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Join Our Team

We’re an award-winning charitable care provider based in Surrey, which supports around 200 people each year with a range of support needs – including learning disabilities, mental and physical health needs, autism, acquired brain injuries, and complex needs. We offer a wealth of opportunities from support worker to head office roles.

Why Work For Us?

In 2023 we were rated as the top large care employer in the UK in the Great Places to Work survey – based on the feedback of our own staff, benchmarked against other employers across the country. We were also highlighted for our approaches to employee wellbeing, and to supporting women in the workplace. Even though we’ve grown in size in recent years, we’ve retained our ‘family feel’, with accessible senior managers and a culture of listening to staff and the people we support. We can offer you:

Flexible Shift Patterns

Competitive hourly rate of £11.50 per hour

Double Pay on some bank holidays

Maternity, Paternity and Adoption Leave Enhanced Pay after a year’s service

Access to a Blue Light Discount Card (for retail, holidays, gym memberships etc)

Free access to our Employee Assistance Programme

Support with level 2,3 and 5 Apprenticeships

Opportunity to progress your career (80% of our managers started as Support Workers!)

Eye Care Voucher Scheme

Refer a Friend Scheme (Earn £500 per successful referral!)

Training and Development:

Watch our short video with Vicky Marshall, Head of Learning and Organisational Development, to find out more about the training opportunities available at Active Prospects and how we support our staff to continue to grow and progress their professional development.

Recruitment FAQs

No, you don’t have to have previous experience – we will provide you with the induction, training and support you need to become a great support worker. Our in-house training team won the National Workforce Development Award at the 2022 Great British Care Awards, so you’ll be in the best possible hands! Your values and enthusiasm are what matters to us. We also offer great prospects for more experienced support workers to progress into specialist or management roles.

If we think your application meets the criteria for the role, we’ll arrange a call.

Once you’ve submitted your application you’ll receive an email confirming that your application has been received.

Applications will usually be shortlisted as soon as possible after they are submitted and certainly within two weeks of the closing date (where one is given). For most roles, we will arrange an initial telephone discussion with you, to help us to understand whether this is the right opportunity for you, as well as answer any questions you may have. If you are successful in this process, we will invite you to an interview. You will be advised of the date, time, venue and arrangements for the interview. In most cases the interview will take place at the service that the role will be based at, and people we support will be involved in the interview.

After the interview if you are successful, we’ll contact you and offer you the position. If you are unsuccessful, you will receive a letter/email advising you of the outcome. If you would like feedback about your interview, please contact the recruitment team:

Due to the high number of applications we receive, we are unable to contact candidates who are unsuccessful at the shortlisting stage. If you have not heard from us within 3 weeks of your application being submitted (or of the closing date for the role) please assume that your application has not been taken forward to the interview stage.

All appointments are subject to satisfactory pre-employment checks which includes references, medical check and a DBS check if required.

You will need to provide two referees in your application form covering a 3-year period and one of these must be from your current (or most recent) employer.

Yes, we offer flexible shifts where we can. If you’re only available to work limited shifts, please mention this on your application and be prepared to discuss at interview. Most care staff need to work some evenings and weekends, and some services have sleep-in arrangements. We have separate waking night workers.

We also offer bank support worker roles, for added flexibility.

Our training and development offer is second to none: our in-house team won the National Workforce Development Award at the 2022 Great British Care Awards!

We offer a sector-leading induction programme. All staff receive at least monthly supervision and access specialist training (e.g. Maybo, autism, dementia, Positive Behaviour Support). Our training team will also deliver on-the-job training at your service, which is bespoke to the specific needs of the team and/or the people we support.

We also offer a Leadership Programme for 15 aspiring leaders each year. As at 2022, 17 of our 28 managers were internal promotions.

We pay £11.50/hr for support worker roles. This compares very well with similar providers in the region. We’re a charitable care provider so any profit we make is reinvested in the organisation, not paid out to shareholders. We pay our staff as much as we can afford – and are campaigning hard to get central and local government to pay a fair price for care.

We believe that the skill and dedication of care staff is underappreciated nationally, and we are determined to recognise and celebrate the work of our staff. We run a monthly Aspiring Staff awards, where support workers, teams, Head Office staff and people we support are nominated by their peers, and winners receive a cash reward. We also hold an annual Star Awards, where we hand out prizes to staff and people we support to celebrate their achievements.

In 2021 we were rated the 21st Best Charity to Work for in the national Best Employers awards, with ‘outstanding’ levels of staff engagement. In 2022 we were national finalists in the Care Employer category of the Great British Care Awards.

What our Staff say

Salem
Salem – Service Manager

Salem started as a Support Worker at Active Prospects 4 years ago and now manages one of our newest services. Meet him as he tells you a bit more about his role and career development.

Salem, tell us a bit more about your role as Service Manager?
Okay, well I now manage a service in Redhill, which is transforming care and we support people with various support needs – learning disability, mental health. It’s a supported living model, so people live in individual flats and our support is tailored to them. So, my responsibilities are managing the rota, getting all the things ready for the guys to be able to do their jobs, reviews, transitions for example. I’m also a PBS lead, so I look at things from a positive behaviour support point of view – that involves meeting with other professionals or parents and holding sessions with them to understand people we support from their childhood and look at that to know how best to support them now with the best plans. So, each day comes with its own challenges. Anything can happen. You could have one day, everyone is dancing, happy. The next minute it could be very different and we need to be understanding. We just get on with it. We don’t take anything personally. We just move on and focus solely on the people we support.

Incredible that you’re now a manager, but where did you start your career?
I started at Young Prospects as a Support Worker – that was my first care experience. After a year I became a Team Leader, then after being a Team Leader, after I think six or eight months, I became a Care Coordinator. I was then promoted again to Assistant Manager at and helped with moving people we support into their new homes. After a while, I became Service Manager. So within 4 years, I have progressed through the different roles.

In terms of your career progression, what do you think massively helped you along the way?
So, it’s a mixture of everything really. First, I think Active Prospects is amazing. They are so people-focused and want to develop people career-wise, as long as a person has their head in the right place, everyone has that potential to grow. I had Chris Lloyd as a manager and he has been amazing at coaching me and pushed me too.

Personally, I just love people. I love to see the changes, but it hasn’t been easy. My first day at Young Prospects was hard, but a big turning point for me was Tony*. From day one when Tony* came to Young Prospects, I was there with him, and he hadn’t had a shower for three months and was living in a van – his first day at Young Prospects, I was able to give him a shower and that did it for me. Seeing him happy and comfortable did it for me – I wanted to work in care.

Have you always been offered training as and when you’ve needed it?
Yes, always been offered great opportunities and training. I went on the PBS course which was around 6 months and that gave me so much more knowledge.

You’re such a passionate guy and you clearly love working in care, but what is it that you really love about your job?
Every day is different. I like being busy, maybe that is why I have loved this service in Redhill – it is very busy! You can’t predict what’s going to happen in the next few minutes, that’s just what I love really. And, seeing people being able to achieve something, it’s amazing! Supporting people to have that freedom, that independence, it’s really, really incredible.

What would you say to anyone who is starting a career in care? Looking back at your career, would you give any advice?
Sure. First of all, just make sure you are a people person – that you’ve got the interests of people at heart. And for me, that’s where person-centred support comes in. And, just be calm, update yourself with policies and procedures and see how you can apply them in practice, not just reading and knowing. It’s actually about how you can use them in practice.

Linzi Russell
Linzi Russell – Apprenticeship

Every day our teams across the organisation enable remarkable things to happen by making a difference to the lives of people we support. We firmly believe that everyone should have the opportunity to flourish within their role and that it is imperative to ensure our people feel valued and appreciated for what they do, and they feel empowered to deliver outstanding care. That is why we are committed to training and developing our people, ensuring they have clear pathways through which they can progress their careers.

Linzi Russell was selected for an apprenticeship and is currently studying for her level 3 diploma in Health and Social Care alongside Lead Adult Care Worker. Linzi shares her story.

“I had only been at Active Prospects for a short time when my manager, Laura, told me about the apprenticeship programme. She immediately said that I had potential and that the programme would be a great way for me to develop my skills, alongside progressing in my career, so she put me forward for a place. I had to have an internal interview to discuss what the opportunity would mean for me and how I felt it would help me to provide the best possible care. I was thrilled to be selected and it felt great to be recognised so quickly by my manager.

My apprenticeship focuses on mental health and I am given units of work on topics that are relevant for my area of care, so over the course of the apprenticeship I have a lot of assignments to complete. Everyone on the apprenticeship programme has external observations too. Assessors will visit me at Beech Lodge service to observe how I interact with people we support, to see what skills I put into practice and how I manage myself to provide excellent care. It is a great way of being able to show first-hand what I have learnt and the knowledge I have gained. So far, I have found the apprenticeship so interesting and due to the allocated study time, I find new ways of providing care that I would not have been aware of otherwise.

My manager now, David, has given me an incredible amount of support throughout. Sometimes there is a lot of work to do, but he is always there as a sounding board to bounce ideas off and help me in the right direction with my research – he often gives me things to read which are so helpful for my coursework. It means so much to have a team of managers who are genuinely behind me to achieve and do more within my role.

Even though it is tough at times, I have benefited hugely from the apprenticeship programme so far. It gives me focus and makes me feel like I have a purpose when I come into work. has made me feel so valued by Active Prospects and it’s great to be in an organisation which truly invests in its people. If you want to progress then there are no barriers – the apprenticeships available are suitable for anyone who is willing to remain within this field, as it will enable them to be the best they possibly can be to give the best care.”

Owen Vallis
Owen Vallis – Chair of Active Prospects

Owen Vallis has spent over ten years as a risk management expert in the financial services sector. During that time, Owen has held positions at a number of major financial institutions, including Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan, and is currently UK Head of Fiduciary Risk Management for Credit Suisse. Owen also serves as a Non-executive member of the Audit and Risk Committee for the Children’s Commissioner’s Office.

Dr Dumindu Witharana
Dr Dumindu Witharana –

Dumindu qualified as a medical doctor from University of Colombo and completed postgraduate studies at University of Oxford. He trained as a psychiatrist in Oxford and London and has worked across both NHS and independent sector as a psychiatrist for the last 20 years. He is a specialist advisor to the Care Quality Commission and a clinical advisor to the General Pharmaceutical Council. Dumindu has a special interest in patient safety and quality in clinical care. He is a member of the patient safety expert working group at the Royal College of Psychiatrists (UK) and has contributed to number of high impact publications around patient safety in clinical practice. He currently works as a consultant forensic psychiatrist for Cygnet Healthcare.

Andy Cross
Andy Cross –

Andy is an experienced Consultant, Facilitator and Executive Team Coach with a track record of working with leaders to achieve the transformational change necessary to deliver growth, high employee engagement and improved customer experience. A successful leader of large, international and matrix teams, across a wide range of sectors including telecommunications, transport and financial services, with experience of world class organisations such as Virgin Atlantic and BT.

Sarah Coomes
Sarah Coomes –

Having qualified as a chartered accountant in 2002, Sarah has almost 20 years of experience working in a number of FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 companies, with a track record of delivering during fast-changing and complex corporate situations. More recently, this has included senior leadership roles in investor relations and strategy, providing support and advice to the executive board team.

Peter Frackiewicz
Peter Frackiewicz –

Peter has been a Chartered Surveyor for over 35 years working for leading property investment and development companies. Delivering major commercial projects throughout the UK but mainly specialising in London. He has recently retired and holds a few Directorships including Trustee for LHA London Ltd, who provide affordable accommodation for young people and Land Securities Pensions Trustee Ltd, where he was chair for 8 years.

Ian Lewis
Ian Lewis –

Ian qualified as a social worker in 1988. He has worked across a number of London authorities, mainly in the fields of looked after children, fostering and adoption. He spent a number of years working as a senior leader in Children’s Social Care. For the past year, Ian has been working as an independent social work consultant. He has a part time role as National Children’s Services Adviser for Child Mental Health, working in NHS England.