Project Worker – Part Time (Temporary Cover for Maternity Leave) 20 hours – £25,472 pro rata

Kairos WWT believes in the value and dignity of all women.  We aim to support, empower, and give a voice to women caught up in sex work, or at risk of prostitution, and those aspiring to leave it.  We work in Coventry by providing safe spaces, a listening ear, and development opportunities.

We are seeking a female project worker.  You will be degree qualified, with prior experience working with vulnerable women, and superb organisational skills so you can co-ordinate service delivery. You are an excellent communicator, with advocacy experience.  You will be comfortably able to supervise our day and evening sessions.

This role requires regular evening and occasional weekend work.   Applicants are required to have a full driving licence, use of a car and an unrestricted right to work in the UK.

Funded by The National Lottery through Big Lottery Fund.

The Sex Discrimination Act 1975 s7 (2) (e) applies to these posts. You can download the Person Specification, Job Description and Application Form or contact the office on 02476 559550 for an application pack.

Closing date for applications is Friday 1^st June 2012

Reg. Charity No: 1136695

Kairos WWT, The Terrence Higgins Trust (THT), West Midlands Police & Coventry City Council are coming together to host a new partnership. The Coventry Sex Workers Community Partnerships aims to inform and raise awareness amongst members of the local community of the issues surrounding and support available to those involved in sex work in Coventry  and  give attendees the opportunity to have their say on any issues involving sex work in their community

The event will include:

• presentations on sex work & the law, the community issues and the partnership response to these issues, sexual exploitation, trafficking, sex work and the Olympics
• Q&A session
• networking opportunity
• community walkabout
• the launch of the booklet ‘Developing Routes Out’, produced by the Community Safety Partnership to help professionals offer support to sex workers

To book a place please contact Lucia on 02476 559550 or lucia@kairoswwt.org

The project looked at a variety of new initiatives including the development of  a computerised database which forms the heart of a new reporting system.  This system will enable KairosWWT to maximise the impact of our work by streamlining administration process and thus enhancing the measurement of the impact on the women it assists.

“As a growing charity, we are always keen to enhance the way we work and the way we capture the impact that we make on the local community. We needed to develop our systems for monitoring and evaluation in order to track our achievements, further improve services and enhance our sustainability.” Lucia Gattuso, Project Manager

According to the Warwick team, who got involved as part of theWarwickBusinessSchool’s commitment to the local community, the project turned out to be both rewarding and demanding:

These monologues were written and performed by a group of women from a variety of social and cultural backgrounds as part of a collaborative project between Casteaway Arts and Kairos WWT (‘Women On Top’).

The performance was a culmination of 8 weeks work where the women spent time exploring what it means to be a woman and some of the issues women face. They took one of these ideas and crafted their own monologue, which they then practiced, refined and finally performed.

Just as women have many different talents and ways of expressing themselves, so the monologues were wonderfully varied and diverse. The women chose to express themselves through acting, singing and poetry covering a range of subjects such as overcoming lost love, gender identification, making moral life decisions, arranged marriage and many more. All of these subjects were conveyed in a way which had the audience falling off their seats with laughter one minute and weeping into a Kleenex the next.

Following the performance the women received rapturous applause from an audience numbering about a hundred and since then there have also been numerous requests for further performances. One audience member said: “I just wanted to say I really enjoyed the WOT Monologues show!!! It was so uplifting and moving on so many levels…This show has inspired me to do something for good for a change”. We are grateful to all those in the audience, who showed such fantastic support and which enabled us to raise £240, which will be put towards the on-going work that Kairos does.

By way of recognition for all their hard work and the contribution they made to promoting women’s issues, the Women on Top girls received the annual Women of Achievement Award from the Coventry Women’s Forum. The award and certificates were presented by Chairwomen of the Forum, Pru Poretta. We join in congratulating and celebrating with the girls for this fantastic achievement.

The theme for this year’s International Women’s Day was “Connecting Girls, Inspiring Futures” and this was really encapsulated in the Monologues project. It was a great opportunity to celebrate some of the amazing gifts and talents women have and it provided a platform to speak about issues that really affect women today.