Mental Health Helpline Worker - Weekends
Employer: Rethink Mental Illness
Location: Virtual, remote
Working hours: This role is 14 hours over the weekend
Salary: £9,197.49 GBP
Closing date: Friday, 27 February 2026 at 00:59
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At Rethink Mental Illness, we believe everyone deserves the chance to live a better life — especially when they’re facing mental distress. Our Release the Pressure service is a 24/7 emotional support line for people across Kent and Medway, and we’re looking for compassionate Helpline Workers to join our dedicated weekend team.
This role is 14 hours over the weekend
If you’re someone who listens deeply, cares wholeheartedly, and wants to make a real difference — this could be the role for you.
About the service
Release the Pressure provides free emotional support via telephone and webchat for anyone aged 16+ who is struggling, feeling overwhelmed or in crisis. We support over 33,000 calls a year, helping people feel heard, understood and connected to the right support.
You'll be part of a caring team delivering non‑judgemental, trauma‑informed, person‑centred support — from active listening and de‑escalation to practical coping strategies and onward signposting.
What you’ll do
As a Helpline Worker, you will:
Provide compassionate emotional support via phone and webchat
Use active listening, risk assessment and crisis‑intervention skills to keep callers safe
Offer practical ideas and coping strategies to help people manage the moment
Signpost or warm‑transfer callers to other services where appropriate
Support people calling for themselves, someone they care about, or as professionals
Maintain accurate records and contribute to service improvement
Work collaboratively with volunteers, colleagues and external organisations
Ensure every caller feels respected, valued and heard
You’ll work set weekend shifts (morning, afternoon or night), supported by a wider team and with volunteers on some shifts.
What you’ll bring
We’d love to hear from you if you:
Have experience supporting people with mental health needs or in social care (paid or voluntary)
Can make confident, holistic assessments and develop risk‑management plans
Understand mental health, crisis support and effective intervention methods
Are comfortable using IT systems, including Microsoft Office
Share our values of Passion, Openness, Expertise, Hope, Understanding and Equity
Desirable but not essential: helpline experience, lived experience, ASIST/ MHFA training, or experience supporting young people.
You’ll receive regular supervision, ongoing training and opportunities to grow — all while helping to deliver life‑changing support to people who need it most.
Ready to make a difference?
If you’re passionate about supporting people in their toughest moments and want to help them find hope, we’d love to hear from you.
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.
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