The Feeding Trust are the UK Charity for Paediatric Feeding Disorders (PFD), empowering families and communities through advocacy, specialist treatment, training, education and research.

What we do

Helping children and young people with Paediatric Feeding Disorders (PFD) to develop a lifelong, healthy relationship with food since 2019.

We make mealtimes, good times by providing life changing feeding therapy and empowering families and communities through advocacy, training, education and research.

Speech and Language Therapists (SLTs) work with children who have communication and feeding difficulties. The SLT can help a child learn to eat and drink safely, whilst supporting positive communication and interaction at mealtimes.

SLTs provide assessment and treatment for children with feeding difficulties, looking primarily at the oro-motor skills needed for chewing and swallowing food and drink safely.

At The Feeding Trust, our SLTs assess the structure and function of the swallowing process, alongside evaluating any potential issues relating to your child’s feeding. This could include any impact on their nutrition and hydration, plus their ability to take part in family meals at home and meals at nursery, school and in the community.

SLTs are also involved in assessing and advising on many factors that can affect a child’s eating, such as communication around mealtimes, food preferences and the family’s strategies for supporting their child’s difficulties.

At The Feeding Trust, our SLTs have become Feeding Therapists after completing advanced post-graduate training. This enables them to work as part of the trans-disciplinary team to provide collaborative treatment and advice on how to:

• Support safe and adequate nutrition and hydration

• Support the optimum feeding methods and techniques needed to eat and drink safely

• Achieve age/developmental level appropriate eating and drinking skills

• Minimise the risks to the child’s overall health caused by their swallowing difficulties

• Support parents and caregivers by helping them implement strategies that support their child’s eating and drinking

• Promote positive communication to make mealtimes, goodtimes

The Role

We have a rare and exciting opportunity for a Dysphagia trained Speech & Language Therapist (SLT) to join our award-winning, friendly, supportive and welcoming charity.

We are looking for an SLT to join our inter-disciplinary feeding team. Your role will be based at our feeding clinic in the Midlands, offering bespoke and dynamic feeding therapy to children and young people with Paediatric Feeding Disorders (PFD) and their families. You will be working alongside experienced feeding therapists from OT, SLT and nutrition and dietetic backgrounds. You will also be supported by our admin team.

Alongside your clinical role, you will be involved in project work to support the charities mission, including training, research, fundraising and advocacy.

The successful candidate will be supported by an experienced, friendly and welcoming team and will receive robust clinical and managerial supervision, alongside monthly full CPD days and learning through peer supervision within the team. Additional training and supervision will be provided to SLTs interested in this role as a development opportunity.

This is a unique opportunity to work with the only charity in the UK, dedicated to children and young people with PFD. We are a dynamic, innovative, therapist-led service, with robust governance provided by our Board of Trustees.

We are looking for a therapist who:

• A special interest in feeding development and paediatric feeding disorders
• Ideally at least 3 years’ experience post qualification of working with children and young people with a range of feeding and swallowing challenges and those with neuro-diverse backgrounds
• Post graduate dysphagia training
• Experience of working within a multi-disciplinary framework

We are looking for someone passionate about working in an innovative, team-orientated and flexible way, who recognises the value of the therapeutic relationship and the power of direct therapy, as well as the need to empower those working with the people we support. We are a small, friendly neuro-diversity affirming team, where work-life balance matters and is encouraged.

We can offer:

• The opportunity to deliver hands on, direct feeding therapy
• Comprehensive CPD package, including opportunity to undertake SOS Feeding Therapy accreditation
• A laptop and office space for dedicated admin and service development time
• Office space with kitchen and meeting room facilities
• Fully-integrated admin support and cloud based secure storage
• An established team of supportive co-workers
• Monthly team CPD and service development days
• Regular team building activities and outings
• Opportunities to be involved in big fundraising events and projects
• Opportunities to undertake and publish research
• Opportunities to develop and deliver education and training
• Annual leave and holiday entitlement
• Annual appraisal and personal development profile
• Optional uniform

Permanent, part-time 0.6 WTE