely and isolating. Globalisation, gentrification, digitisation, transience and rapid
community change have made our city a place of extremes – one in which some of the best
connected people live directly alongside some of the most isolated, with particular challenges to do
with loneliness and disconnection.

The result is that many older people (over 65) have deep roots in their communities – from
Limehouse to London Fields, from Dalston to the Docks – but few connections, while many young
professionals (aged 21-35) can have hundreds of connections across the world but fewer roots in
their communities. This disconnect wastes human potential, perpetuates social division, entrenches

OUR PROGRAMMES
isolation and is ultimately corrosive for our society. In an ever-changing city like ours, these two
groups, living side-by-side but seldom interacting, have so much to gain from one another in shared
time, laughter, new experiences and friendship.

East London Cares therefore seeks to mobilise a new generation of young professionals to build
relationships and share experiences with older neighbours in a variety of authentic ways. We speak
the language of younger and older people alike – and make interaction on a personal level mutually
accessible, sociable, enjoyable and fun.

As part of the wider ‘Cares Family’ of local charities (North London Cares, South London Cares,
Manchester Cares and Liverpool Cares), East London Cares is built on a strong national model,
infrastructure, experience and funding. We have secured investment from The Mercers' Company,
The National Lottery Community Fund, Garfield Weston Foundation and Nesta.

But East London Cares is also uniquely ‘east London’. Our programmes will centre on the inspiring
past, present and future of our great neighbourhoods – and the history, diversity and people that
make this place so special. So from Poplar to Stoke Newington, the network will help older and
younger people to feel part of their changing world, rather than left behind by it.
We are already connected with Tower Hamlets and Hackney Councils, local voluntary and
community groups, businesses and individuals to identify isolation where it occurs and to create
new opportunities for older and younger people to share time. Our approach will attract many
people who live on their own, may not naturally have wide social networks and love and look
forward to new experiences with their new friends. East London Cares' programmes will begin in
autumn 2019.

OUR PROGRAMMES
East London Cares will run four core programmes. Our Social Clubs will be group activities that
bring younger and older people together in cafes, pubs, parks, community centres and local
businesses to share time, laughter and cultural exchange. Events, taking place several times a week,
(during evenings and weekends as well as on weekdays), will include dance parties, film nights,
choirs, technology workshops, ‘back to work’ business visits and themed get-togethers – everything
from brick-laying to Pride parties to graphic novel workshops.

Meanwhile, our Love Your Neighbour programme will match younger and older neighbours to build
friendships one-to-one, in people's homes and community locations, to improve the life experiences
of all parties and to help bring a little of the outside world in for those who can struggle to get out.
Neighbours will build relationships on their own terms, enjoy meals together, and often become long-
standing friends.

Our unique Outreach will enable us to identify isolation in our neighbourhoods proactively through
ongoing community engagement. East London Cares will be a visible presence in the community –
placing ourselves in GP surgeries, pubs, chemists and supermarkets to invite older people to be part
of the network. And we will run an intensive annual Winter Wellbeing project including reaching out
through door knocking on local estates, to help older neighbours stay active and connected during the
most isolating time of year.

Finally, our Community Fundraising will offer another exciting way for younger and older
neighbours to contribute to East London Cares together. From individual challenges including
marathons, to building a network of business supporters, to creating engaging digital campaigns and
inviting regular donations, local people will be able to support East London Cares in a variety of
engaging ways.

Each of these programmes is integrated and fundamental to the Cares approach. We will often meet
older people through a chat in a local supermarket, invite them along to the next social club in their
neighbourhood, and then introduce them to younger neighbours with whom they can develop an
ongoing friendship throughout Love Your Neighbour programme. Sometimes, those friends will then
raise money together to sustain the network that will give them so much new connection.
THE ROLE
East London Cares is a brand new organisation and this is one of the first roles we are hiring for. The
Programme Coordinator (Social Clubs) post is fundamental to East London Cares' success: it will be
your job to design and deliver an exciting and engaging programme of social clubs from scratch – and
to ensure they are safe, well promoted and well attended. All of that requires a broad skill set
including the ability to lead a room of older and younger people; good organisation to create a range
of clubs in partnership with other local voluntary groups and businesses; patience in abundance; and
characteristics including an outgoing personality, personal warmth and determination.

ABOUT YOU
Because we are looking for an exceptional colleague to build our Social Clubs programme and
processes from the ground up, you will need to be full of ideas, versatile, determined, confident and
with a strong sense of responsibility. You will be a powerful storyteller, in writing and in person, and
someone who can talk to and relate to people from all backgrounds, no matter their circumstances –
someone equally comfortable discussing illness and isolation with a housebound 95-year old
neighbour in Bow as you are talking about work and weddings with a 25-year-old volunteer in Canary
Wharf.

You will be outgoing and tenacious; with an organised approach and an intrinsic understanding of the
power of networks including through digital media. Crucially, we need a people-person: someone who
can build trusted partnerships from scratch including with other voluntary groups as well as older and
younger people in Tower Hamlets and Hackney. And we need a self-starter: someone committed,
tough and focused working alone as well as collaboratively; who is passionate about developing East
London Cares from the start and over the coming years and in environments where the only constant
is change.

Finally, we need someone who understands and is motivated by the demographics and social
challenges in east London and the issues we work on – and in particular who is passionate about and
can clearly promote our vision for building close community networks in order to tackle loneliness as
Tower Hamlets and Hackney continue to change at pace. So the stand out candidate will have deep
knowledge of and passion for the unique communities and cultures of our neighbourhoods, alongside
experience managing people and creative projects.

This is a wonderful opportunity to build something special in east London. The wider Cares Family
team and board will therefore support you with everything we have: proven staff induction
programmes, access to training and guidance, and also the autonomy and responsibility of working to
your own initiative.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Working with East London Cares' Volunteer and Outreach Coordinator and reporting to our
Head of Programmes, you will:

Be responsible for East London Cares' Social Clubs programme – planning and
delivering up to 15 social clubs, like dance parties, new technology workshops and choirs
every month, including during evenings and weekends;
Build and manage relationships with younger and older neighbours, other community
organisations, businesses and venues;
Lead on the many details and considerations that will make East London Cares’ social
clubs a success – from finding suitable venues to welcoming and facilitating
conversations between older neighbours and young professionals, to making tea, to
operating projection equipment, to running creative sessions, and taking groups to local
businesses – as well as adhering to our core policies and best practice guidelines;
Design and distribute a monthly programme of clubs and a newsletter every month – to
some 400 older people in east London by the end of year one;
Work with our Outreach and Volunteer Coordinator to communicate regularly with
younger and older neighbours – by email, post, telephone and text – to inspire, enable
and organise people to participate in East London Cares’ social clubs and thank them for
their contribution;
Create vivid, powerful, fun communications – including blogs, videos, Instagram images,
Facebook and Twitter posts, and case studies to tell the story of your social clubs and the
neighbours who are part of them;
Administer vital registers and CRM records which track the number of attendances,
interactions, relationships and group activities East London Cares creates as well as
demographic forms – and report back to the rest of the East London Cares team
including the national Director of Programmes;
Create and analyse data to offer insights into the value of your social clubs;
Talk passionately about our social clubs and the rest of our work at induction evenings
for new volunteers and to build strong partnerships in the community;
Be agile to the dynamism required of a young organisation, seizing new opportunities to
further our reach and impact as they“Youarise; think it's all about helping older people
Represent East London Cares and our butvalues and realise
quickly vision with the all
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actually apply to you too."
Martin (33)
REQUIRED
You are positive, approachable, self-starting, ambitious, hard-working, confident,
outgoing, fun, reliable, creative, empathetic, determined, methodical, agile, resilient, and
organised;
You are an authentic high-quality communicator and storyteller: you have great written
skills, and are confident creating important materials to promote the work of East London
Cares externally – and you're also excellent at communicating one-to-one and to large
groups in person;
You have a good understanding of the culture and socio-economic context in east London
and can build relationships with people from all backgrounds;
You have high standards and aspirations for your work and want to make a lasting
contribution to Tower Hamlets and Hackney on some of the defining issues of our time –
and you're excited to build something from the very beginning;
You are professionally agile, and able to adapt to the rapidly changing needs of a growing
organisation;
You are happy working alone as well as in a team; SKILLS
You have the flexibility to work evenings and weekends (around eight evenings and two
weekend days per month) with time off in lieu;
You are able to obtain a clear DBS certification (provided).

DESIRABLE
You have strong local networks in Tower Hamlets and/or Hackney;
You have experience organising and leading events;
You have experience starting something up from scratch.

ROLE FEATURES
26 days' annual leave plus bank holidays;
Staff counselling service;
Travel covered.

We seek to live our values in everything we do. We are actively seeking candidates from
diverse backgrounds who represent the communities we work in.