Job summary
We are looking for an enthusiastic, motivated individual to join the Emotional Wellbeing and Spiritual Care Team at St Elizabeth Hospice. Our 565 Service provides emotional support to children, young people and families living with a family member with a progressive illness. The service also provides bereavement support following the loss of a loved one.

You must hold a professional qualification and be registered to practise as a counsellor, social worker or other relevant registered professional. You must have a qualification/ experience in providing childrens support. A minimum of 2 years post-qualification experience in a palliative care setting is ideal. Our ideal candidate will have proven abilities to work with children, families and adults who have changing needs, both on an individual basis and in groups, as well as an understanding and ability to support individuals and families throughout their illness.

St Elizabeth Hospice is an independent charity and hospice, which improves life for people in the East Suffolk, Great Yarmouth and Waveney areas living with a progressive or life-limiting illness. Established in 1989, the hospice has built a reputation for delivering high-level care to patients and the community it serves. Through medicine and therapy, they ease pain; give life purpose and make life liveable. Last year the charity supported over 4,000 patients and their families.

Our most recent Care Quality Commission report rated the hospice as Outstanding

Main duties of the job
We are looking for a candidate who is motivated to work as part of the team as a whole and be enthusiastic to help develop the service for young people and their families.

Key responsibilities are:-

• To work in partnership with key agencies as an advisor or training / coaching resource, in liaison with the adult counselling service and other local bereavement and childrens service providers.
• To promote and develop individual and group work as a resource for children and families in the hospice catchment area enabling bereaved children and their carers to receive a service responsive to their needs.
• To lead in the delivery of a high-quality service, empowering families to develop their own coping strategies.
• To work as part of the Emotional Wellbeing and Spiritual Care team to help run and develop the service.

Salary: £19,243.80 - £28,870.20. WTE: £32,073.00 - £48,117.00.Band 5 - 6 dependant on experience

Interview Date: 28 July 2026

Hours: 22.5 hours per week

About us
The hospice offers a generous benefit package, including:

• 27 days annual leave entitlement
• Pension scheme
• Life Cover
• Cycle to Work Scheme
• Car Leasing Scheme
• Health Service Discounts
• Occupational Sick Pay
• Blue Light Card
• Employee Assistance Programme

Job responsibilities
Job summary:
To work within the Emotional Wellbeing and Spiritual Care Team and wider multi-professional hospice team, providing specialist emotional support to children, young people and families affected by life-limiting illness, death and bereavement. The role includes delivering therapeutic interventions, pre- and post-bereavement support, and providing training, consultation and guidance to schools, professionals and partner agencies.

Safeguarding responsibilities:

• To demonstrate a commitment to keeping adults and young people safe
• To report any disclosure made to you to the appropriate person
• To report any safeguarding concerns in the workplace to the appropriate person
• To maintain an awareness of the hospices policies in relation to safeguarding

Key responsibilities:

• Provide emotional and practical support to children, young people, families, carers and patients across hospice, community, inpatient and outreach settings.
• Manage a caseload of children, young people and families requiring pre-bereavement and bereavement support.
• Deliver individual and group therapeutic interventions, including talking, creative and play-based approaches, in a range of settings.
• Undertake assessment, establish person-centred goals, and evaluate outcomes of support and intervention.
• Act as Duty Therapist, managing referrals, triaging enquiries, providing telephone support and responding to urgent emotional wellbeing needs.
• Work collaboratively with multidisciplinary colleagues to ensure coordinated, family-centred care and participate in relevant clinical and family meetings.
• Provide training, consultation and guidance to hospice colleagues, schools and partner agencies on supporting children and young people facing illness, loss and bereavement.
• Liaise effectively with external agencies and professionals to ensure appropriate support pathways and coordinated care.
• Maintain accurate, timely and confidential clinical records and contribute to data collection, audit and outcome monitoring.
• Contribute to the development, evaluation and continuous improvement of children's emotional wellbeing and bereavement services, including the LivingGrief Bereavement Hub.
• Participate in professional supervision, continuing professional development and maintain up-to-date knowledge of best practice, safeguarding and palliative care services.
• Support and develop colleagues, volunteers and students, and contribute to the wider work of the Emotional Wellbeing and Spiritual Care Team as required to meet changing team, service and organisational needs.

Responsibilities for all staff:

• Act as a positive ambassador for St Elizabeth Hospice
• Where the postholder is a member of a professional body, comply to the professional standards set by that body. Ensure registration is current and practice continuous professional development.
• Because of the special nature of the hospice and its work, the postholder may on occasion be asked to undertake other duties to help maintain our high standards of care and engagement.

Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential

• Professional qualification to include one or more of the following:
• Counsellors registered with UKCP or BACP with accreditation or working towards accreditation
• Social work qualification (registered with Social Work England)
• Play therapy qualification (BAPT registrations)
• Arts therapy qualification (HPC registration)
• Experience in emotional support for children, young people and families.

Desirable

• Minimum of 2 years post qualification experience

Personal Qualities
Essential

• Compassionate, empathetic and committed to person-centred care.
• Emotionally resilient and able to work effectively with distressing, sensitive and complex situations.
• Able to work independently and collaboratively as part of a team, using initiative and sound professional judgement.
• Organised, adaptable and committed to ongoing professional development, reflective practice and high professional standards.

Desirable

• Experience of supporting the wellbeing and development of colleagues, students or volunteers.
• Willingness to represent the service at community events, professional networks and external meetings.

Experience
Essential

• Experience of providing emotional wellbeing, therapeutic or psychosocial support to children, young people and families.
• Ability to support individuals and families affected by loss, bereavement, serious illness or significant life changes.
• Experience of working collaboratively within multi-professional and/or multi-agency settings.
• Ability to assess, plan, deliver and evaluate interventions for individuals and groups.
• Knowledge of child development, safeguarding, and the impact of illness, loss and bereavement on children and young people.

Desirable

• Experience within hospice, palliative care, healthcare, social care or community settings.
• Experience of delivering training, consultation or workshops to professionals, schools or community groups.
• Experience of contributing to service development, audit or quality improvement initiatives.
• Experience of lone working.

Specific Skills
Essential

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to engage effectively with children, young people, families and professionals.
• Ability to assess need, manage risk and deliver therapeutic, emotional wellbeing and bereavement support to individuals and groups.
• Ability to manage and prioritise a varied caseload, balancing competing demands and responding flexibly to changing needs.
• Ability to develop and deliver training, workshops or presentations to schools, professionals and partner organisations.
• Competent IT skills, including the use of electronic patient record systems, Microsoft Office and Outlook.
• Ability to maintain accurate, timely and confidential records.

Desirable

• Experience of providing consultation and advice to professionals working with children and young people.
• Ability to supervise, mentor or support students, volunteers or colleagues.
• Experience of using outcome measures and evaluation tools to evidence service impact.
• Experience of using SystmOne or other electronic clinical record systems.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Applicants must have current UK professional registration.

St Elizabeth Hospice is committed to safeguarding and protecting the adults and young people that we work with and has a zero-tolerance approach to abuse, neglect and discrimination of any person. As such, all posts are subject to a rigorous safer recruitment process, including the disclosure of criminal records and vetting checks. We have a range of robust safeguarding policies in place which promote safeguarding across the hospice and staff are expected to undertake regular, mandatory safeguarding training to equip them with the knowledge and skills to identify and respond to potential risks.