Family Support Worker
- Full time
- £23,218 – £28,379
- Edinburgh
- Closing 26th July 2023
- Advertised from 11th July 2023
- Up to 35 hours per week.
Role
The postholder will be expected to operate in line with our values which are:
Justice, Equity, Trust, Collaboration and Compassion.
Overview
All roles at OPFS contribute to our mission of working with and for single parent families, providing support services that enable them to achieve their potential and help create lasting solutions to poverty and the barriers facing many single parents and their children.
Competencies
The post holder is expected to be:
Able to support single parent families.
Understands single parents needs and expectations and respond in a helpful and professional way.
Be aware of the impact poverty has on single parent families.
Be able to support single parent families with multiple barriers and have the skills and knowledge required to support them.
Unbiased
Ensure that practices are impartial, fair and provide equal possible outcomes for every individual. Ensure that people feel a sense of belonging and cultural awareness.
Challenge prejudices and confront bias.
Flexible and able to manage time.
Be available when required and be willing to change things if they are not working.
Have excellent time management skills.
An analytical thinker
Continually identify, test and evaluate workload.
Develop good ideas and find solutions to resolve any issues.
Produce Case Studies and evaluate service offered.
Able to manage budgets
Understand the cost of delivering a service and minimising waste.
Identify the cost of developing and delivering group work sessions.
A team player
Work collaboratively and develop connections with OPFS colleagues, stakeholders and single parents.
Attend external meetings and build connections with relevant agencies.
Be involved and support OPFS campaigns.
Intuitive
Have and share good ideas which will help OPFS grow and develop.
Identify routes for parent participation.
Deliver agreed personal objectives and be aware of how your work contributes to OPFS Priority Areas.
Take control of personal and professional development, and actively manage own Personal Learning Plan.
Communicative and engaging
Be able to understand others and evaluate and work collaboratively with everyone you encounter through the course of your work.
Contributes views, ideas and experience, identifying appropriate methods of communication and target audience.
Verbally communicate confidently while contributing ideas in a clear and concise way.
Share and present information of all kinds in an appropriate format, accurately and on time.
Supportive and enabling
Work collaboratively with OPFS services, share knowledge and skills and learn from others.
Be a competent user of Microsoft Office Suite such as Word, Excel, Outlook etc.
Personal Specifications
Essential Experience:
- Experience of working with families and children.
- Awareness of child protection frameworks.
- Experience of partnership and multi-agency working.
- Experience of outreach work.
- Extensive knowledge of child development.
Practical Skills:
- Ability to demonstrate good written and verbal skills
- Ability to work as part of a team and as an individual.
- A good understanding of child development and the benefit of parental involvement.
- Ability to plan, record and evaluate through recording and written reports.
- Experience of setting up and working with groups.
- Accept and respond to the varying needs of families in a non-judgemental way.
- Have knowledge and understanding of current legislation when working with children and families.
Personal Qualities & Attributes:
- A commitment to work flexible hours.
- To be approachable friendly and a good team player.
- Excellent communicator.
- The ability to prioritise workload.
- To be positively motivated.
- Understand the need for confidentiality.
- Personal qualities of warmth and sensitivity to family members and their needs.
Terms and conditions of appointment
- Period of appointment: The appointment is permanent. Confirmation of appointment is subject to satisfactory completion of a 3-month probationary period, Standard Disclosure Check and receipt of references.
- Salary: The salary range would be point 13-17 £23,218 - £28,379 Starting salary is dependent upon skills, qualifications and experience.
- Hours of work: Up to 35 hours weekly, Monday to Friday
- Holidays: Holidays are 25 working days and 12 Public holidays
- Pension: Once the appointment has been confirmed you are eligible to join the Employer's Pension scheme with the Pensions Trust. OPFS pays 7% of your salary and you pay a minimum of 3%. If you are already in a pension scheme, other arrangements may be possible.
- Training and Support and Supervision: You will receive induction training and frequent support in the first three months. Thereafter, you will receive monthly individual support and supervision from the Manager and annual appraisals.
- Regular team meetings are held, and staff have access to internal and external training.
- Equal Opportunities and Family Friendly employment: OPFS aims to be an equal opportunities and family friendly employer. The post is open to job sharing. We have Investors in People status.
- Disclosure Check: This post requires a satisfactory standard disclosure check.
Qualification Required : HNC, SVQ Level 3 or equivalent in education, health, social care or community development.
The role description is a broad picture of the post at the time of preparation. It is not an exhaustive list of all possible duties, and it is recognised that volunteering roles change and evolve over time.
Application notes
For further information, please click here.
Recruitment Timetable: The closing date for applications is 12 noon on Wednesday 26th July 2023. Please send completed applications to jobs@opfs.org.uk.
The Yard is an award-winning charity that runs adventure play services for children with disabilities and/or additional support needs and their families across Scotland.
We are seeking an experienced HR Manager who is passionate about driving positive change at The Yard. You will bring the expertise and gravitas to influence and support senior leadership on HR and cultural initiatives.
About the role:
Some of your key responsibilities will include:
• Ensuring The Yard maintains the roles, skills and experience to deliver on its strategic priorities
• Measure employee engagement and agree action plans to develop and improve organisational culture
• Ensuring our recruitment policies and processes embody our values and enable us to recruit people with the skills and qualities to meet our goals
• Developing and managing our renumeration policy
About you:
This job is for you if you have:
• Proven experience of HR management
• Can lead by example, fostering a culture of trust and respect
• Excellent communication and relationship building skills
• Ability to develop HR strategies aligning with our strategic plan
If our ethos inspires you and you are eager to bring your knowledge and experience to a team that is deeply committed to our purpose, we would love to have you on board.
If you would like to discuss the role with our Director of Resources, please let us know and we can arrange a call.
Chair/Treasurer
- Management Board
- Unpaid
- Hybrid: Scotland (Quarterly Board meetings online annual get together central belt)
- Closing 26th January 2026
Volunteer Chair and Treasurer (Trustees) – Help Dads Rock Support Dads and Families across Scotland
Dads Rock is a fast-growing, dynamic Scottish charity with a clear vision: Children thrive when Dads thrive. We are looking for passionate and experienced individuals to join our Board of Trustees.
We are currently recruiting for two key volunteer leadership roles:
- Chair: To provide strategic direction and ensure strong governance as we expand our services across Scotland.
- Treasurer: To utilise your financial expertise in overseeing our financial viability, budgets, and compliance. Experience in a finance role is highly valued.
This is a fantastic opportunity to contribute your skills to a critical mission with a low time commitment (approx. 2-3 hours per month) and a high societal impact.
Are you passionate about working with children, young people and families?
Barnardo's Stronger Families service is offering an exciting opportunity to join an established team who deliver Attachment and Trauma Informed Practice models of support to families. You will be required to deliver direct services to families who have complex needs and who are at risk of family breakdown. You will have experience of working with children and families and a working knowledge of attachment theories in practice.
Barnardo's has had a presence in Fife for over 20 years, working with children and families has been a consistent feature of our services in Fife, with our Stronger Families services being in existence for several years. Families must be referred to this service by a social worker, live in the Fife area, have children aged between 0-13 yrs old and are typically on the verge of family breakdown.
You will be required to work intensively with the family and partner agencies to ensure that, where possible, relationships within the home improve and children can safely remain at home.
We work with a flexible, whole family approach to support and so alongside formal 12-week reviews, support is assessed on a needs-based basis and therefore, frequency and intensity of support can vary out with these reviews. This also includes supporting families at fracture points – morning routine, evening routine and weekend support – where appropriate.
You will be required to design and deliver direct services to families who have a range of complex needs. Experience of working with children and families and a working knowledge of attachment theories and Trauma Informed Practice would be extremely desirable as would a knowledge of The Promise and it's implications for service delivery. This is an exciting opportunity to join an established, dynamic and friendly, team where you will have the opportunity to expand and share your skills and experience within a supportive environment.
Pay & Reward Framework
We know that our colleagues go above and beyond in delivering our vital work, driven by their passion and commitment to Barnardo's values. We also know that we can only realise our ambitions and achieve better outcomes for more children, thanks to the talent, hard work and creativity of our people.
For all these reasons, we are committed to a new approach to pay and reward, to ensure it is fair, attractive and progressive, which was rolled out in April 2023. This is a positive change for the charity, and a part of our People & Culture Strategy. It will assist us in supporting colleagues to belong, thrive and grow in their colleague journey at Barnardo's and in time will offer clear routes of progression for colleagues in both their career and their pay.
Whilst the full pay band and salary range is advertised, our approach to starting salaries is to appoint between the minimum to mid-point of the pay band – this ensures that pay steps are available to reward our colleagues annually based on their contribution to excellence and alignment to our values and behaviours. More details on Barnardo's pay framework can be found upon application.
Benefits
Workplace Offer: What it means for you
Our hybrid working initiative is based on trust, flexibility and empowerment. We understand our workplace offer means different things to different people, and we encourage those conversations. This may mean working at one of our stores, services, working at home, in the community, at one of our Collaboration Hubs or depending on the role any combination of these. Please read through the advert carefully to understand the remits of hybrid working that will be specific to the role.
- Barnardo's believe in creating equality of opportunity in the workplace and supporting people to manage their work-life balance; we are therefore open to offering flexible working arrangements.
- Annual Leave entitlement for full-time colleagues is 26 days per annum, increasing to 27 days per annum, after 3 years Barnardo's service, 29 days per annum, after 5 years Barnardo's service and 30 days per annum, after 7 years Barnardo's service. Those working less than full time are entitled to the same level of holiday pro rata
- The ability to buy up to another 5 days annual leave via our HolidayPlus scheme
- A host of family friendly leave options including company Maternity Paternity and Adoption pay; together with all family additional leave options
- Service related sick pay from day 1
- Access to a Group Personal Pension with a matched 4% or 6% contribution from Barnardo's. Ability to pay via salary sacrifice to garner both tax and NI savings on your own contribution
- Death in service cover of 4x annual earnings for all staff contributing to our Group Personal Pension
- Cycle2work scheme
- Interest free season ticket loans
- Discounts and cashback from at high street shops including major supermarkets, cinemas, gyms, leisure/theme parks, holidays and much more via our Benefit Portal
- 20% discount at Barnardo's stores
- Opportunity to purchase a health cash plan to claim towards dental, glasses, therapy etc
- Free access to round the clock employee assistance program for advice and support
- Access to Barnardo's Learning and Development offer
*T&C's apply based on contract
About Barnardo's
We are committed to being an inclusive employer and cultivating a culture where everyone can belong and thrive through inclusion and connectivity. We want our workforce to be reflective of the communities we work with, and for equality, diversity and inclusion to be embedded in everything we do. We are a Disability Confident Leader, are progressing our ambition to be an anti-racist organisation with Anti-Racism Commitments and actions in place and have networks for colleagues who are disabled, LGBT+, Black and Minoritised Ethnic and Women. We particularly encourage applications from Black and Minoritised Ethnic and/or disabled candidates who are currently underrepresented in our workforce. For disabled applicants, we offer reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process.
First Step is a community-based organisation working directly with families and young children in the early years. We support parents to build confidence, strengthen relationships and create a nurturing environment for their children. Our services include early learning and childcare, family learning and wellbeing activities, dedicated family support and outreach, and a range of opportunities for volunteering and community involvement.
We are seeking a motivated, self-starting Fundraising Officer, who will be central to the growth and sustainability of First Step’s work. You will lead on securing funding and developing new projects that respond to the needs of families with young children.
With excellent communication skills, you will work closely with the Project Manager and the Strategic Board to shape and deliver innovative, community led initiatives that make a real difference to the lives of children and their families. This includes identifying funding opportunities, writing compelling bids and building strong relationships with funders and partners.
Using your creativity, you will also be responsible for raising awareness of First Step’s services through events, presentations, marketing materials, and managing social media and website content. We’re looking for a versatile individual who communicates effectively at all levels, writes clearly, collaborates well with others, and can work independently when needed.
In addition to a highly satisfying role, we offer a range of staff benefits including:
- Enhanced annual leave
- Contributory pension scheme
- Enhanced sick pay
- Learning and development opportunities
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