Work for Challengers

Jobs with a difference

People are core to our success at Challengers, and we are privileged to work with colleagues who care passionately about our vision.

We’re committed to putting people at the heart of everything we do, and want our colleagues to come in feeling excited to be at work.

Simply put, Challengers is an incredible place to work. No two days are the same, and its an opportunity to make a real difference to disabled children and their families.

Don’t just take our word for it…see what our staff have to say about working here!

Whether you’re looking for an office based role, or prefer to work with children and young people, one thing is for sure – working at Challengers is exciting, rewarding and unlike anywhere else. Here are some of the benefits of working with us:

We are a Real Living Wage employer
We offer 32 days annual leave (including Bank Holidays) pro rata, with extra for long service and after your first year of service you’ll get your birthday off! We believe in true flexibility, so apart from our Christmas break where we shut down, you can choose whether to book Bank Holidays off or work them – enabling you to use your annual leave when it best suits you.
We encourage an open feedback culture so our colleagues are engaged.
We have a range of development options to support continuous personal growth.
All our staff have access to a NEST pension and Simply Health care plan.
Each year at our annual Staff Party we hold Staff Awards recognising best practice examples of the Challengers Approach (our values) in action.

Current vacancies:

Results: 10

Early Years Educator

Employment
Permanent, Term Time (39 weeks a year): Salary
£16,005.60 (FTE £20,805): Location
Farnham: Hours
36 hours

Calling all playful and enthusiastic early years educators! Join out team at Farnham Preschool and bring the joy of learning to a group in inspiring children ages 2-5!

More info

Farnham Deputy Pre-school Manager

Employment
Permanent, Term Time (40 weeks a year): Salary
£22,812.50 FTE, actual £18,000.00: Location
Farnham: Hours
36 hours

Challengers is searching for an engaging and passionate Deputy Pre-school Manager to join our Farnham Pre-school. Supported by our dedicated team of Service Managers, you will plan and deliver a range of exciting and engaging activities to a group of inspiring children aged 2-5.

More info

Eastleigh Play & Youth Leader

Employment
Permanent, part time: Salary
£14.07 per hour: Location
Eastleigh: Hours
8 hours per session. 2 Saturdays per month (9-5) in term time and Mon-Fri for 4 weeks in Summer and 2 weeks in Easter holidays. Additional administrative hours available.

Challengers is searching for an engaging and passionate Leader to join our Eastleigh Play and Youth Scheme. Supported by our dedicated team of Service Managers, you will plan and deliver a range of exciting and engaging activities for disabled children and young people.

More info

Winchester Play & Youth Leader

Employment
Permanent, part time: Salary
£14.07: Location
Winchester: Hours
8 hours per session. 1 Saturday per month (9-5) in term time and Mon-Fri for 3 weeks in Summer and 2 days in Easter holidays. Admin hours, up to 3 hours per week before your session

Challengers is searching for an engaging and passionate Leader to join our Winchester
Play & Youth Scheme. Supported by our dedicated team of Service Managers, you will plan and deliver a range of exciting and engaging activities. Your role will include leading services for children at our Winchester Play & Youth scheme, both in centre and out in the community.

More info

Challengers Service Manager (Guildford & Kingston)

Employment
Full-time, Permanent: Salary
£28,000 – £33,000: Location
Guildford and Kingston: Hours
35 per week

We are looking for an engaging and passionate Service Manager our schemes in Guildford and Kingston. Supported by our dedicated Head of Service, you will support, develop and manage a range of Challengers play and youth schemes ensuring that all settings provide happy, fun and safe play and leisure experiences for disabled children and young people aged 4-18.

More info

Play and Youth Worker

Employment
Part-time, Permanent: Salary
£10.90ph or £11.95ph London weighting (applies to Kingston and Richmond workers): Location
Various locations across the South East – Basingstoke, Chichester, Eastleigh, Farnham, Guildford, Kingston and Richmond: Hours
Every Saturday during term-time, Monday – Friday during Easter and Summer holidays, as well as half terms and the Christmas period.

Looking for a fun, varied role which provides the ultimate job satisfaction? We’re searching for friendly and enthusiastic people to join our team as Play and Youth workers across our 7 locations in the South East.

More info

Challengers Trustee

Employment
Part-time voluntary position: Salary
N/A: Location
Guildford/Remote: Hours
Attendance at quarterly Board Meetings, Annual General Meeting, and appropriate sub-committees

We are looking for enthusiastic people to join as Trustees who will support the provision of play opportunities for disabled children and young people. In particular, we are looking for people with skills in Fundraising, Safeguarding and Entrepreneurship.

More info

Basingstoke Youth Leader

Employment
Permanent, Part time: Salary
£14.07/ hour: Location
Basingstoke: Hours
Hours per week: 8 hours per session. 1 Saturday per month (9-5) in term time and Mon-Fri for 1 week in Summer and 2 days in Easter holidays. Admin hours, up to 3 hours per week before your session

Challengers is searching for an engaging and passionate Leader to join our Basingstoke Youth scheme. Supported by our dedicated team of Service Managers, you will plan and deliver a range of exciting and engaging activities. Your role will include leading services for children at our Basingstoke Youth scheme, both in centre and out in the community.

More info

555 Project Worker

Employment
Part-time: Salary
Starting from £10.90 per hour: Location
Farnham: Hours
9am – 3pm / Monday – Friday during term-time only

Are you passionate, playful & enthusiastic? If so, this is the perfect job for you. You must be dedicated, caring and able to work well in a team. This is a physically and emotionally demanding post; the post holder must be resilient, adaptable and have the ability to carry out the physical aspects of the role. These include (but are not exclusive to) physically supporting children, for example on and off equipment, during personal or intimate care, and lifting and chasing in an emergency.

More info

Minibus Driver

Employment
Part-time: Salary
£14.07 per hour: Location
All schemes from Eastleigh to Richmond: Hours
Saturdays and Holidays (ad-hoc, depending on availability)

Challengers is looking for an experienced and friendly minibus driver to help transport children and young people from Challengers schemes to activities. Hours will be on an ad-hoc basis, driving for different services when needed.

More info

Meet the team

Ellen Fenton

Farnham Play Leader

I was first introduced to Challengers by a friend back in October 2011. She had so many fun, crazy and exciting things to say about working there that I couldn’t help but want to get involved! Before I knew it, I’d joined the Farnham Play scheme as a Playworker.

I only expected to work at Challengers part-time while attending university…but like many people, I caught the famous “Challengers bug” and here I am – still here over 10 years later and loving it!

From Playworker, to Deputy, to Leader and now to Centre Manager – it’s safe to say I have certainly seen it all throughout my time here, and I’ve got so many great memories. I have learnt all sorts of new skills at Challengers and have developed through training – giving me the confidence to work my way up to where I am now.

Paul Wilson

Head of Service

I have worked at Challengers for more than 20 years and absolutely love the charity. I’m passionate about the non-exclusion of disabled children and young people, and very proud to work for a charity that has this at the heart of its ethos. I started here as a volunteer Playworker and soon realised Challengers was where I need to be. Over the years I have also worked as a Leader, Leisure Development Officer, Centre Manger, Service Manager, and now I’m Head of Service – overseeing all of the charity’s operations.

Ash Morgan

Training Lead

A friend of mine introduced me to Challengers and asked if I would be interested in working there over the summer. I applied and was very excited to get my interview date. I remember my first day was a half day induction training, but I was instantly hooked and asked to stay for the remainder of the day! I loved the energy, the fun and all the laughter – I worked every shift I possibly could, and everyday was different. The atmosphere at Challengers is always welcoming and I love getting to know so many new faces.

It has been 16 years since my first shift, going from volunteer, paid worker, senior worker, deputy, leader, centre manager and then Operations Manager. I have gathered so much experience over the years and still enjoy it so much! I have recently changed my role within Challengers to Training Lead, where I now support and create training for the whole organisation. This is very different to all my experience within the service team, however I am very excited to put that all into my new training role!

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At Challengers we’re committed to looking after our team, as we know that our people underpin everything we do. The ongoing increases to the cost of living affect everyone, so we are delighted to be accredited by the Living Wage Foundation for our commitment to paying the Real Living Wage.
Gennie Dearman, CEO