Want to help safeguard children & vulnerable adults?

Like to guide a charity that supports parents and families in the Scottish Borders?

Relationships Scotland Borders (RSB) is a charitable organisation which was established when Family Mediation Borders (established 1991) took over the running of Couple Counselling Borders in April 2009 and rebranded. Since its inception 26 years ago, the charity has grown from a very small organisation offering mediation to around 30 divorcing couples to the organisation it is today and, although still relatively small, it is one of the largest voluntary organisations in the Scottish Borders receiving around 1,000 enquiries from the public, each year.

RSB is the only organisation specialising in parental separation and the only family mediation and child contact service provider in the Scottish Borders. Most referrals come from the courts and solicitors. Relationships Scotland Borders provides a holistic range of support for families, individuals and children affected by relationship breakdown and parental separation. Our main aim is to lessen the trauma and distress of conflict and family break-up. We provide both practical and emotional support.

Our key services are:

• Family Mediation – for parents and others including grandparents & step-parents

• Child Contact Support and Supervision – including hand-over support

• Family Support – intensive, specifically tailored and usually longer term practical and emotional support for families with more complex needs or entrenched behaviours. This includes helping to address the breakdown in social networks and security following family breakdown.

• Relationships and Separation Counselling (including Sexual Relationship Therapy)

• Parenting Apart (education programme for separated parents).

Information about us is available on our website:

(relationships-scotlandborders.org) and from OSCR (Registered Charity No: SC000979)

The role and what we’re looking for in our safeguarding trustee

Trustees are the people who make the top-level decisions for our charity. Our Board includes people with experience and skills in governing our charity and supporting families, as well as some brand-new trustees.

We are looking for a trustee to help us with safeguarding, focusing on this important part of our work, and alongside other trustees, steering the organisation where there may be safeguarding concerns within families.

You’ll have an understanding of, and probably a background in safeguarding children, likely some experience in Early Years, Health or Family Support. You’ll understand the need for our organisation to prioritise safeguarding, especially in our work with more-complex families, and you’ll lead and contribute to our Board discussions in those areas.

You don’t necessarily need prior charity experience, but you will need empathy with our cause and a genuine interest in supporting parents in our community.

You’ll support and provide a sounding-board for our Strategic Lead for Safeguarding and ensure we use policies and procedures appropriately, monitor and review our systems.

We are a charity not a business, but we apply business principles to governing our organisation. We want to expand the diversity of our board, and strongly welcome applications from people from less-represented groups.

The focus of a trustee role is strategic, and trustees will not be expected to get involved in the organisation’s operations on a daily basis; however, regular contact and liaison with other trustees, our CEO, and employees is expected.

Our Board meets remotely every 3 months with trustees expected to attend all, or most, of the 4 Board meetings each year.

We ask for 2 hours of your time for each meeting and we may ask you to be part a specific sub-groups which will require a further 2 hours every 3 months.

In total, we ask for you to contribute around 16 hours a year to your Trustee role here at RSB.

What do you get as a volunteer trustee with our organisation?

• An opportunity to exercise your safeguarding-focused skills and experience, probably in a different environment or context

• An opportunity to influence and collectively-lead an organisation supporting children and families

• A chance to expand and implement your understanding of our work, as well as augment your experience of charities

• A boost to your career and CV, if needed

• Satisfaction of helping an organisation that supports local families, thus giving something back to your community

• Induction training from us; training, support and assistance as needed; reimbursement of reasonable expenses, if needed

What do we get?

• Your strategic skills, knowledge, understanding and experience of safeguarding

• Your abilities to influence plans for our charity’s future

• Enhancement to our overall governance and the Board of trustees; improvement in our safeguarding focus, procedures and support for our staff in this area of our work

• Your participation in our collective decision-making, contributing to all areas of our charity work

• Your enthusiasm

What do our beneficiaries get?

• Our continued support for local families and children, ensuring we are there for parents when they need us most

• A forward-looking and agile organisation, with a well-informed Board of trustees

• A well-governed charity, sustainable for the future

Relationships Scotland Borders supports families with relationship difficulties and with post separation arrangements for their children, throughout the Scottish Borders. We offer the services of Family mediation, counselling and psycho-sexual therapy, Child contact and family support. To find out more about this exciting role, please read the job description and person specification.

Purpose of job

To support the CCC Family Key Workers and Senior Family Support Work Lead to ensure that safe contact takes place between non-resident parents and their children using the Contact Centre as overseen by Relationships Scotland Borders.

Accountable to:

RSB Senior Family Support Worker & RSB Practice Manager

Checks:

A Disclosure Scotland PVG check is essential as this is regulated work with vulnerable groups. We will also require 2 references, one from your current/most recent employer.

Relationships Scotland Borders supports families with relationship difficulties and with post separation arrangements for their children, throughout the Scottish Borders. We offer the services of Family mediation, counselling and psycho-sexual therapy, Child contact and family support.

Purpose of job

To support safe contact between non-resident parents and their children using the Contact Centre as overseen by Relationships Scotland Borders

Accountable to:

RSB Senior Family Support Worker & RSB Practice Manager

Checks:

A Disclosure Scotland PVG check is essential as this is regulated work with vulnerable groups. We will also require 2 references, one from your current/most recent employer.

Relationships Scotland Borders supports families with relationship difficulties and with post separation arrangements for their children, throughout the Scottish Borders. We offer the services of Family mediation, counselling and psycho-sexual therapy, Child contact and family support. To find out ore about this exciting role, please read the job description and person specification below.

Checks: A Disclosure Scotland PVG check is essential as this is regulated work with vulnerable groups. We will also require 2 references, one from your current/most recent employer.

Relationships Scotland Borders supports families with relationship difficulties and with post separation arrangements for their children, throughout the Scottish Borders. We offer the services of Family mediation, counselling and psycho-sexual therapy, Child contact and family support.

Checks: A Disclosure Scotland PVG check is essential as this is regulated work with vulnerable groups. We will also require 2 references, one from your current/most recent employer.

A Job Description and Person Specification is available for download below.

• Do you want to help families and children stay connected?

• Are you dedicated to giving children a voice?

• Can you embrace change and growth?

We are a child focussed organisation supporting the rights of children and their parents in their journey to successful co-parenting and ae part of Relationship Scotland operating within the Borders area.

Relationships Scotland Borders supports families with relationship difficulties and with post separation arrangements for their children, throughout the Scottish Borders. We offer the services of Family mediation, counselling and psycho-sexual therapy, Child contact and family support.

Checks: A Disclosure Scotland PVG check is essential as this is regulated work with vulnerable groups. We will also require 2 references, one from your current/most recent employer.