Who Cares? Scotland is Scotland’s only national independent membership organisation for Care Experienced people. Our mission is to secure a lifetime of equality, respect, and love for Care Experienced people in Scotland and we currently have over 3000 Care Experienced members.

At the heart of Who Cares? Scotland’s work are the rights of Care Experienced children and young people, and the power of their voices to bring about positive change. We provide individual relationship-based independent advocacy and a broad range of imaginative participatory opportunity for Care Experienced young people across Scotland; we work alongside corporate parents and communities of all sorts to broaden understanding; we work with policy makers, leaders and elected representatives locally and nationally to shape law, policy and practice on the basis of all that can be learnt from the voices of those with experience of care – working together to build on the aspirations of The Promise and secure positive change.

This unique role offers the opportunity to listen to and work directly with children and young people with experience of care, in an individual relationship-based advocacy role, and within participation and group activity across our South East region.

The post-holder will be a key member of the Advocacy and Participation team, supporting young people from across to ensure their rights are upheld and their voices are heard. In this role you will have the opportunity to provide independent advocacy, children’s rights, and participation opportunities for children and young people who are looked after, Care Experienced, or subject to formal processes and structures. The role will see you actively participating in child’s plan meetings, children’s hearings, and other formal processes, as well as assisting children and young people to prepare for them. In partnership with professionals, carers, and organisations, you will help to achieve the best outcomes for children and young people by keeping detailed records of the work you undertake, writing liaison reports, and monitoring statistics.

As a vital part of the work of Who Cares? Scotland, your role will include facilitating group opportunities for and with children and young people. This includes providing engagement and participation opportunities throughout the Who Cares? Scotland local and national network, as well as meeting with care experienced children and young people to introduce the service in agreement with the local authority. Raising awareness of Who Cares? Scotland and its services with children, young people, professionals, and carers you will also be responsible for facilitating training amongst care corporate parents.

The right candidate for this post will be able to form positive relationships with children and young people and have good interpersonal skills. You will feel confident communicating with individuals and groups, both in writing and verbally, and be able to adapt to a wide range of contexts. Secure in making effective plans, as well as evidencing your work, you can prioritise and meet deadlines. You take enjoyment from working collaboratively with partners, believing in equal opportunities and inclusive working. Committed to children’s rights, you are someone who knows that all young people can make transformative change happen in their lives if given the opportunity. You can demonstrate knowledge of the current structure, developments, policy, and practice in relation to children and young people experiencing care in Scotland. You are also flexible, given the remit of the role, as some evening and weekend work will be necessary, along with a full driving licence and access to transport.

While we would welcome the knowledge gathered through relevant qualifications, we are just as interested in relevant work experience. We welcome and encourage applications from those with experience of care.

The successful candidate will be joining Who Cares? Scotland and working within the South East team at an exciting time, when the voices of those who are in or have experienced care are growing in power, individually and collectively – bringing with them insight, challenge, hope and change.

If this sounds like the role for you, we would love to hear from you. To arrange an informal conversation about this opportunity, please contact Ray MacLean, Manager of Advocacy and Participation, at rmaclean@whocaresscotland.org.

Benefits:

• 29 days annual leave PLUS bank holidays, with up to 5 additional days for continuous service and option to buy or sell leave
• Gain professional qualifications and excellent training/development opportunities
• Flexible maternity, adoption, and paternity packages
• Pension with up to 7% employer contribution with included life assurance cover
• Staff discount portal and Blue Light Card eligibility with 15,000 national retailers discounts.

Vulnerable children in the UK need your help

Wherever you work in the Action for Children family, you'll be helping to change the lives of the most vulnerable children in the UK.

Last year, we helped more than 687,000 children and families across the UK. From direct work in communities to national campaigning, we are focused on making sure every child has a safe and happy childhood, and the foundations they need to thrive.

Why Action for Children?

Working here is more than a job. Everyone in the Action for Children family is passionate about protecting and supporting children. It's the sense of purpose that drives us every single day. Because we know that, when we work together, we can make a huge difference to bring lasting improvements to vulnerable children's lives.

A bit about the role

You will be joining the team in our Employability Service. It provides support to young people aged 16-24, who have a range of barriers or needs.

Youthbuild (a construction training programme) works to tackle the underlying issues that might be preventing young people from entering and sustaining employment and capitalises on opportunities available. (is a construction training programme)

As an Employment Facilitator you'll be motivating, inspiring and directly supporting and delivering a range of both practical and vocational employability programmes aimed at young people to access, maintain and sustain future employment and further educational opportunities through the provision of a comprehensive in-house training programmes and work placements.

Key responsibilities will be:

• Managing and co-ordinating a caseload of young people, providing tailored interventions through group, coordinated or individual support.
• Delivering a range of group preparation for work modules that contribute to our overall employability programmes, promoting inclusion and allowing for individual learning styles.
• Adopting a key worker approach to support young people for up to 6 months from securing employment.

How you'll help to create brighter futures

Join us as an Employment Facilitator to help change the lives of young people in Edinburgh. You can grow your career by helping others to start out in theirs.

We are open to a variety of backgrounds. This could be your own first role after gaining a recent qualification. Or you could be looking to build on the experience you already have in youth work or employability. Either way, this is a great opportunity enhance life chances in local Edinburgh communities.

Key responsibilities include:

• Organising, coordinating, and leading the delivery of construction training sessions
• Delivering and/or coordinating practical 1–2-day sessions, examples, intro trades, taster sessions on practical skills and using tools and equipment.
• Working closely with colleagues to monitor the progress of trainees and plan training accordingly.
• Organising and implementing workload, including up to date records of activity, risk assessments and learner packs/certifications.

Let's talk about you

• It would be great if you have an SVQ 3 in Social Care, Guidance or equivalent – but we are very open to relevant or lived experience, rather than a qualification.
• You will be used to working in group settings with young people facing multiple barriers.
• You will have knowledge and understanding of young people facing unemployment.
• You need a full driving licence and access to a car to use for business.

We understand that there are a lot of jobs out there just now but if this role connects with you, and you really want to make a difference to the lives of young people, then we'd love to see your application.

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.

We are looking for a permanent therapist and a freelancer to join our Therapy Centre Team. We are open to considering a range of accredited therapists - art, music, drama, filial, play. If you are an experienced therapist with skills in working with children individually and in groups, we’d like to hear from you.

Scottish Adoption and Fostering is an established voluntary sector provider of specialist adoption services. We have built our reputation on the delivery of high quality and innovative services based on best practice. This is an exciting time to join the Agency as we expand our work to include a mainstream fostering service.

The permanent role is for 18 hours a week and will involve some travel to work with children and families within a 60-mile radius of our Edinburgh Office. We want to take a flexible approach so if there are therapists who can commit to a set number of hours a week that are fewer than 18 hours we would love to hear from you.

The freelance role is primarily to work with families in Glasgow and the West of Scotland, again we are flexible and could vary the number of hours for the right candidate.