Midlothian Community Action (MCA) is looking for a motivated and enthusiastic intern to provide short term support to our project workers. This role is ideal for someone interested in communications, community development, or the third sector. You will help deliver project communications, promote volunteering across Midlothian, and support a range of administrative tasks that keep our organisation running smoothly.

As an intern, you will also have access to free training and job coaching opportunities to support your development.

About Us

Midlothian Community Action (MCA) is the Third Sector Interface (TSI) for Midlothian. We provide support, guidance, and representation for charities, community groups, social enterprises, and volunteers. As the TSI, we act as the central point of contact between the third sector and the Scottish Government, and we work to strengthen and champion local voluntary action.

There is a TSI in every Scottish local authority area. While core funding comes from the Scottish Government, we work with a wide range of partners and funders to support the vibrant third sector in Midlothian.

Key Responsibilities

Project & Communications Support

• Assist in promoting MCA’s internal projects through targeted communications.
• Support the promotion of events, forums, training sessions, and sector-wide initiatives.
• Research and produce case studies demonstrating the impact of volunteering.
• Create content for social media and contribute to marketing campaigns.
• Amplify the voice and representation of the third sector in Midlothian.
• Deliver occasional presentations or talks to encourage volunteering.
• Work collaboratively with third sector staff and volunteers, including attending forums, summits, and supporting with presentations and minute taking.
• Attend team meetings and develop a strong understanding of the wider role of the TSI.

Administrative Support

• Provide general office support, including reception and phone cover when required.
• Input data into the volunteering database.
• Carry out additional tasks as directed by the Line Manager.

Main Purpose of Job

Winning Leishman are seeking an experienced Fundraiser to join our team. This post will involve research into grant makers, developing funding proposals and following up with reports and communications to maximise long-term income generation on behalf of Winning Leishman’s clients.

Position in Organisation

Report to the Winning Leishman Directors.

Responsibilities

• Support the identification of trust and foundation funding opportunities through research

• Create tailored applications to a wide range of funders

• Create reports and other communications to funders

• Maintain a schedule of applications and reports

Person Specification

Skills & Experience

• Minimum 2 years’ experience in preparing funding applications to trusts and foundations (essential)

• Experience of working in the charity sector (essential)

• Reliable and well organised with good time management skills and ability to meet deadlines

• Excellent IT skills, Excel and MS Office, with a working knowledge of database systems

• Strong written skills

• A creative and lateral thinker

• Professional, courteous, respectful and confident

• Proactive and self -motivated with a positive and enthusiastic approach to teamwork

Qualifications

• Degree (in any subject), studying towards a degree or equivalent (desirable)

Bfriend is a young person-centred befriending service supporting children and young people to build confidence, relationships, and resilience.

We are looking for a motivated and organised Project Coordinator to support the delivery of our befriending service. The role involves recruiting and supporting volunteers, managing a caseload of young people and befriending matches, working with families and partner agencies, and contributing to service development and funding activity.

You will have experience working with children and/or young people, confidence supporting volunteers, a good understanding of safeguarding and risk, and be comfortable with admin tasks, IT systems, and databases. Flexibility, strong communication skills, and a values-driven approach are essential.

This is a rewarding opportunity to make a real difference within a small, supportive team.

PVG required. Evening and weekend work as required.

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.

The Community Programme Producer will work with the Programme Manager and Programme Team to develop a creative programme which opens up new and diverse perspectives on the histories and heritage of our site, working with communities who are currently underrepresented within our audience.

Thanks to funding from the NLHF, the successful candidate will have the opportunity to research best practice in heritage and visual art community programmes, work with the local community to develop pilot projects, and propose a community programme for the future using evaluation from the pilot projects.

We are looking for someone with experience of working with community groups, and an interest in creative learning, heritage and/or visual art.