Peer Support Worker

Job summary

Are you someone who wants to use your own lived experience of mental health difficulties to make a genuine difference in the lives of others? As a Mental Health Peer Support Worker (MH PSW) with the Somerset Team for Early Psychosis (STEP), you'll play a powerful and unique role--supporting people at a time when understanding, empathy and hope matter most.

MH PSWs stand out because they bring something no professional training alone can provide: real, personal insight. By drawing safely and thoughtfully on your own journey, you'll help others feel less alone, more understood, and more able to move forward. This work is not about giving advice or replacing clinical roles; it's about walking alongside someone as an equal--listening, exploring, validating, and helping them discover their own strengths and solutions.

In this role, you will build trusting, non-judgemental relationships that help people reconnect, find hope, reclaim their identity, make meaning from their experiences, and feel empowered in their recovery. Working as part of a supportive multidisciplinary team, you will use your voice and perspective to champion personal recovery, challenge stigma, and make services more compassionate and inclusive.

If you are ready to turn your lived experience into a strength that uplifts others, we'd love to welcome you into our team.

Main duties of the job

• Use your own lived experience of mental health difficulties to support others in their personal recovery journey.
• Build strong, mutual and reciprocal peer relationships based on trust, respect and shared understanding.
• Listen, explore and help people develop their own solutions without giving advice or direction.
• Support people to engage in meaningful activities, develop coping strategies and enhance problemsolving skills.
• Contribute to coproducing individual care and recovery plans.
• Facilitate access to services, community resources and support networks.
• Promote people's rights, challenge stigma and offer a personal recovery perspective within the team.
• Maintain clear interpersonal boundaries and prioritise selfcare, supervision and reflective practice.
• Work collaboratively with clinical teams, voluntary sector partners, carers, housing providers and other agencies.
• Keep accurate, confidential records and work within Trust policies and procedures, including safeguarding and information governance requirements.
• Engage fully in Peer Support Worker training and assessment aligned to national HEE competencies.

About us

At Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, we're committed to supporting our employees with a range of benefits designed to enhance your professional and personal life. We offer:

• Flexible working options to help you balance work and life
• NHS pension scheme for long-term financial security
• Generous annual leave allowance to recharge and relax
• A strong focus on career development to help you grow and achieve your potential

Additionally, you'll gain access to our Blue Light Card, unlocking exclusive discounts on shopping, dining, and leisure activities, as well as NHS-specific perks to support you both inside and outside of work.

We are proud to foster a diverse, skilled, and inclusive workforce, and we encourage applications from all backgrounds.

Why Somerset? Somerset offers the perfect blend of idyllic countryside, outstanding areas of natural beauty, and breathtaking coastlines, with vibrant cities like Bristol, Bath, and Exeter just a short drive away - and only two hours to London.

The region is home to excellent educational facilities, and with affordable housing compared to other parts of the country, it's a great place to build both your career and your future.

Somerset truly has it all - the peaceful countryside and cosmopolitan city life, with something for everyone to enjoy.