Role Summary

Are you an enthusiastic people-person with an understanding of outreach work? We are looking for a collaborative, driven self-starter to manage our outreach programme in Scotland and beyond to develop and maintain our relationships with the main aplastic anaemia specialist treatment centres in the UK.

This is a fantastic opportunity to join a high performing team within The Aplastic Anaemia Trust (AAT). Our team is small, but mighty. Our current Support & Outreach team is managed by our Support & Outreach Programme Manager and comprises two part-time Support & Outreach workers who have lived experience of aplastic anaemia. Lived experience is hugely important to us but is not an essential criterion for this role.

This opportunity is for a permanent contract, starting immediately, with a six-month probation period. You will work 14 hours a week during core working hours, your working hours can be arranged flexibly to suit you.

 

What you’ll do

The Outreach & Engagement Coordinator will be responsible for:

• Developing good working relationships with healthcare professionals within hospitals and treatment centres in Scotland initially, with potential to expand UK wide.
• Identifying suitable and effective ways to keep clinicians updated about all the information and support on offer from the Aplastic Anaemia Trust.
• Working with hospitals to ensure that appropriate resources are on display, so that patients know who to turn to for friendly support.
• Working alongside our partner Maggie’s to host a regular coffee morning for patients with aplastic anaemia in one of the main Scottish treatment centres.  We have already successfully piloted this scheme in Leeds.
• Developing a strategy for reaching all the key treatment centres effectively, supported by the Support & Outreach Programme Manager.
• Recruitment and management of a group of outreach volunteers, who will roll out the outreach programme in satellite locations around the UK.

 

About you

The successful candidate will be experienced at developing and managing relationships, have a passion for improving health services whilst ensuring that our community voice is absolutely at the centre of our work.

We know the skills we need for this role, and we are open minded about where you might have acquired or demonstrated these. Let us know in your supporting statement why you believe you would excel. For example, you may be someone already experienced in outreach provision and looking for a flexible, part-time role, or you may be someone who is working in healthcare services but who is looking for a different way to have a tangible positive impact. 

We’re looking for candidates who are:

• Experienced in working as part of a busy and passionate team.
• Able to organize and prioritize a busy workload whilst developing and managing a team of volunteers remotely.
• Strategic thinkers with the ability to see the bigger picture and develop a robust plan of action.
• Excellent communicators with the skills and ability to build relationships and collaborate with multiple stakeholders, including clinicians and senior staff. We pride ourselves on our compassion and empathy, and our ability to be experts in both our work and the experiences of people impacted by AA. You will have the chance to develop this understanding in the role.
• Digitally literate. As a remote team we all need to be comfortable with the tools essential to remote working such as shared files, video meetings etc.
• Understanding of how a charity like ours supports its community.  Whether you’ve worked in a similar or related field, volunteered, or perhaps accessed support services from a charity yourself.

 

About us

The Aplastic Anaemia Trust is the only UK charity providing information, advice and support to people affected by rare disease Aplastic Anaemia. Our vision is that everyone affected by Aplastic Anaemia in the UK should feel empowered and have access to the best possible treatment, care and support so they can lead full and healthy lives. We support our community through one of life’s toughest challenges – diagnosis with a rare bone marrow failure. We currently support around 1,400 people and have around 30 volunteers.

In this rare and life-threatening disease, bone marrow fails to produce healthy levels of our blood cells. Aplastic Anaemia can affect people at any age. However, children, young people, and people aged 60 and above are most vulnerable. In the UK, around 150 people are diagnosed with Aplastic Anaemia every year. It can be inherited or caused by an autoimmune reaction.  Recently, several cases of Aplastic Anaemia have been confirmed to be as a result of a Covid-19 infection. However, in many cases the causes are as yet unknown.  

Aplastic Anaemia has a serious and long-term impact on a person’s life and health. Symptoms include extreme tiredness, frequent infections, bruising and bleeding. In very severe cases it can be life-limiting. Diagnosis usually involves a bone marrow biopsy, which many people find traumatic. Treatments can be aggressive and include blood transfusions, drugs, immune-suppressive treatment, and stem cell transplant. In some cases, people – especially children – will need a Bone Marrow Transplant to be cured. Hospital appointments, tests and treatments can span years. 

 

Our aims

Our aim is for people affected by Aplastic Anaemia to have better treatment, better information and better networks. We enable this by: 

Investing in research and working in partnership with centres of excellence. We recently co-funded research into whether the Covid-19 vaccines are effective for people with Aplastic Anaemia and blood cancer, working with Blood Cancer UK. We are currently committed to three major research projects, including a paediatric UK bone marrow failure registry and biobank with Great Ormond Street Hospital, leading to a better understanding of what causes Aplastic Anaemia. 

Providing trusted information, advice and support through our Support Line, WhatsApp messaging, website, webinars led by experts including haematologists and clinical psychologists, and our free resources that are available in print and online.

Bringing people together and providing peer support through social media, including our closed Facebook group, community blogs, and volunteer-led AAT Chat meetings, which run virtually. We also hold coffee mornings in Leeds, and offer regular face-to-face support to individuals, as needed.  We connect people with professional mental health support and counselling and benefits advice through an established partnership with Maggie’s. We provide wellbeing support through digital resources and online sessions, including yoga, meditation and sound baths and more recently are pleased to offer our Managing Stress and Living with Uncertainty, and Mindfulness Courses. 

 

Our core values

This is a fantastic opportunity for a highly motivated individual with a commitment to our core values:

• Community-led
• Expert
• Compassionate
• Collaborative
• Respectful
• Problem-solving

 

Benefits

• 25 days annual leave, plus bank holidays (pro-rata)
• Pension scheme
• Learning and development opportunities
• Remote, flexible working
• A supportive, friendly and forward-thinking work environment

 

How to apply 

Take a look at the full job description

Please make your application through CharityJobs 

Apply Here

 

Location of appointment 

Homebased from Scotland

Contract type 

Part Time (2 days/14 hours per week)

Salary range 

Full time equivalent of £24,360

If you have any questions please email

[email protected]