Full time, 35 hours per week
18 months contract with potential for extension
Starting salary: £28,000 per annum
Deadline 02/10/23 – Interviews on 27/10/23
About Micro Rainbow International Foundation
Micro Rainbow International Foundation (MRIF) is a registered charity whose vision is to contribute to a world where lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer and intersex (LGBTQI) people can achieve their full potential in life and have equal access to employment, training, education, financial services, healthcare, housing, places of faith, and public places and services, both in the UK and internationally.
We work globally and achieve our vision through three main programmes: economic empowerment and advocacy, emergency housing, and support and social inclusion.
Job description
This position falls under our Social Inclusion programme and is UK (London) based for work undertaken with LGBTQI asylum seekers and refugees.
LGBTQI people are criminalised in more than 60 countries in the world and society persecutes and discriminates against them in even more countries. Those LGBTQI people who fear for their lives are sometimes able to reach the UK and claim asylum on the basis of their LGBTQI status. After going through the asylum determination process, successful LGBTQI claimants are subject to a number of further issues, including social isolation and poverty, that extend their experience of marginalisation and exclusion in their new country.
Purpose of the role
We are looking for candidates with experience in supporting people who are socially isolated and who want to make connections through art based and creative activities. The role will manage a caseload of clients who are LGBTQI asylum seekers and refugees and provide them with one-to-one emotional support as well as organising online and face-to-face social inclusion workshops.
The ideal candidate is someone with lived experience of the asylum system and/or experience in providing support to vulnerable people and/or with experience in working in the art sector. They are also someone who is passionate about equality and has the ability to connect and empathise with vulnerable people whilst maintaining strict professional boundaries.
We have a commitment to use the arts as a tool to heal trauma and help our beneficiaries to move on and build their self-esteem and confidence.
We provide these workshops for many reasons. Waiting for an asylum decision can take a long time and people are left in limbo. We use the social inclusion programme for people to learn new skills, make friendships, receive peer support, be resilient, and most importantly as a place to explore attributes such as culture, race, gender, sexuality, and heritage.
We work in a trauma informed way using the principles of trust, safety, choice, collaboration, empowerment, and cultural consideration. We do not work with facilitators or accept programmes that have the potential to be re-traumatising to our beneficiaries.
Tasks and responsibilities
- Meet with LGBTQI refugees face-to-face or remotely to provide emotional support;
- Plan the social inclusion calendar of events, at least quarterly in advance and coordinate with the Communications Managers for their promotion;
- Organise and attend social inclusion events including Weather the Storm (monthly), Trans support group (monthly), LBTQI women’s group (monthly) and other weekly social inclusion events. There will be flexible working hours to accommodate trips to theatres and museums. Some events are on weekends;
- Liaise with external event facilitators and manage volunteers, make new connections with facilitators and arts based people to deliver new workshops;
- Manage travel reimbursements for beneficiaries;
- Disseminate learning on the website and social media in liaison with the Communications Manager;
- Identify relevant funding opportunities;
- Keep the CMS up to date and undertake admin and office tasks as required;
- Assist with effective monitoring and evaluation;
- Support colleagues as required.
Any other task that will improve the efficiency and effectiveness Micro Rainbow’s operations and impact.
Person Specification
Essential:
- Proven experience of working in the arts sector.
- Experience of working with vulnerable people.
- Experience of managing volunteers.
- Experience of organising and facilitating workshops and events.
- Ability to show empathy and connect with vulnerable people.
- Outgoing, personable, empathic, sensible to beneficiaries’ situation.
- Fluent in written and spoken English.
- Demonstrable commitment to LGBTQI equality and to working with refugees.
- Excellent IT skills (internet, Outlook, MS Office package).
- Excellent attention to details.
- Ability to network and forge new partnerships.
- Ability to work autonomously as well as part of a small team.
- Willingness to undertake DBS and CTC checks.
Desirable:
- Experience in fundraising.
- Knowledge of refugee issues.
- Knowledge of LGBTQI issues.
- University degree.
- Lived experience of the asylum process and/or homelessness.
- Fluency in other languages.
LGBTQI refugees are strongly encouraged to apply.
