We are delighted that you want to find out more information about our vacancies in Social Work and Social Care in Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council.
Two different towns, one unique vision
The borough’s motto translates as ‘By Skill and Hard Work’ and this grit and determination is strong in our many partnerships which make this one of the most rewarding places to work in Lancashire. Colleagues past and present will confirm there is something special about the place. It’s an exciting time to live and work here. Millions of pounds of investment has flowed and continues to flow into the borough to regenerate our town centres, refurbish buildings, improve roads and provide new facilities and opportunities for local people.
Our borough has the largest population across Lancashire with almost 150,000 people. We have a younger than average age profile with 28.5% of our population aged 20 and under, offering great potential for the future. By 2041, population projections show that 65+ age group will have risen by almost 40% demonstrating the broad age profile of the borough.
As a multicultural borough, the area is home to many people with diverse ethnicities and identities. Census 2011 suggested that within Blackburn with Darwen 66% of people identified themselves as White British, 28% as Asian / Asian British and 0.6% Black/African/Caribbean/Black British.
Our surroundings are valued – we have stunning countryside on our doorstep and we recognise the importance of vibrant towns.
Opportunities to develop the town or protect old buildings are grasped with both hands. We make it easy for people to invest here.
What makes us really stand out is the way people pull together – our residents, our own staff, voluntary and community groups, businesses and other public sector organisations. Successful partnerships are a clear strength and we make the most of the enthusiasm and goodwill.
Blackburn with Darwen has compact urban areas predominately but not exclusively located around the towns of Blackburn and Darwen. The area is surrounded by countryside and features a number of small rural villages and hamlets. It borders Bury and Bolton in the south, Chorley in the west, Hyndburn and Rossendale in the east and the Ribble Valley in the north.
The borough is well located with good transport and infrastructure links to the rest of Lancashire, Greater Manchester and beyond. Blackburn and Darwen are both served by the Clitheroe to Rochdale rail line. Blackburn is also served by the York to Blackpool line and the Blackburn to Manchester Victoria Line.
The Council and Social Care
As a Council, we are absolutely determined to help people living in Blackburn and Darwen enjoy a better quality of life and the chance to raise their aspirations. For us that means making things as fair and inclusive as possible so that people have the chances that they deserve. We know that investing in technology is vital. Modernising and helping others make the most of what is available sits at the heart of what we are trying to achieve.
Improving prosperity is what drives our bold approach. Our role is to influence important initiatives and build relationship to bring benefit directly back to residents and we do this right across the region and further. Even though budgets are tight, we run hundreds of high quality services each and every day and invest in. We pride ourselves on being honest and understanding. Community pride can be seen all around us and it’s engrained in everything we do.
At this point in time, things are a bit different due to Covid 19 however in Blackburn with Darwen we have also used this time to innovate and improve our services. We value our whole Social Care workforce and have all pulled together to continue to offer face-to-face as well as virtual support to our citizens.
Adults and Children’s Social Care is varied with many different roles across a range of setting, working with children or people of different ages and support needs.
In the face of extremely difficult times, many of our staff are still partly office based following Covid safe arrangements with flexibility to work from home as required. We continue to offer Induction for new staff, excellent support, training and interesting placements for our trainee workers and Apprentices.
We are very aware of our staff wellbeing and despite the worries that we all have about friends and family, we still manage to have some fun and share virtual social events via Microsoft Teams, which all employees have access to.
We embrace relationship based practice, innovation and strategies to support you including options for agile working, flexible working arrangements, digitisation and wellbeing programmes. We have an absolute focus on improving the context in which social work practice takes place and this includes having delivered on a commitment to reduce caseloads and maintain strong continuous personal development and opportunities to progress.
Things that you might want to know about working here:
• Less travelling: The vast majority of your work will be within the Blackburn with Darwen boundary so no need to spend ages wasting time travelling miles or having to join busy motorways to get to your appointments – just more time doing the job you love
• Flatter structure: We try to keep our structures as flat as possible whilst still maintaining lots of support for people – all our management team are in the same open plan office space so are easily accessible and we encourage everyone to talk to each other and build strong relationships
• Enviable CPD: We have excellent CPD arrangements in place with a full and comprehensive development programme for all, you can find out more by talking to us or looking at our development pages
• A place for you to innovate: We want to revolutionise the social work world at Blackburn with Darwen and need your strength, experience and motivation to help us achieve this ambitious aim
Why work for Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council?
Employees are at the heart of our organisation. We know we cannot deliver our services and achieve the results we do without hard working, enthusiastic and happy employees. That is why we strive to ensure everyone, regardless of personal circumstances, is treated fairly, equally and have the same opportunities as everyone else. As we are a small Borough to work for your interaction with Senior Managers will be more accessible. At Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council we keep abreast of new developments but always maintain a person centred perspective to our working arrangements.
We offer a range of benefits and rewards to our employees such as but not limited to:
Flexible and agile working
Work-life balance
Low case-loads
Discounted gym membership
Tax free childcare
Local Government Pension
Car Benefit scheme
Opportunity to purchase additional leave
Personal Development
Professional Development
The Council will also reimburse you for any relevant professional membership fees and offers free DBS checks where the role requires. Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council recognises continuous service or ‘unbroken’ service from any local authority, NHS organisation or organisation covered by the modification order.
Who are we looking for?
We are looking for enthusiastic professional individuals who are committed, creative, and passionate about making a difference to the lives of Children, young people and adults to join our social care team. If you would like to make a real difference then we would like to hear from you.
Working directly with people can be both challenging and extremely fun and rewarding. We want you to inspire us and help us improve the way we work and in return we will help develop your professional skills and progress in your career.
You’ll have excellent communication skills and be able to build and sustain relationships with children, their families and other professionals and have a track record of being able to motivate, encourage and support individuals. Some of our roles require night and weekend working on a rota basis.
We want you to picture yourself working here, making a difference to the residents we are so proud to serve. We also want you to share the pride we have in our heritage and the excitement we have about our future.
Professional Development
We are proud to say that in Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council you can expect positive support with your own professional development and access to excellent learning opportunities
Our vision is to develop and retain high performing, motivated practitioners and to ensure that our offer of continuous professional development makes Blackburn with Darwen an attractive place for you to work by offering you ‘the right support at the right time’ There is no one size fits all for social care training but there are key programmes that can help. Managers will inform employees of the specific training requirements for their own work area.
You will be surrounded by a strong, supportive network of experienced Social Care Workers and Managers who will provide you with a comprehensive induction, training, help and advice to enable you to reach your full potential. We encourage and value research, new ideas and innovation.