About Aberlour Sycamore Children’s Houses

Aberlour Sycamore Services’ vision is to provide warm, loving homes for children where everyone learns, laughs, grows into their future and is treasured always. At any one time, the residential houses within Sycamore require additional support to help to maintain stability and balance within the teams. Sycamore services are widely recognised in Scotland for providing a range of quality therapeutic residential houses for some of the most vulnerable children and young people in the country. The Service is a national resource and as such receives referrals from throughout Scotland.

What we are looking for....

We are looking for an individual who can integrate seamlessly into our existing team, working alongside it and relief adults to support excellent service delivery. We are looking for a Residential Worker to work 37.5 hours per week on a residential rota including early, late, waken nights, sleepovers and weekend shifts. You will have a knowledge and understanding of the importance of attachment, trauma and how this can impact on an individual’s development. At times our children express their distress through their behaviour and the role can be emotionally and physically challenging; we are therefore looking for someone who is resilient, understands that behaviour is a means of communication and is trauma responsive.

You will be skilled in building therapeutic relationships with the children, young people and young adults to enable them to feel safe, loved and cared for.

You must have the ability to quickly build your relationships with the adults within the house. The nature of the role is such that you could be working to cover a shift or longer periods as required, including days and wakened nightshifts and you may also be supporting young people to attend school or participate in other learning programmes. You must therefore be able to quickly adapt to the working environment within each house.

You will be comfortable with working within Aberlour’s culture embracing respect, integrity, innovation and the ability to challenge. Demonstration of these qualities will be particularly important in this role given that you will be dipping in and out of the different teams. You must be able to be an exceptional role model for other staff and the young person.

Undertaking the role of Residential Worker will afford you the opportunity to develop and build on a range of transferrable skills which are valued in a range of employment: you will be able to demonstrate excellent flexibility and adaptability with exceptional interpersonal skills, ability to work with different teams and different children, young people and young adults living within our Sycamore Houses.

For an informal discussion please phone Kerry Watson, House Manager on 07753310967

What we offer...

As well as a supportive team and excellent training opportunities, we want all our employees to feel valued and rewarded for the vital work they do. When you work with us, we'll recognise your efforts with generous annual leave, an excellent employer pension scheme and a range of deals and discounts across various retailers. Find out more about our

Aberlour is committed to the safeguarding and welfare of all our service users and uses a thorough and rigorous recruitment and selection process including PVG Scheme checks to ensure this commitment is not compromised.

Do you have relevant experience of working with children and young people with a disability/and or autism or relevant experience in a similar sector or work environment?

About Aberlour Options Fife - Respite and Outreach

Options Fife Respite and Outreach provides a range of flexible support through outreach and overnight short breaks at weekends, evenings and school holidays to children and young people with complex learning disabilities and autism. We offer a high-quality child centred service providing positive and enabling experiences for the young people, supporting them through the challenges and complexities that enable them to work towards their individual outcomes and personal goals. We work closely with families and other professionals in providing support tailored around the child’s plan.

What we are looking for....

We are looking to recruit two Young People’s Worker Nights, working four nights on (10 hours per night) every second week. You will play a fundamental role in ensuring that the young people you work with have the best possible experience in working towards their objectives in line with their care plan, supporting children to progress within their individual outcomes. Whilst not without its challenges and demands, this is a highly rewarding role, where the work we do has a demonstrable impact on each young person's progress. Using a person-centred approach, you will provide enabling support ensuring the highest level of physical, personal, and emotional care. We support young people who have epilepsy, need personal care and need gastrostomy feeding. Aberlour, in conjunction with NHS, provides all staff with training.

We are looking for candidates who have a passion for working with young people with disabilities. It is desired but not essential that candidates hold a relevant qualification at an SCQF level 7 or above. Due to SSSC requirements you may be required to gain qualifications after starting with Aberlour.

At Aberlour we want to make sure every child and young person has the love, support and opportunity they need to reach their potential. If you share the same vision, we want you to join our team.

What we offer...

As well as a supportive team and excellent training opportunities, we want all our employees to feel valued and rewarded for the vital work they do. When you work with us, we'll recognise your efforts with generous annual leave, an excellent employer pension scheme and a range of deals and discounts across various retailers. Find out more about our Employee Benefits and our commitment to Equality and Diversity on our website.

“I lost my kids a few times they went to foster care and I would have gone to a place like this if I had the chance. This is badly needed. I hid my drug use and people only found out about it when I had my baby and she was in withdrawal. I loved my daughter and would have welcomed something like this.” A mother who has been supported by Aberlour.

About Aberlour’s Mother and Child Recovery House

Aberlour is proud to be working in partnership with the Scottish Government to establish a new dedicated Mother and Child Residential Recovery House in central Falkirk. Building on the success of our house in Dundee, also funded by the Scottish Government, which opened just over a year ago, our service is designed to enable children of women with problem alcohol and other drug use to stay with their mothers during recovery. Aberlour’s approach to rehabilitation aims to deliver positive outcomes for women and their children. The house will accommodate up to 4 women and their children under 5 years old.

We will be using the Parents Under Pressure (PuP) program which combines psychological principles relating to parenting, child behaviour and parental emotion regulation within a case management model. The program is highly individualised to suit each family. Mothers are given their own Workbook and for many of them this becomes a personal journal of their treatment experience. The overarching aim of the PuP program is to help parents facing adversity to develop positive and secure relationships with their children. Within this strength-based approach, the family environment becomes more nurturing and less conflictual. Full training on the PuP programme will be provided to the whole team.

“Too many women with problem drug and alcohol issues are having their young children taken into care and many other women won’t engage with support agencies for fear of their children being removed. The new houses will improve outcomes for these women and children; reduce deaths of mothers with problem drug use; avoid family breakdown and increase the likelihood of children being cared for by their parents.”

Aberlour Chief Executive SallyAnn Kelly

What we are looking for....

Our relief workers play an essential role in supporting our team. This work is offered on a casual, hourly paid basis to provide cover during staff absence and/or during particularly busy periods. Availability should be specified on your application form.

Ideally you will have experience of direct work with vulnerable families to support improved capacity for women and children and of working collaboratively with other professional agencies and a working knowledge of drug/alcohol use and its effects on women and children.

Applicants should hold a relevant professional qualification at least SCQF level 7 or

equivalent knowledge acquired by other means with a willingness to obtain the required qualifications for SSSC Registration.

We strongly encourage people to apply who have lived experience of alcohol or drug use, with a minimum of 2 years living in recovery, free from all drug use and problematic drinking. People with lived experience will provide crucial insight into the issues being faced by the women and children.

At Aberlour we want to make sure every child and young person has the love, support and opportunity they need to reach their potential. If you share the same vision, we want you to join our team.

What we offer...

As well as a supportive team and excellent training opportunities, we want all our employees to feel valued and rewarded for the vital work they do. When you work with us, we'll recognise your efforts with generous annual leave, an excellent employer pension scheme and a range of deals and discounts across various retailers.

About Options Dundee

Our Options Dundee Service works in partnership with families to offer tailored packages of support to help families to stay together. The support we provide is based on the needs of the family and takes a variety of forms including supported morning and bedtime routines in the family homes and 1:1 sessions with children and young people to support them to access the community and a variety of groups we run.

This specialised service offered by Aberlour Options Dundee enables children and young people to grow and develop - accessing their local area, broadening their experiences and not just meeting their needs but supporting them to flourish.

The families we work with find our service invaluable - “I don't know what I'd do without them. I trust them, my child trusts them - we both feel safe when they're in the house…They've changed my and my child’s life”.

What we are looking for....

We are looking to recruit a Relief Family Worker to provide ad hoc cover when staff are on holiday or are off sick. Relief Workers are a vital part of our team, helping to ensure that full cover is available throughout the year.

Work is offered on a casual basis: Relief Workers are not obliged to accept shifts offered and Aberlour is not obliged to offer shifts. In return for taking on this essential role, you will work alongside a dedicated, supportive staff team and be offered valuable training and development opportunities.

You will provide needs-led, person-centred support to children and families with a learning disability, or who have an autism spectrum condition with complex physical, learning and/or emotional needs, which can include supporting the family at home, in their local community or in schools.

What we offer...

You will receive a planned and supported induction consisting of a varied training programme; including CALM training, Child Protection training and other training specific to the job role. You will be working alongside a highly motivated and skilled team to provide a personalised service for our young people.