Service User Network (SUN) Group Facilitator with Lived Experience

We’re looking for a SUN Group Facilitator with Lived Experience to join our team. Here’s a quote from a fellow colleague that explains why they love their role:

“Working in a co-produced service is allowing me to use my experiences to support others, to grow my own confidence and to help build and deliver a service that benefits the members. Seeing the value of my experiences in the work we do as a team has taught me to stop seeing myself as less capable because of my mental health and instead allows me to put my experience to use”.

The SUN support groups are open to visitors. We strongly encourage all applicants to arrange to shadow a group, which you can do by emailing sun.admin@sabp.nhs.uk. We also encourage applicants to have an informal discussion about the role with the service manager, which you can arrange by emailing: Sindhu.Vazhappulli@sabp.nhs.uk.

Job Summary

Job title: Service User Network (SUN) Group Facilitator with Lived Experience

Service: Service User Network (SUN)

Location: Various locations in Surrey. SUN offers a combination of online and face-to-face support groups and community activities which make up our SUN community. The face-to-face SUN support groups are currently at Guildford Institute in Guildford, Merstham community Hub in Merstham and Bourne Hall in Ewell. SUN team meetings are held at Leatherhead House, SABP HQ, Mole Business Park, Leatherhead. The team currently work two days a week from 18 Mole Valley Business Park, Leatherhead, so we are office based on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Staff  work from home on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays if they have no face-to-face work commitments.

Hours: 35 per week.

Salary: £28,698 per annum.

Holidays: 25 days plus bank holidays.

Closing date for applications: 12 May 2025.

Interview date: 2 June 2025 in Leatherhead.

Project

SUN was launched in 2021 and is a service delivered by MFT and SABP for people with difficulties associated with the diagnosis of personality disorder. Our innovative SUN service is based on therapeutic community principles and members are expected to both give and receive support as part of their membership. We pride ourselves on being a co-produced team which means support groups and all other activities within SUN are co-delivered by a facilitator with lived experience and a clinician facilitator.

The service has been awarded the Gold Lived Experience Charter award, for demonstrating best practice and commitment to supporting people with lived experience in employment.

In December 2024, we were delighted to be awarded the Enabling Environments award by the Royal College of Psychiatrists, which is a marker of our empowering and supportive environment for both staff and members.

Purpose of Job

The SUN facilitator with lived experience will be working closely with a SUN specialist clinician to deliver regular Service User Network (SUN) support groups in different community-based locations across Surrey and North East Hampshire.

SUN provides community-based, open access facilitated peer support groups and aims to help people develop effective ways of coping and improve their relationship with themselves and others.

We would welcome applications from members who have not attended this Surrey and NE Hants SUN service for 6 months prior to applying for this post.  Facilitators are not able to be current members of the Surrey and NE Hants SUN group.

Those accessing SUN may or may not have a formal diagnosis of personality disorder. However, all members will have experienced longstanding emotional difficulties, isolation and are very likely to demonstrate unhelpful patterns of behaviour.

Fundamental to creating empowerment and engagement in SUN is the therapeutic community principle that the effectiveness of the service depends upon engaging members in the task of running, delivery, development, and evaluation of the community. The utilisation of SUN members’ own resources and expertise is integral to the model of facilitated peer support upon which the SUN support groups are based. Beyond the support groups, SUN is a community where members have the opportunity to take part in facilitated SUN social events, facilitated focus groups and facilitated community meetings. The community also produces a regular newsletter.

SUN facilitators will have regular supervision and support in this role.

We are looking for individuals who are highly resilient and are confident in sustaining an emotionally demanding paid role.

We care about staff wellbeing; we understand that our SUN staff may need to access support for their wellbeing. Confidential support is available through MFT. Being a staff member whilst using services within Surrey, especially if of a group nature, may bring potential boundary issues, due to the self-registration and open access nature of the SUN model. We encourage candidates to carefully consider the implications of the potential boundary issues prior to applying for this role. If you think it will be helpful to have a conversation about this, please speak to the SUN Service Manager.

Key Responsibilities

• To co-deliver regular SUN support groups in the community, both face to face and online, with a clinical facilitator.
• To work in collaboration with the co-facilitator and the SUN members, within support groups, to:

– promote peer support and reduce isolation.

– share and relate own lived experience to SUN members.

– to act as a role model for our members.

– improve coping skills of its members.

– reduce the number of crises that require urgent and unplanned responses from services.

– facilitate access to other services and sources of support.

– to assist people in understanding their rights and choices within the service.

– to encourage and motivate people to take an active role in their own recovery.

– to positively promote and support the empowerment of our members.

• To use own lived experience of mental health problems associated with a diagnosis of personality disorder to support the development and knowledge of the service and wider services.
• To follow the protocols and guidelines for effective working.
• To take full responsibility for understanding and applying professional boundaries.
• To contribute to ensuring that any potential risk is being constantly assessed within a culture of positive risk taking and shared responsibility.
• To contribute to team supervision and business meetings and consider information regarding the safety and wellbeing of the people who access the service.
• To co-lead on different areas of the service on a rota basis, i.e., reporting, outreach, and member involvement.
• To be responsible for keeping up to date with emails, updating outlook diary etc.
• To cover admin when required; respond to phone call and email enquiries, set up group link etc.
• To actively engage in weekly team supervision and reflective practice
• To actively engage in 1:1 check-ins and managerial supervisions.
• To undertake all the required training in line with the development of the post and as agreed with both your line manager within MFT and the service manager of SUN.
• To attend and contribute to additional service development meetings as required.
• To assist in the promotion of the service through active liaison, meetings, and presentations with people who access services, staff and other organisations.
• To comply with all relevant policies, procedures, and guidelines.
• To undertake any relevant duties as requested.
• To attend any relevant training as and when required.

Here is a recording of one of our SUN virtual information meetings, to find out more about our service: SUN virtual Meeting Recording July 2024.

Person Specification

Essential

• Commitment to undertake training on SUN protocols and methods and obtain knowledge regarding mental health with specific focus on personality disorder  and the recovery approach.
• Personal lived experience of mental health issues associated with personality disorder.
• Previous experience of working within a professional environment.
• Knowledge of personality disorder, mental health issues and recovery approach.
• Ability to reflect on and appropriately share your own life experiences and personal experiences of mental ill health as part of the facilitating role of the groups.
• Ability to guide others in taking charge of their own recovery.
• Ability to understand and create healthy boundaries.
• Excellent interpersonal skills.
• Excellent communication and listening skills.
• Ability to be non-judgmental, demonstrate empathy, compassion and patience.
• Practical experience in facilitating / co-facilitating groups or of being a member of a support or therapy group.
• Ability to remain calm and respond in a professional manner to distress, disturbance and unpredictability.
• Sensitive understanding of diversity issues and ability to promote anti-discriminatory practice and equal-opportunities.
• Ability to work co-operatively as part of a multidisciplinary team (statutory and voluntary) from different locations and to travel to and from a number of different locations on a daily basis.
• Ability to engage effectively in supervision and to be able to raise concerns or personal difficulties which may affect the work being undertaken.
• Proficient in Microsoft Word, use of email, Outlook, and basic excel skills.
• Ability to enter data onto a database as required by the Service.
• Ability to use / learn on-line social communication platforms (Teams, Zoom) and willingness to run groups on-line as well as face to face.
• Ability to demonstrate your continuing progress in recovery with the difficulties associated with a diagnosis of personality disorder as this is an emotionally demanding role.

Desired

• Completed an accredited peer support training or coaching.
• Paid or unpaid experience of support worker/training/teaching or coaching others.
• Good understanding of mental health services.

Equal Opportunities Statement

We acknowledge the unique contribution that all host organisations employees and patients can bring to our organisation in terms of their culture, race, gender, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, marital status, nationality, age, religion or belief and any physical disability or history of mental health or additional problems.

All appointments and promotions are based on merit and no job applicant or employee will be treated unfairly or discriminated against. All staff have equal access to staff development. Any member of staff who breaches this policy may be subject of grievance and/or disciplinary procedures.

This post if subject to the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check at an enhanced level. Please note past drug and/or alcohol or criminality history will not necessarily discount you from undertaking this role.

About Us

Mary Frances Trust (MFT) is a mental health and emotional wellbeing charity, supporting Surrey residents since 1994 in Banstead, Elmbridge, Epsom & Ewell and Mole Valley.

We offer a variety of face-to-face and online services, available to adults (aged 16+) living in Surrey who would like to restore and/or maintain their mental and emotional wellbeing (no diagnosis needed).

Our services are free of charge, with no waiting list and no time limit (you can use us for as long as you need and register again at any point).

To see all of our services, please visit the How We Help section of our website.

Our Vision

We believe anyone experiencing any kind of mental or emotional health issues should feel unafraid to ask for help, receive appropriate support for as long as they need, and be inspired to develop the skills that will help them to restore and maintain their own wellbeing, and lead a fulfilling life.

Our Values

Inspiring

We believe that everyone can lead a fulfilling life and achieve their goals and full potential. We encourage people to recognise and use their own strengths and resources. We inspire people to develop the skills that will empower them to become experts at managing their own mental wellbeing.  To accompany people on this journey, we offer personal, tailored support to help them regain a sense of hope and control.

Inclusive

The people we support aren’t passive recipient of our services and are not being “done to”. Through our commitment to Co-Production, we involve people with mental health lived experience in every aspect of our organisation, including the design, delivery, monitoring, review and evaluation of our services.

We believe in the power of connection. We encourage the people we support to fully participate in their local communities. As an organisation, we also strive to be part of and reflect the diverse population we serve.

Agile

We live in a fast-paced, ever-changing environment, so we’re always ready to adapt and innovate to meet the evolving needs of the local communities we serve. We are an integral part of a wider mental health system and are dedicated to providing easy access first-class mental health support by working in partnership and collaboration.

Respectful

We work hard to establish mutual honest and trustworthy relationships. We actively listen and treat people we support with the same kindness and respect as we do our staff and volunteers. We strive to be an organisation where people feel safe and that they belong.

Our Mission

Our mission is to:

• Work alongside people experiencing any kind of emotional or mental health issues for as long as they need and inspire them to develop the skills that will help them to restore and maintain their emotional wellbeing.
• Involve people with lived experience of mental health issues at every level of the organisation so together we can design, deliver, monitor and review our services and ensure they respond to their changing needs.
• Consistently challenge stigma attached to mental illness and raise awareness of the importance of looking after your mental wellbeing.
  Lead and co-ordinate the development and delivery of first-class, voluntary mental health services in Surrey.
• Maintain sufficient funding streams to be able to provide person-centred services to people experiencing any kind of emotional or mental health issues.

Safer Recruitment

We are committed to following Safer Recruitment practices to ensure the safeguarding of the whole community we serve, from members of the public and clients using our services, to our staff, volunteers, partners, and external facilitators.

A criminal record does not automatically exclude you from applying for the position. MFT will assess each application on a case-by-case basis.

This post is Exempt from the Protection of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (1974).

All successful candidates will be required to undertake Enhanced or Standard Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks as well as reference checks.  These will be a condition of any offer of employment being made.

All candidates must disclose both ‘spent’ and ‘unspent’ cautions and convictions on application – other than ‘protected’ cautions and convictions which have qualified for filtering.

Disclosure should be included in a separate covering letter on application, marked ‘Confidential’.

Guidance on Filtering: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dbs-filtering-guidance

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

We believe in a fair, equal, diverse and inclusive society. As an organisation, we believe we are stronger and richer when we bring together different experiences and perspectives to better serve our clients and local community. We are committed to creating a workforce that is diverse, inclusive of all, representative of the community we serve, promotes positivity, and instils a can-do attitude in everyone, no matter their background or characteristics at every level of our organisation from our staff and volunteers, all the way to our Trustees and Patrons. We strongly encourage applications from members of every community and actively seek to hire people with lived experience of mental health issues.

How to apply

To apply for this role, please fill in our Online Application Form (button below) where you’ll be able to upload your CV and covering letter (in which you’ll explain how you feel your experience is suitable for the role). Thank you!

If you are encountering any difficulties applying for the position, please email Emma our Administration and Communications Assistant, at: emmal@maryfrancestrust.org.uk.

Apply now

Share