Jobs in Tranent, Wallyford and Macmerry, East Lothian

About East Lothian Foodbank (ELFB) & our Money Advice Service

ELFB provides food and emergency daily essentials to local people who are experiencing hardship in East Lothian.

As an independent Scottish charity, we are fortunate to also be part of a nationwide network of foodbanks, supported by Trussell, working together to ensure no one in the UK needs a food bank to survive.

In addition to emergency food, we also offer a money advice service for our service users to help them maximise income and benefit entitlement. Since October 2022, our money advice service has supported people out of hardship and achieved significant financial gains, of over half a million pounds.

About the Role

We are looking for the right person to join our team to support us with the continued success of our project. This is a fantastic opportunity for a motivated and positive individual to help people using our foodbank to access our money advice service. To achieve this, you will collaborate closely with our advice partners to ensure that our service continues to helpthose most in need of our support.

As a team player, you will provide essential support to the operations team by identifyingindividuals requiring financial assistance, co-ordinating referrals to our advice partners andmonitoring of advice service capacity. Additionally, to ensure we meet a standard 24hr response time of our referral processing, you will occasionally support our service coordinator to give people in crisis timely access to our support.

Key Responsibilities

The Project Support Assistant will:

• Support to identify individuals who are most likely to benefit from the service and promote the service to them
• Utilise existing tools and help people we support to implement personalised strategies to overcome challenges, by using SIGNAL
• Develop and maintain good working relationships with relevant organisations, to ensure they are aware of our money advice service and the wider role of East Lothian Foodbank
• Attend ad hoc forums and events
• Monitor ongoing engagement with our advice service
• Monitor effectiveness of the service on a quarterly basis, using data from our advice partner and provide timely data to funders
• Work with our advice partner to identify capacity that can facilitate wider access to the service
• Be the first line of support in our daily referrals service – especially during busy periods or in times of staff absence
• Undertake ad hoc administration duties to support with team projects
• Undertake other tasks to support the foodbank as directed by the Operations Manager and Foodbank Director

About you

To succeed in this role, you must have the following skills and experience:

• Experience of engaging with and supporting partnership work with other organisations
• Ability to work as part of a team and on own initiative
• Excellent communication skills
• Experience in handling difficult conversations
• Be empathetic and non-judgemental
• Full driving licence preferred
• A willingness to work flexible hours

Key Competencies

• Highly organised and self-motivated
• Adaptable and proactive
• Good IT skills – including google suite and office packages/excel
• Committed to the values and mission of East Lothian Foodbank

Benefits

• Accredited real Living Wage Employer offering competitive salary.
• Annual leave: 32 days including 9 bank holidays (pro rata).
• Pension: ELFB is a member of the NEST Pension Scheme. The successful candidate would be enrolled within the pension scheme 3 months from the joining date. Further information about Employer Pension obligations can be found at here.
• Employee assistance programme - the successful candidate will be enrolled into our assistance programme provided by Hospital Saturday Fund on completion of probation. This gives access to a range of employee welfare, mental health and financial support. Including money towards specific private health treatments and access to a range of discounts through Perk Box.
• Business travel: 45p per mile paid for business travel.
• Financial contribution to activities that support your health and wellbeing

Ark is a major provider of Housing, Care and Support to people with long term and enduring conditions such as learning disabilities, mental health issues, dementia and autism.

Ark supports people to live independently in their own homes providing everything from a few hours a week social and life admin support to 24/7 care supporting with personal care, medication, household tasks, attending appointments and leisure activities.

We have lots of opportunities across Scotland for our Support Worker roles. As we provide full training no previous is experience is required.

If you are enthusiastic about supporting people to live their best lives, then apply now to join our team!

Your main duties will include but not be limited to:

• Working with colleagues as part of an effective and efficient team to support vulnerable people.
• Communicate and work well with our supported people to provide individual care and maintain appropriate relationships.
• Being responsible in supporting individuals throughout the activities, giving positive feedback and encouragement.
• Updating and maintaining accurate records using a tablet on Arks Information Management system.

Previous experience of the following is an advantage but not essential as Ark will provide full training: Care Worker, Social worker, Home Carer, Case Worker, Care Assistant, Autism Support Worker, Personal Care Assistant , Social Care Worker.

View our job outline, find out what you working week could look like and hear from our current Support Workers on Arks website arkha.org.uk/work-with-us

Why Ark?

• No Previous Experience Required - Ark provide full training so no previous experience is required making our Support Worker roles the perfect place to start your career in Adult Social Care.
• Get a qualification while you work - Ark fully fund your SVQ2 in Health & Social Care which you complete with the support of our in house SVQ team.
• Employee Discounts - Employee Discounts Portal with 1000s of discounts on your favourite brands including Supermarkets, Cinema Tickets, Gym Membership and Holidays.
• Career Progression -Over 75% of all Managers within Care & Support have been promoted internally.
• Employee Assistance Program - Arks Employee Assistance program (EAP) gives all employees access to counselling sessions. There is also support available through weekly webinars and the EAP Website & App.
• Contracted hours to suit you-We have Full-time, Part-time and Relief Support Worker roles available at our services throughout Scotland.

In return for your valuable contribution, Ark will also offer you:

• Up to 36 days paid holiday per year pro rata
• 4% Contributory pension scheme
• Cycle to Work Scheme
• Fully funded PVG & 1st year SSSC registration paid by Ark

Our employees told us in a recent survey that they stay with Ark because they believe in our values, we have supportive managers who continually appreciate their staff and they love making a positive difference in our supported peoples lives, helping them to achieve their dreams.

Ark would love to hear from you whether you are an experienced Support Worker or new to Social Care.