Mental Health & Wellbeing Practitioner (Peer) – Lothian Eating Disorder

Location:  Edinburgh & Lothians

Salary: £26,227 pro rata (£13.45 p/h equivalent)

Part time (22.5hrs p/w) – Fixed Term until March 2028

If you are looking for a rewarding career and to work within an epic team that will help you grow and thrive, then you have come to the right place. Working within our Lothian Eating Disorder Peer Support service you can start your day knowing what you do really does make a difference!

This is an exciting opportunity to be part of a partnership approach using your own lived experience of disordered eating whilst working in partnership to support young people through NHS Lothians Children and Adolescents Mental Health Services with a diagnosis of eating disorders.

In this role, you will be working collaboratively with statutory partners at various locations across Edinburgh and the Lothians, as a part of the multi-agency approach to support people with their mental health and wellbeing. The primary focus will be people who are needing help with eating disorders and related issues. You will assist people who use the service to establish and maintain a meaningful and fulfilling life in the community. MH&W Peer Practitioners play a central role in the planning and provision of quality, that is embedded with a trauma informed, and recovery focused therapeutic approach. You will work alongside people to reduce isolation, build resilience and develop community engagement.

Peer work roles have been developed specifically for people who have lived experience around mental health and wellbeing. Through appropriate and intentional sharing of their own experience, peer workers will inspire hope and belief that recovery is possible. Within a relationship of mutuality and information sharing, peer workers will promote self-management and opportunities for improved health and wellbeing.

There is an additional expectation that the MHW Practitioner (Peer) will be involved in the ongoing development of peer roles and will make a positive contribution to the reduction in stigma associated with mental health issues and diagnosed and undiagnosed eating disorders.

You will be required to develop, build and maintain professional links in order to deliver outcome focussed support.

Support is to be provided in an appropriate environment where supported people can expect to be treated with respect, be given the time and space to discuss issues at their own pace, to explore skill development and tools to support them to self-manage.

As a mental health charity, we really value the wellbeing of our staff. That’s why we want you to know that you’ll be joining a friendly team, who will give you a supportive environment to help you thrive in your role, including all the training you need to feel confident and equipped.

We can offer you a tonne of employee benefits, and we can promise you’ll be inspired by some pretty amazing humans every single day. We will support you on your own career path; developing new skills, accessing formal and informal learning experiences and providing opportunities to put your continual progress into practice.

For more information, including full job description and application/interview guidance, please download our recruitment pack. If you are having issues with viewing this or downloading this please contact recruitment@penumbra.org.uk.

When you go through the application process you will be asked to upload a CV. All applicants must also complete the screening questions on our portal. If you do not complete the screening questions your application may not be considered.

Please note that unfortunately we cannot offer visa sponsorship. We can only accept applications from applicants who currently have the legal right to work in the UK, or applicants who have already have an application in progress to obtain the legal right to work in the UK.

Updates and responses to applications will come from our recruitment system. These emails may go into your spam inbox so please check frequently for any updates on your application.

Penumbra is committed to supporting candidates with disabilities, neurodiverse candidates, and candidates with mental health conditions throughout the recruitment process. We will make any reasonable adjustments required to ensure a fair and inclusive process for all. If you think you require reasonable adjustments, please don’t hesitate to contact us at recruitment@penumbra.org.uk.