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Join The Team: Senior Programme Coach – Brighton
Salary: £28,000–£31,000
Location and Hours: Brighton (with occasional travel) you will work 37.5 hours with regular evening and weekend responsibilities.
Contract: Full-time, 3-year fixed term (subject to funding)
Start Date: Quarter 4, 2025
Application Deadline: 9th September 2025
Interview Date: Mid-September 2025
Do you believe running can change lives?
At The Running Charity, we support young people aged 16–25 who are facing homelessness or dealing with tough life challenges. We use running, coaching, and kindness to help them build strength, confidence, and hope for the future.
We’re looking for someone special to lead this work in Brighton. As our Senior Programme Coach, you’ll be helping young people directly and also shaping how our work grows locally. This is a leadership role for someone who cares deeply, builds trust, and takes pride in doing the work well.
You might have experience in youth work, sport, community outreach or mental health. Or you might bring valuable personal experience of overcoming challenges yourself, you may even be wanting a completely new change of career. We welcome people that have run different paths into this organisation.
About The Running Charity
We’re the first organisation in the UK to use running as a tool to empower young people’s lives. Since 2012, we’ve supported thousands of young people across London, Manchester, Leeds, and now Brighton, including those facing homelessness and others navigating significant barriers like time in care, the criminal justice system, seeking asylum or refugee status, recovery from addiction, or experiences of discrimination based on race, sexuality, gender identity or background.
We offer:
- One-to-one coaching and mentoring
- Group running sessions and personal goals
- Access to therapy, help with work or training, and qualifications
- A community where everyone belongs and feels valued
Our work is about more than running, it’s about connection, progress, and belief.
Our vision for Brighton
With support from the London Marathon Foundation, Brighton is a key area for us. We want to:
- Support young people through consistent, supportive, and empowering coaching
- Support Brighton’s existing youth services, building strong links with local youth services, hostels and partners
- Unite other runners to give back, volunteer and fundraise for our programmes
What you’ll be doing
As our lead coach in Brighton, you’ll be working directly with young people while also helping build the local programme.
You’ll:
- Plan and run 1:1 and group sessions with young people
- Build real relationships with young people going through housing, mental health or life challenges
- Organise inclusive running sessions and community events
- Manage, support and guide junior coaches, volunteers and sessional staff
- Help runners get involved in local fundraising events
- Build partnerships with local health and housing services, and other charities
- Keep clear notes on your work and track changes for young people
- Make sure all safeguarding is strong and up to date
- Represent The Running Charity with confidence and care
Who we’re looking for
You don’t need to tick every box, but you should believe in young people, show up consistently, and want to lead with kindness and purpose.
You might have:
- Experience supporting young people facing challenges
- A good understanding of how to create safe spaces
- Experience running 1:1 or group support sessions
- Strong people skills and emotional resilience
- A calm, reliable and self-starting approach
- A love for movement, activity, or being outdoors
Bonus if you also have:
- A youth work, coaching, or mental health qualification
- Lived experience of the challenges our young people face
- Knowledge of Brighton’s local youth services
- Experience supporting or leading small teams
- Confidence with admin or digital tools
- Experience with local fundraising or events
What success looks like (after 6 months)
- You’ve built strong relationships with young people and local partners
- You’ve delivered regular sessions with visible results
- You’ve supported a local fundraising event
- You’ve helped develop a junior team member
- You’ve kept high standards of safety and admin in all your work
We’re an inclusive employer
We warmly welcome applications from people from all backgrounds, ages and professional experience. The Charity especially values those who have lived through similar experiences to the young people we support and if you need any adjustments to the application or interview process, just let us know.
What you’ll get
- £28,000–£31,000 salary
- 25 days holiday + bank holidays + extra shut down days
- Flexible hours and hybrid working
- Reflective practice and access to counselling
- Training and development budget
- A caring team that believes in what we do
To apply, send the following to joinus@therunningcharity.org:
- Your CV
- A short cover letter (no more than 2 pages)
- A 1-minute video sharing why this role excites you (just use your phone!)
Deadline: 9th September 2025
Interviews: Mid-September 2025
As we have two roles open at the moment, please state whether you are applying for the ‘SENIOR PROGRAMME COACH’ or ‘PROGRAMME COACH‘ role
If you’re unsure whether to apply or want to talk it through, feel free to email and we can arrange an informal chat.
