This isn’t a role where you’ll sit at a desk and manage a process. It’s a role where you’ll get out into the community, have real conversations, build genuine relationships, and help shape what Crofton Community Centre becomes next. 

We’re entering a period of transformation — working to make the centre something the people of Hill Head and Stubbington are truly proud of. The Community Engagement Worker will be central to that. You’ll be the person listening to what the community needs, identifying what’s missing, and helping us design and develop activities and initiatives that make a real difference to people’s lives. 

It’s a 20-hour-a-week role, so it’s likely to suit someone for whom this work is a genuine calling — perhaps someone returning to work, moving into a community-focused career, or looking to combine this with other commitments. What it isn’t is a quiet, administrative post. It’s outward-facing, creative, and varied, and it will require energy, initiative, and a genuine passion for community.

The role spans four broad areas, and you’ll be working across all of them:

Understanding the community

Conducting a structured community needs audit — through conversations, surveys, outreach sessions, and engagement events. Gathering and making sense of what you hear, and presenting it in a way that helps us make good decisions about what to offer.

Building relationships
 
Developing trust and positive working relationships with residents, existing centre users, local community groups, and partner organisations. Being a visible, approachable, and enthusiastic ambassador for the Centre in the local area.

Developing activities and events

Designing and proposing new activities, programmes, and events that respond to what you’ve heard from the community. Supporting the planning and early-stage delivery of new initiatives, working alongside staff, volunteers, and partners.

Increasing participation and inclusion
 
Actively encouraging more residents to get involved — as participants, volunteers, or contributors to the Centre’s future. Making sure the centre’s offer genuinely reflects the breadth and diversity of the local community. 

We’d love to hear from people who bring some or all of the following: • 

Experience in community development, social work, health, education, youth work, or a related field would be valuable — but we’re open to people who have built these skills in different ways. Formal qualifications are not required. What matters most is that you understand communities, you know how to listen, and you have the creativity and drive to turn what you hear into something real.