Job Description
Trainee Paid Relevant Person’s Representative (RPR)
Location: Field-based – Wandsworth & Richmond
Job Type: Permanent - 35 Hours
Salary: £24,015.68 + £3000 London Allowance
Make a difference where it matters most
At Rethink Mental Illness, we believe everyone deserves to have their voice heard. As a Trainee Paid RPR, you’ll play a vital role in supporting people who have been deprived of their liberty—helping them understand their rights, express their views, and ensure their voices shape decisions about their care.
This is more than a job. It’s a chance to build a meaningful career in advocacy while gaining a nationally recognised qualification.
What you’ll be doing
You’ll start your journey by learning, observing, and developing your skills—supported every step of the way—before progressing to managing your own caseload.
In this role, you will:
• Advocate for people in hospitals, care homes,
• Empower individuals to understand their rights and make informed decisions
• Represent people in line with the Mental Capacity Act and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards
• Take action when people’s rights may not be upheld, including raising challenges where appropriate
• Work closely with health and social care professionals to ensure the person’s voice is central
• Maintain accurate, high-quality case records and reports
• Identify safeguarding concerns and act appropriately
• Contribute to awareness-raising and engagement across services
You’ll work across Wandsworth & Richmond, so being comfortable with travel between locations is essential.
Your development journey
We’ll invest in your future from day one. You will:
• Enrol on the Level 4 Independent Advocacy Practice qualification
• Complete specialist modules (including IMCA and DoLS)
• Gain hands-on experience through shadowing and supervised practice
• Progress to a Paid RPR role once qualified
Protected study time and ongoing supervision will support your success throughout.
What we’re looking for
You don’t need previous advocacy experience—we’re looking for people with the right values, passion, and potential.
You’ll bring:
• A commitment to learning and completing your qualification
• Strong communication skills and the ability to build trust with diverse individuals
• Empathy, integrity, and a non-judgemental approach
• The ability to work independently while being part of a supportive team
• Confidence using IT systems and managing your workload
• A willingness to travel across your local area
Experience in health, social care, or lived experience is welcome but not essential.
Ready to start your advocacy career?
If you’re passionate about empowering others, standing up for rights, and making a lasting impact, we’d love to hear from you.
Apply today and take your first step into a rewarding advocacy career.
IND1
Why Work With Rethink Mental Illness?
At Rethink Mental Illness, we believe that when you feel supported, you can make the biggest difference. That’s why we offer a range of benefits to help you thrive:
• Inclusive Culture: Join staff networks that champion diversity and inclusion.
• Wellbeing Support: Access our Wellbeing Hub, Employee Assistance Programme, and the Unmind mental health app.
• Recognition & Rewards: Enjoy discounts, cashback offers, and celebrate achievements through our PULSE platform.
• Flexible Working & Generous Leave: Starting at 25 days annual leave (plus bank holidays and your birthday off), with options to buy or sell extra days.
• Learning & Development: Grow your career with structured onboarding and training opportunities.
• Financial & Family Support: Contributory pension scheme, enhanced family leave, and travel benefits like season ticket loans and cycle-to-work schemes.
• Referral Bonus: Earn up to £300 for introducing someone to our team.
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion
Diversity is important to us, and we appreciate difference through difference, inclusiveness and belonging. It gives us a deeper understanding of the world, our society and the diverse communities we’re working with. By including everyone, we are able to draw on the unique experiences and expertise of our people to help shape and enrich our workplace and improve our services. One way we are doing is through our valued staff networks which play a critical and highly valued role in keeping us focused on creating a diverse, inclusive and engaged employer. We recognise and support staff networks and support groups for our ethnically diverse and LGBTQIA+ colleagues. We are also proud to have been awarded Disability Confident Employer status and are a signatory to the Business in the Community Race at Work Charter.
We aim for our workforce to reflect the diversity of the communities we serve; for those who work for us to feel heard, valued and feel they belong; and for our work to help tackle wider mental health inequalities. We therefore actively encourage and welcome applications from everyone, including applicants with lived experience of mental illness, those who are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Questioning, Intersex, Asexual and any other gender identity not expressed here (LGBTQIA+); people who are neurodiverse, have a health condition, or a disability or hidden disability and people from an ethnically diverse background - regardless of your age, religious or spiritual belief, sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status, pregnancy, political view or socio-economic status.
Becoming a truly anti-racist organisation
We have an ambition of become a truly anti-racist employer, campaigning organisation and service provider - and in our efforts to influence policy and wider societal factors impacting on mental health set out in our anti-racist statement . We have designed a multi-year anti-racist programme of work contained in our Race Equality Action Plan which demonstrates our intention to hold ourselves accountable and be judged on our progress on becoming a truly anti-racist organisation.
