About Inch Community Association and Inch Community Education Centre:

Inch Community Association (ICA) is a charity which was established as a SCIO in 2019 (registered with OSCR – SC049401) and which manages Inch House Community Education Centre, located in the south of Edinburgh. Among its charitable goals are the provision of programmes of community education, leisure and recreational facilities for the adjacent Inch community; to support local community development and urban regeneration; to advance arts, heritage and culture by fostering an awareness of history arts and architecture (especially of the history, arts and architecture of Scotland) within the Inch community and beyond; to encourage a greater awareness of nature and the local environment, support action to protect it, and to raise awareness about more general environmental issues within the community.

Inch House is highly unusual among community centres in that it is housed in a beautiful historical building (a 16th /17thcentury tower house) set in the middle of a magnificent park. This has created many challenges in meeting the expectations that go with running a modern community centre inside such an old building, and significant operational and maintenance problems. But it also brings great opportunities, as Inch House is held in enormous affection by the local community and the many people who use or visit from further afield, all of whom are passionate about securing its future.

Inch House is owned by City of Edinburgh Council, which pays for its upkeep provides a limited amount of janitorial support and other services. The main day-to-day activities and services at the Centre are delivered by ICA and its partners.

The Golden Years Programme

The Golden Years programme is an educational and leisure programme aimed at providing support for elderly local residents of the Inch district which operated at Inch House for many years prior to the onset of the Covid epidemic. It was centred on meetings at Inch House and elsewhere.

Participants were collected from their homes each week by mini-bus and returned there at the end of the session. As well as regular sessions held in Inch House, frequent excursions were organised to destinations in and around Edinburgh, including: shopping trips, visits to the Botanic Gardens, the theatre, art galleries, castles or the seaside.

ICA has recently acquired funding to relaunch the Golden Years programme and is currently looking for a suitable person to revitalise and lead the programme.

Job Description:

The Project Leader will be primarily responsible for re-launching, organising and managing the Golden Years programme at Inch House and will work closely with the Development Manager in its delivery. In particular they will:

• organise a programme of weekly activities, taking into account in the process the preferences and interests of participants of the programme;
• personally supervise the sessions and provide support to participants;
• ensure that weekly sessions are conducted safely and in full compliance with all relevant Health & Safety regulations:
• collaborate closely with volunteers and others involved in the delivery of the programme;
• help with recruiting new members (participants) of the programme and identifying volunteers who will take part in its delivery;
• provide brief written reports when required for the purpose of promoting the programme and for quality control.

Who are we looking for?

We are looking for a creative and energetic individual with a flair for organising activities and a passion for working with and helping others. The successful candidate will ideally have solid experience of working with people in the care and support sector. They will be able to demonstrate an innovative and empathetic approach to delivering services flexibly and reliably.

Key Skills, Experience and Attributes:

• Experience of working with vulnerable people and/or life experience in supporting older people;
• Enthusiasm and a genuine interest in working with people over 60;
• Experience with community volunteering;
• You should understand the importance of implementing and following policies and procedures, whilst ensuring excellent service provision;
• Good written verbal communication and IT skills and ability to use social media are essential;
• PVG scheme membership is an essential requirement of the role;
• Commitment to the charitable goals of the Inch Community Association and to its general objective of community empowerment.

Other Desirable Skills, Experience and Attributes:

• Knowledge of the Inch area and experience of local community engagement.