Opening doors to care careers through community recruitment in Brighton

Posted on 10 April 2026

As the largest not-for-profit provider of care, support, and housing in Sussex, we value ourselves on being responsive to the needs of our services and our communities.

Last month, we enhanced our current online recruitment process by holding an event in the centre of Brighton where members of the public could apply for a job and be interviewed on the same day.

Chris Wellings, Manager of People Employment, says, “Targeted recruitment events like this are a great way to be visible in the community and a great way for candidates to fast track their application.”

The event took place at Jubilee Library and was designed by Southdown’s People Services team and local managers at our Level 3 supported living service in Brighton, Southdown Court, which supports people with learning disabilities to live well.

Support Workers are integral to the high quality support that we offer people living in services managed by Southdown. They help individuals live independent and meaningful lives, supporting them to develop skills and confidence in all aspects of daily life.

Recruiting within the community enables us to connect directly with people who may not have considered a role in social care before, or who need a more relaxed environment where they can ask questions and explore opportunities. We offer full training to all successful applicants, and recruiting in this way helps us identify people who share our values and approach to support. These events are designed to remove barriers and prioritise human connection.

Applicants on the day were invited to discuss their interests and hear about the role and service being recruited for before being supported to complete an application. Following this, a member of the management team from Southdown Court introduced them to our Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) approach so that they could understand how we support people in our services. Candidates were then invited to an in-person interview in another room.

Brian Reading, Service Manager of Southdown Court, says, “The benefit of an event like this is we get to see a demographic of people who may not usually apply for support work. We can open people up to the idea of the work and we can talk to them about what the job entails and what the service is like. It enables us to assess people’s suitability for the role on the day.”

The event was highly successful and saw the recruitment of six Support Workers in addition to bank staff. These vacancies were also advertised online through more traditional routes and we are currently in the process of arranging five further interviews.

Gemma, from People Services, says, “A key takeaway was the value of human connection in recruitment. People respond to sincerity, warmth, and real stories – things we naturally bring just by being ourselves. Another learning was that accessibility matters.”

“Simplifying the application process and providing immediate support removes common barriers. The day also reinforced how important it is for candidates to feel what Southdown stands for, not just read about it. It reminded me that recruitment isn’t just about filling roles, it’s about inspiring people to join a mission that genuinely changes lives for people within their communities.”
– Gemma, People Services Administrator

We are looking for Support Workers and Bank Support Workers for our services across Sussex. Explore current opportunities and apply using the link below: