Apprenticeship scheme

For over a decade, St Mungo’s has run an Apprenticeship scheme to give people who had lived experience of homelessness the skills and experience they need to find a job within the homelessness sector or further afield.

Our apprenticeship scheme has gone from strength to strength supporting over 200 people in paid roles in client facing and central services with qualifications attached.

This is the only scheme in the homelessness sector that is only open to those with lived experience of homelessness, substance use, mental health, criminal justice service and recovery services.

Recruitment

To find out when we will be recruiting, please contact apprenticeship.scheme@mungos.org

You will be added to the list to get an alert when a post is advertised.

Apprentice roles are advertised on the current vacancies page with a link to the online application form.

We are looking for motivational, positive and inspiring role models who will inspire clients. St Mungo’s Apprenticeship Scheme offers 15 months paid work, a comprehensive training programme and the opportunity to gain a qualification in a central service role (for example, business administration) or a client support role (for example adult care worker). There will be on the job learning and shadowing staff to observe how they support clients to achieve their goals. You will also be required to attend training sessions in order to complete your qualification.

Our scheme aims to:

Provide employment opportunities for those with lived experience of homelessness and / or have used services related to mental health, substance use, alcohol, criminal justice and or recovery services
Give a supported and structured route to gain skills and knowledge to begin a career in the sector

Who can apply for the scheme?

Applicants to the scheme must have:

Personally experienced homelessness (spent time sleeping rough, or lived in a hostel, refuge or supported accommodation), mental health, substance use, criminal justice and recovery services
Good literacy and numeracy skills and basic IT skills
The right to work in the UK
Have lived in the UK a minimum of three years and can document this when needed
A willingness to undertake an Enhanced DBS (previously called an enhanced CRB)
A passion and commitment to working with vulnerable people with complex needs

All applicants must be over 18 years of age.

We particularly encourage people who have been out of work for some time to apply.

Pre-employment checks

To ensure we safeguard and protect the clients we work with, we have a number of pre-registration checks we have to complete before recruiting for most positions. St Mungo’s is entitled to ask questions about an applicant’s entire criminal record because it is exempted from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. Having a criminal record doesn’t necessarily rule out someone working for us. It depends on the nature of the position applied for, and the nature and circumstances of the offence(s).

We’ll ask candidates for their consent to a clearance check. Any information supplied will be treated in confidence and in accordance with the GDPR legislation. If you don’t give consent, we will be unable to proceed with your application. Applicants will be asked to undergo a check with the Disclosure and Barring Service (England and Wales); this will be an Enhanced Disclosure.

Frequently asked questions

I have been out of work for some time, what can I do to improve my chances of being selected for the Apprenticeship?

To succeed on the scheme, you will need passion and commitment, empathy towards homeless people, and basic administration skills. You don’t need to have been employed in the past, but the people who have typically been successful at gaining a place on the scheme have been people that had spent their last few months using their time productively. For example, they might have volunteered, had unpaid work placement, attended a college course, been actively involved in a client involvement group, such as St Mungo’s Outside In, attended activities in their project or local area, or improved their IT or literacy skills.

Why should I do my Apprenticeship at St Mungo's?

The compassion and complete dedication of our people is what makes us who we are. We do everything we can to make day-to-day life that little bit easier, so we offer parental and compassionate leave, childcare vouchers, sick pay entitlements and generous holidays. We’re committed to fostering a diverse and supportive working environment including flexi-time working arrangements. It’s our way of saying thank you.

How will I know if I’m ready to apply?

Although there are no formal requirements for our apprenticeship scheme, people are more likely to be successful if they have:

Volunteered
Attended college / training
Participated in client involvement
Had an unpaid work placement (or paid work experience)
Attended activities in a project or local area
Developed literacy, numeracy and IT skills

What can an Apprentice expect?

15 month work placement: The majority of the Apprenticeship posts are based in one of our projects working as an Apprentice Project Worker.
Training: You will be required to attend all St Mungo’s core and key skills training courses. There will be opportunities to attend further development courses and access learning resources.
Support: Additional to the support of your line manager, you will have the support of the Apprenticeship Coordinator who will check in with you regularly to see how things are going. Apprentices are matched with a mentor through St Mungo’s Professional Development Mentoring Scheme who will support you with career progression.
Reflective practice sessions: There will be regular reflective practice sessions with other Apprentices to give you the opportunity to talk through any challenges you are facing on the scheme and to reflect on how you can do things better.

When the Apprenticeship finishes, what next?

We’ll support you to gain the skills in order to help you become more employable. You may choose to go on to apply for a job at St Mungo’s, one of our partner organisations, or elsewhere in the homelessness sector.