....my present one has finally driven me round the twist. Something with very short hours and a reasonable salary, preferably with the underpriveleged, dispossessed or similarly marginal, as I like that sort of person

darlow looking for players.you any good

Well, it depends how you look at it. I've no aptitude, no experience and I'm unwilling to learn.......

promising.you over 30

only marginally, I'm afraid

too young then sorry. next

Seriously, think about a job in Social Care - money is not the best but if you get a job with a local authority it's not too bad. The work can be rewarding if you like working with people - hours can be negotiated / flexible. Not so sure about working with the voluntary sector (in a paid post) and some care agencies leave a lot to be desired.

On the other hand - Darlow are looking for players - are you any good etc.

have you any goal keeping skills or can you run down the wing like a demented great dane then there could be an opening on a short contract
come august

You can be my secretary. Are you willing to move? A LONG way?

I don't mind the travel but ....secretary, hmm, that sounds a tad on the menial side. Also you've not really proved that you're marginal and dispossessed.

Sigh.. ...
Well, thank you one and all....knew I could count on you! I shall take Mr Hawklord's advice and send me cv to Soc Services.

What????

Not sure what you were doing before Grabec, as that may obviously make a difference on your chances. Often, social services or voluntary sector will want someone with relevant experience before appointing full or even half time.
There's ways to pick up relevant experience such as becoming a mentor for youth offending teams or social services, becoming a panel member for referral orders in youth offending teams, working in drop-in centres or on outreach teams. But none of that would give you any money straight away and would mean you working more hours, not less.
If you dont have relevant experience then you may still get taken on though. If you're the right type of person I'm sure you will get where you want.
As for voluntary work it depends on the management and boss in my opinion. IF you have a crap boss and a crap management committee then its really difficult. You may also have short term contracts of course.
I can probably find out some supported accommodation or drop in places in the Durham area if you want me to. Am at work tonight and can have a look.

Sorry,my reply was just unhelpful smut,feel free to ignore it.

I thought it was funny!!!!

Thanks BWH that would be great. At present I'm working in health...mainly with people who have chronic pain or anxiety/depression. But although the therapies I use help a lot of people, they're 'alternative' to the usual ones the NHS offer, so it's quite hard to get referrals. That's the aspect I'm sick of...the constant beating your head against a brick wall

Well it might have been funny but I didn't understand it

Think of something shaped like a helmet.

Yes.......?

electrician?

Grabec, our lass is an Occupational Therapist for the NHS, which I believe you can get 'fast tracked' for depending on your age. Early 30's eh?

If you want disadvantaged service users etc and don't like banging your head on brick walls then it's the job for you. Very rewarding at times it seems.

Some good advice from BWH, I was a senior practitioner in a youth offending team (yot) a while back & as BWH says some of the jobs in yot's are unqualified posts & it's about aptitude and wanting to make a difference to peoples lives. As yot's are 'multi agency' teams that include social work, health, police, drug / alcohol agencies, housing, employment etc. there are several ways of getting into that type of work.

Here are a couple of useful links, you can always contact your own local authority for advice & information.

http://www.yjb.gov.uk/en-gb/yjs/YouthOffendingTeams/

http://www.yjb.gov.uk/en-gb/

Other unqualified work could be as an Occupational Therapy Assistant or Social Work Assistant. From memory pay is about £14k - £18k.
An advantage of working for a local authority is that you may be able to train to be an Occupational Therapist or Social Worker and continue to get paid whilst training.

Good Luck

err.....see owt here?

http://www.burrows.co.uk/durhamaccessguide/08Use.htm

also some Norcare places but they're residential so would include lates or sleep ins I would imagine and can be quite draining.
Norcare Kairos is Alcohol residential in Sherburn House (372-2244)
Other Norcare are more generic accommodation for homeless
There's also Stonham accommodation round Durham

i know a lady who works there she says it can be quite unpleasant at times

Many thanks for all these ideas and addresses. There's a lot here that looks interesting