Peer Support Officer

Stroke Association

Hours
21 hours per week

Length of contract
12 months

About the Organisation

Stroke Association is the UK’s leading charity providing lifelong support for all stroke survivors and their families. We provide tailored support to tens of thousands of stroke survivors each year. This support includes one-to-one and group support, funding vital scientific research into stroke prevention, acute treatment, recovery, and long-term care, and campaigning to secure the best care for everyone affected by stroke. 

We’re here for stroke survivors and their loved ones, from the moment they enter the new and frightening post-stroke world, supporting them every step of the way as they find their strength and their way back to life. It’s only thanks to the generosity of our supporters and donors that we can provide vital support.

Stroke Association is driven by our ambition to improve the lives of everyone affected by stroke. This means we’re determined to create an equitable and inclusive workplace that benefits from the differences and thrives on the diversity of our people. Guided by our approach to solving inequity in stroke, we are prioritising listening to and learning from lived experience across our charity.

About the role

We are looking for an enthusiastic and motivated individual to join the South West, Wessex and Channel Islands service delivery team to support our exciting work in Gloucestershire. You will bring experience and understanding of the meaningful involvement of lived experience, working to address health inequities, using a data driven approach to prioritisation and focus of work. To work with colleagues across the locality to deliver engagement activity.

The Peer Support Officer helps strengthen local stroke communities by bringing people together, championing lived experience voices, and building warm, trusted relationships with volunteers, partners, and healthcare professionals. By gathering insight, developing local peer support groups and sparking meaningful conversations, the role ensures stroke survivors and carers feel heard, connected, and supported to reduce the devastation of stroke.

NHSE guidance for Life After Stroke support states “Quality peer support can take a variety of formats, from remote peer befriending to local stroke support groups, and in some cases be specific to sub-groups within the wider stroke population (for people of working age, carers or for those with a special interest in a particular social activity). It may also be 1:1 or group-based, and provided face-to-face or remotely, depending on personal preferences”.

The Stroke Association has extensive experience of providing peer support, particularly peer support led by volunteers, many of whom are often stroke survivors themselves and therefore ‘experts by experience’. By listening to local needs, developing peer support opportunities and enabling meaningful connections, the role helps ensure people affected by stroke feel heard, connected and supported. Peer support may be delivered in a range of formats, including one-to-one or group-based, face-to-face or remotely, and may be volunteer-led or tailored to particular communities and needs. Typically, this may involve exploring connecting people with our existing central peer support offers of developing a locally delivered offer. 

Responsibilities

• Support delivery against community and engagement plans and projects. 
• Support the scoping of community development activity, bringing insight to align with priorities set in the locality plan.
• Support stroke survivors to take part in a range of opportunities to provide the voice of lived experience.
• Collect insight and share with colleagues within the locality and across directorates.
• Work with colleagues across the locality to deliver a localised approach to addressing health inequalities, working with Equality, Diversity and Inclusion leads from across the organisation.
• Support with relationship mapping and development.
• Work with central teams to support local campaigning activity.
• Lead on volunteer recruitment in the locality, working with colleagues to deliver against the strategic volunteering plan. Delivery against volunteering strategy
• Manage and strengthen relationships between the Stroke Association and the Stroke Group
• Network and the wider stroke community.
• Work with central colleagues and the Engagement Lead to support and ensure compliance of Stroke Association volunteer-led support groups.
• Support the coordination, monitoring and evaluation of data for engagement work. Evidence of activity
• Share leads and potential donor and fundraising opportunities with colleagues in Income
• Generation to support effective stewardship of relationships.
• Deputise for the Engagement Lead, including representing the Stroke Association in a wide variety of settings and supporting UK-wide improvement projects as required.

Skills, Competencies, Experience & Attributes

Essential Knowledge, Experience & Qualifications:

• Experience of working with and supporting a wide range of stakeholders.
• Experience of managing and developing volunteers.
• Experience of working with support groups.
• Experience of supporting networks.
• Experience of working in partnerships with other organisations including those in the voluntary sector, health and social care.
• Experience of working in advocacy, campaigning, community engagement and development.
• Experience in developing support using co-production with service users.
• Experience of collecting data and producing reports.
• Experience of being adaptive to best meet the needs of the people we support.
• Ability to work independently, prioritise workload and use initiative while knowing when to seek support or guidance.
• Knowledge of key policies including General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), safeguarding and health and safety.
• Experience of addressing health inequalities and championing diversity internally and externally.
• Excellent IT skills.
• Excellent communication skills, including confident public speaking skills.

Compensation & Benefits

• 25 days’ annual leave plus bank holidays (this will increase with service up to 30 days, full-time equivalent)
• Cashback and discount scheme, employee assistance programme, learning and development, pension scheme, Life Assurance, Eye Care vouchers, Long Service Award, Health Cash Plan, flexible working opportunities available.

Conditions of employment

• You must be a UK resident and have the right to work in the UK.

Working locations

• Home-based
• Occasional travel will be required as part of this role (may include team meetings or other work-related meetings)

How to apply

• Please view the role profile.
• Please click to apply. Please submit your CV (including details of your current address) and a supporting statement of no more than two pages demonstrating how you meet the person specification and what you bring to the role in terms of your skills and experience.
• If you are applying under the Disability Confident scheme, please indicate this in your supporting statement when applying for the role
• If you have  any questions, please drop us an email at [email protected]

Interviews

• The interview dates are 13th and 14th October 2026. Interviews will be held via video conferencing. Please let us know if this will present any challenges when you email your application.

Policies

We are working to improve the representation of this lived experience at all levels within the Stroke Association, and we are eager to recruit applicants from a variety of communities and backgrounds. We are keen to receive applications from people affected by stroke, people of colour, members of LGBT+ communities, and disabled people because these identities and experiences are underrepresented and would add enormous value to how we work.

We are a Disability Confident employer, and we are making great progress focusing on flexible working, reasonable adjustments and access to work. Our charity has a variety of staff network groups, and we're committed to continuously improving our diversity and inclusion efforts. If you have questions or access needs, we’re happy to discuss any support and adjustments we can make throughout the recruitment process so that you’re able to contribute your best in a way that meets your needs.

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