MECOPP is Scotland’s leading Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) carers’ organisation providing a variety of care and support services to carers from BME and other marginalised communities.

The postholder will join an established Community Health Team – ‘Community Health Matters’ – designed to improve health outcomes and reduce health inequalities amongst Scotland’s Gypsy/Traveller community. The Community Health Team is part of a wider programme of work supporting the Gypsy/Traveller community which includes carer support, support for the cared for person, financial resilience, food insecurity, community-based arts and women’s and men’s development work.

The postholder will:

• Raise awareness of mental health and wellbeing within the community using a variety of approaches to include community outreach, information campaigns including social media and developing mental health and wellbeing ‘ambassadors’;
• Develop a range of accessible resources including dedicated web pages on the MECOPP website in partnership with community members;
• Provide mental health and wellbeing awareness raising sessions aimed at different population groups within the community, eg. carers, young people, women, men and older people;
• Build community capacity and resilience by supporting the participation of community members in accredited mental health training such as Mental Health First Aid and Safe Talk;
• Raise awareness of the specific issues in relation to mental health and wellbeing experienced by the community with planners, policy makers and service providers at local and national level; and,
• Support community engagement and participation with policy makers, planners and service providers.
• (*particular focus on intergeneration project working)

We anticipate that travel may be required so the location of the post is flexible although some attendance at the office will be required. Key areas of focus for this work will include Lanarkshire, Ayrshire, and Arron

Delivery of all tasks and activities will be commensurate with the number of hours secured for the post.

MECOPP is Scotland’s leading Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) carers’ organisation providing a variety of care and support services to carers from BME and other marginalised communities.

The postholder will join a established Community Health Team – ‘Community Health Matters’ – to improve health outcomes and reduce health inequalities amongst Scotland’s Gypsy/Traveller community. The Community Health Team is part of a wider programme of work supporting the Gypsy/Traveller community which includes carer support, support for the cared for person, financial resilience, addressing food insecurity, men and women’s engagement and building digital capacity.

Our newly established community mental health and wellbeing team sits within the wider remit of the Gypsy/Traveller Community Health Team. At full complement the mental health and wellbeing team will comprise of: 1 x team leader (children & young people focus); 2.5 x family support workers (1 x adults/older people + 1.5 x children/young people). The development worker for adults and older people is already in post

Our ambition is to develop a training resource for mental health practitioners to support their understanding of and engagement with young Gypsy/Travellers experiencing poorer mental health ultimately leading to better outcomes for individuals. The training resource will be co-developed with young Gypsy/Travellers to ensure cultural relevance and appropriateness. Delivery will initially be on a pilot basis to evaluate learning effectiveness and subsequently available on a Scottish-wide basis.

We anticipate that significant travel may be required so the location of the post is flexible although some attendance at the office will be required.

Delivery of all tasks and activities will be commensurate with the number of hours secured for the post.

MECOPP is Scotland’s leading Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) carers’ organisation providing a variety of care and support services to carers and cared for people from BME and those with one or more protected characteristics including Gypsy/Travellers

Purpose of Job

To work collaboratively with members of the Gypsy/Traveller community in a programme of activities designed to raise awareness of their specific culture and heritage across communities. The work will primarily take place in three geographic locations: Fife; Perth & Kinross; and, North & South Lanarkshire.