Dame Moira Gibb DBE Chair of Trustees Expand Dame Moira Gibb DBE qualified as a social worker in Edinburgh, before going on to hold roles in Newcastle, Bolton, and Surrey as well as the London boroughs of Ealing, Kensington and Chelsea, and Camden, where she served as the Chief Executive from 2003 to 2012. She was appointed as Chair of Trustees for Hestia in September 2023. In addition to her experience in housing and social care, Dame Moira has also held Non-Executive roles at NHS England, the UK Statistics Authority, Reading University and Skills for Care which she chaired for eight years. She is a member of the Advisory Panel to the NHS and Social Care Data Guardian. She has conducted independent safeguarding reviews for both Southbank International School and the Church of England. She has honorary doctorates from the University of East Anglia and Kingston University.
Where will I be based? Expand Our services work across London boroughs, so this depends on which service you will be joining and which role you are applying for. Take a look at our individual services for more information on where they operate. Our Head Office is located in London Bridge.
How do I apply? Expand Click on your desired role and you will be taken to our recruitment site. Here you can provide your contact details and upload your CV. Our current opportunities list is updated continuously so you can be sure you are viewing all currently available paid and volunteering vacancies. Browse our latest career opportunities.
How soon after the closing date should I hear back? Expand We aim to shortlist and inform candidates within 2 working days of the role closing however at times this can take a bit longer if your details are on a reserve list. We will get back to all applicants.
Can I volunteer at Hestia? Expand Yes, we are proud to have over 300 volunteers across London supporting adults and children in crisis. For more information about volunteering, please visit our volunteer page.
Does Hestia offer work experience? Expand We offer work placements to students currently enrolled on a social work university course. For more information, please contact Donna Kaufman by email: [email protected]
What are the benefits of working at Hestia Expand BHSF will give you access to a range of health, wellbeing and lifestyle tools such as GP helpline Advice, services and products for you or your loved ones’ care needs Telephone helpline providing practical and emotional support Pension scheme Season ticket loan Discounted memberships at over 2500 gyms Holiday trading Toil & flexible working Hundreds of money-saving offers Training & development Online health assessment proving a comprehensive health and wellbeing overview
Brendan Sarsfield Treasurer Expand Brendan was the former Chief Executive of Peabody, a housing association owning and managing 68,000 homes in London and the South East. Brendan has worked in housing all of his professional life and is a campaigner for the needs of ordinary Londoners and the importance of diversity in the city. Brendan is also chair of the Sustainable Housing Standards Board which focusses on the relationship between the sector and the finance sector on ESG issues. Brendan was appointed a Trustee of Hestia in May 2021 and sits on the Finance & Fundraising subcommittee.
Refuge support worker - Barking and Dagenham £20,124 rising to £20,760 per annum after 1 year Applications close 31st May 2018 Expand We are Hestia, a vibrant London based charity. Our Barking and Dagenham domestic abuse service is looking for a Refuge Worker to be part of their friendly team. We have 2 refuges in the borough where we provide temporary emergency accommodation to women and their children (if any) who have experienced or exposed to domestic abuse. We empower and support women in determining their own futures whether their decision to start a new life or return home safely. You will get to work with the local community, adding to the local VAWG strategy, and enjoy local training. We welcome applications from candidates with lived experience. Section 7(2) b & e of the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 apply to this position – (Only Female applicants Please) Find out more
Refuge support worker - Wandsworth £20,124 rising to £20,760 per annum after 1 year Applications close 7th May Expand Want to be an advocate for women and children fleeing domestic abuse? Come join our service in Wandsworth. Working within the team of 5 refuge workers you will have the potential to perhaps save and certainly to change lives. Working with women and children at a pivotal moment in their lives the service provides a safe-haven, a place for them to catch their breath and gather their thoughts. You will work alongside the team to help the women recognise the massive step they have already taken and to start planning the next step they need to take on their journey. There’s never a dull moment – this job is not without drama and challenge but these are more than made up for with the rewards. We welcome applications from candidates with lived experience. Find out more
I have some questions. Who can I talk to? Expand Please contact our Human Resources team on [email protected]. You should receive a reply with 48 hours.
I am currently employed, when should I hand in my resignation? Expand If you are currently employer, we recommend you do not resign until we have received your reference and DBS unless instructed otherwise by our HR department.
What is the shortlisting process? Expand Our Managers usually shortlist within 2 working days of the vacancy closing. You will receive an email from our HR department with a conditional offer and the relevant paperwork for you to complete. HR will arrange to meet with you in person to complete our pre-employment checks. Please don’t hand in your notice until HR informs you that everything is in order.
How shall I best prepare application? Expand We are looking for candidates with a passion to change lives who identify with our values. Your cover letter is your chance to tell Hestia all about this. Why you wish to work for Hestia Transferable skills Our vision is ‘Empowering people, changing lives’. How will you contribute to this if you are successful? We are looking for candidates who live our values; respectful, genuine, dedicated, collaborative, courageous. How will you ensure to incorporate our values in your everyday work? The experience a person has on their CV would not necessarily be an indication of how a candidate will live our values. Your cover letter is your chance to tell Hestia all about this. If you have any questions during the application process, contact our HR team on [email protected] (strictly no agencies). We aim to reply to any messages within 48 hours.
Is there a pension scheme? Expand Your pension scheme is a special type of savings plan designed to provide you with an income once you retire. As soon as you start with us, you will be automatically enrolled into the pension scheme where Hestia will match your personal contributions up to a maximum of 5% of your salary.
Aisling Thompson Trustee Expand Aisling has 30 years of experience in healthcare, working in senior operational roles in large NHS providers. She has also held roles in central government at the Department of Health and Social Care and in consulting. Aisling is currently the Director for the South East London NHS Community Provider Network supporting collaborative working across the four community health providers and six local authorities. Aisling was a Trustee at Hestia from December 2019-December 2021 and has re-joined the board in September 2023.
Liz Meek Trustee Expand Liz is the former chair of Twining Enterprise, a charity helping people with mental health problems into work. She previously had nearly 40 years’ experience in the civil service and was head of the Government Office for London and then the North West delivering policies and programmes, mainly tackling poverty and disadvantage, for 12 Whitehall departments. Liz led the team of officials which created the Mayor of London. Since leaving the civil service, Liz has been founder chair of the Centre for London - a new think tank, vice chair of Birkbeck college and on a number of boards and commitees, mostly on mental health. She was a member of the London Fairness Commission. She proposed and served on the Schizophrenia Commission. Liz joined Hestia’s board in October 2020 and sits on the Finance & Fundraising subcommittee.
"This is not just work for me, it is my life passion to help people." Expand Vicky's Story I joined Hestia in 2018, as a service manager for the Wandsworth Recovery & Rehabilitation mental health service. By that point, I had worked in the care sector for 20 years, across homelessness, substance misuse and mental health services, crisis house and forensic services. I started off as a resettlement officer and support worker and worked my way up. I have wanted to work in social care setting since I was young. My dad was a teacher in a school for children with learning difficulties back in Africa, so I was a pupil there growing up. I made friends with the other children and from then on, it was my dream to help more vulnerable people in society. I came to the UK, got a degree in health and social care, and haven’t looked back. You feel satisfaction because you can see the results of your work. A while ago I bumped into a man I used to support 20 years ago; I remember helping him to start an IT course at college. He was so keen to do it and I remember telling him to go for it. He is now a computer engineer. I was so proud. Knowing that I’m having a positive impact gives me strength and motivates me to do more. I love my job. Sometimes, the journey to a success story like that is not smooth. Someone can take one step forward and then five steps back – that is the nature of recovery. I have learnt to walk that recovery journey with the person I am supporting. Strive for their goal alongside them and follow their lead – that is the greatest thing you can do for their recovery. They are the experts in their own experience. Recently, I secured a promotion to Area Manager, covering Hestia’s Registered Care Homes. This involves sustaining our services, supporting my colleagues to be the best they can be and checking in with service users. We are all working towards the same goal. I have been able to go to our services during the COVID-19 restrictions, but I can’t wait for things to go back to normal again so I can go more often. I miss it. One-on-one time with the people we support is what brings me joy; I love being a listening ear. This is not just work for me, it is my life passion to help people. In my spare time, I volunteer at my local church, helping refugees and the homeless. Our work can involve helping them to attend GP appointments or cooking for them, all the way to finding them supported accommodation or even helping them to reunite with family members. When you have worked in this field for as long as I have, you must know when to put up boundaries and take time to look after your own health, too. I always make sure to set time aside for my children and my grandchild. I also phone my dad, who still lives in Africa, every morning before I start work. He usually comes to the UK frequently to visit, so not being able to see him during lockdown has been hard. Our daily catch ups over a cup of tea have helped though. I used to have long-term career goals, but I do not now – I feel like I’ve achieved them all. However, I would love to stay with Hestia and continue being there for service users and making a difference. I would also love to become a director in Hestia one day. As a Black woman, I must remember that other people from my background will be looking up to me. I want to show them that you can achieve anything if you are focused and work hard. When the time comes to retire, I want to become a trustee somewhere and continue to grow. It is my proudest achievement that I have been able to take that dream I had as a child and achieve it. To see how my dream has helped others to achieve theirs is all I could ask for.
Charity of the year Expand If you are looking for a charity to support for a set period, we welcome opportunities to nominate Hestia and your Charity of the Year. We have many committed companies supporting Hestia, and we work with them in a range of ways; from offering new and exciting fundraising ideas, aligning their work with our causes and volunteering and cause led activities. Whether you have a formal application process or employees nominate a cause for a vote, we would love to hear from you.
Strategic – alignment with funding our projects Expand In 2022 we know that social responsibility is at the forefront of companies and customers minds. Hestia’s wealth of experience and areas of expertise make it easy for your company to both engage staff and meet your corporate social responsibility (CSR) goals. When companies and charities work together, we see lasting and innovative change. At Hestia we bring our frontline expertise and dedicated partnership team and work with you to create a bespoke partnership that benefits our service users and your teams, enabling a mutually beneficial partnership. Other ways you can benefit from our expertise: Hestia is the largest provider of support for victims of modern slavery in London and the southeast. Our frontline team can provide training for your key stakeholders to address risk of modern slavery in support chains and how to spot the signs within your communities. Our accredited Everyone’s Business team will work with your HR and senior management teams to create or improve internal policies around domestic abuse. Every year British companies lose £1.9billiob to staff missing work due to abuse at home. Having supportive policies in place supports you to become a supportive and healthy workspace for potential victims. Mental health first aiders: work with our expert teams to establish your own mental health first aiders. Talk to us about meeting your CSR objectives and relevant Sustainable Development Goals: [email protected]
Join our national campaign to tackle domestic abuse and sexual violence – UK SAYS NO MORE Expand Hestia campaigns and advocates nationally for change by hosting the UK SAYS NO MORE campaign. Our dedicated team are on hand to engage your team on national awareness days and support your business to be at the forefront of tackling abuse. How you can get involved: The Everyone’s Business Programme works with employers to support them in their delivery of an employee response to domestic abuse. For companies contracted into Everyone’s Business, a programme of direct consultancy, support and training for HR members, senior staff and key stakeholders, accreditation and access to our advice line is offered. Do you have high street facing spaces? Speak to our team about hosting our physical Safe Spaces Initiative. Our Online Safe Spaces developed together with Royal Mail Group, also allows corporates with consumer-facing websites to host an online portal that gives vital domestic abuse resources and information without leaving a trace on internet history. We have also created innovative approaches to expand support for victims from developing the Bright Sky domestic abuse app with Vodafone and most recently launching Safe Spaces in over 7,000 pharmacies and high street banks across the UK to help victims escape domestic abuse during COVID-19 lockdowns and beyond. Read more about this programme here For more information on how we work together with partners like Boots on these domestic abuse prevention initiatives, please hear from Marc Donovan, Chief Pharmacist at Boots: https://youtu.be/FTn3hzFM7ZQ
Community Volunteering & team building activities Expand At Hestia, we know many employees want to see their impact whilst also engaging in fun, team building activities. We have a dedicated volunteering team, and we invite our corporate partners to participate in a range of volunteering opportunities. Last year, 284 corporate volunteers contributed 1,583 volunteer hours to support our services. Here are just some of the ideas that have worked brilliantly for our companies and organisations: Greening our refuges and housing services with garden makeovers, renovations, clearing etc., creating recovery focussed environments through plants, art, restful designs etc. Sprucing up and decorating our properties to ensure our homes feel welcoming, through painting days, clearing clutter, furniture construction. Sharing of skills to small groups or individual clients - within our domestic abuse, modern slavery, mental health teams or age well services. Pro bono professional and skills support including business, CV writing, tenancy management, money workshop, IT, English speaking or creative such as music, poetry, art, sport, yoga, baking etc. Supporting trips or days out for our clients – from picnics, ice-skating, walks, parties – including our Big Day Out, a day of special, engaging activities. Volunteering in our cafes, recovery centres or Age Activity Centres.
Challenge Events & Community Events Expand Nothing says team bonding like clambering through mud, dressing up as Santa or running 10K together. If you have your own place in an event and are looking to raise funds for Hestia, please do get in touch as we’d love to support you. Here are some of our events on offer here: You can also set up a fundraising page here. Create a fundraising page | Hestia Or why not think up some of your own bespoke and creative ideas from bake sales, car washes, a dog walk.
Psychologically Informed Physical Environments (PIPE) Expand Across Hestia we are looking to expand our Psychologically Informed Physical Environments (PIPE) within our accommodation-based services. This approach centres the needs and choices of the service users, believing that their contribution to creating a conducive environment also supports their recovery. This process is co-ordinated by the Hestia team and external partners and ensures that our PIPE spaces are designed and equipped for physical and emotional safety, carefully considering the needs of different groups. We welcome corporate partners to support Hestia to redesign our spaces to PIPE standards, enabling our service users to create a harmonious environment for themselves and for future people in crisis. Contact: [email protected]