What is the VF?

The VF is a charity passionate about supporting the vulnerable veterans and it has paid out in grants over £20M since inception in 2016. It operates as an independent grant-making foundation offering targeted support to a broad range of charities and charitable organisations that support those in need among serving armed forces’ personnel, veterans, operationally qualified seafarers, and their immediate families.

Funded projects include those that tackle homelessness, increase employment, overcome poverty, and provide welfare and medical support. It also supports initiatives that increase confidence and social integration, as well as reducing dependence on alcohol and drugs.

The VF gives priority to well-run small and medium-sized charities and organisations in need of funds that help the target beneficiaries.

To date the majority of funds raised by the VF have come from the highly successful Veterans' Lottery (VL). However, individual donations are growing significantly and show potential for further development. We now need a member of staff to support the VF’s Fundraising Manager in building a broader fundraising base.

More information about the VF can be found at: veteransfoundation.org.uk.

A summary of the VF’s work can be seen here: Impact Film 2024

About the post

The position of Fundraising Assistant has been created to support the Fundraising Team with administrative tasks, working with our donors and volunteer fundraisers to raise funds. The postholder will work under the direction of the VF’s Fundraising Manager, as well as working closely with other team members in the VF and partner organisations.

We are looking for a full-time Team Leader to join our dynamic team in Edinburgh.

In this position, you will lead a team of Project Workers as they provide support and opportunity to the adults who attend Upmo.

On a day-to-day basis, Team Leaders supervise and coordinate activities on site, provided support to staff, ensure onsite operations are in line with policy and procedure and assist Team Managers with case and site management. We are looking for a confident communicator with excellent leadership skills and the ability to multi-task in a fast-paced environment.

This Team Leader position is primarily based in our service in Edinburgh, where we offer workshop activities to adults with learning disabilities and autism from Links House in Leith, and St. Margaret's House at Meadowbank.

The starting salary for this position is £24,100.

No formal qualification is necessary, but experience of working in social care is preferred.

Volunteering Matters are a national volunteering and social change charity. We believe that everyone across the UK should have the opportunity to thrive. We bring people together through the unique power of volunteering, to overcome some of society’s most complex issues.

We are looking for a talented, dynamic, and professional Volunteer Engagement Manager to join our team in the City of Edinburgh. The right candidate would be someone who can work flexibly, is driven, and is passionate about supporting parents and families. It is also important that the post holder can commit to our organisational values – being Compassionate, Empowering, Inclusive, Positive and Straightforward.

An introduction to the role

In this role you will support the delivery and development of our established Family Supporters programme across the City of Edinburgh. Family Supporters is an effective mentoring programme which offers practical, emotional, and social support to parents and families across Edinburgh, empowering them to face a range of life challenges and issues. We recruit, train and match dedicated, local volunteers to help families every step of the way, spending 1-1 time together on a personalised set of goals chosen by the family, for the family. The programme supports parents and families in lots of ways such as improved living standards, budgeting skills, healthier eating, better school life and behaviour, help to access Education, Employment or Training, access to physical and mental health and wellbeing resources/aid, as well as introducing parents to community resources, to name a few.

Further information on Family Supporters Edinburgh can be found online, and on our website.

Information on Employee Benefits

Our ambition is to be the best place to work in the charity sector. We offer lots of employee benefits including:

• Fully flexible working
• Unlimited annual leave, to achieve a positive work-life balance
• Cycle to Work scheme
• Interest free season ticket loan (public transport)
• Competitive and supportive maternity/adoption/family leave provision
• Competitive and supportive sick leave provision
• Access to our free Employee Assistance line

Our ways of Working

We offer flexible working by default. This means that our staff have significant flexibility when it comes to place of work, working hours, and are empowered with the responsibility of managing their own diary and workload.

Part of your working week will need to be based in local communities within the City of Edinburgh, meeting with volunteers, parents and families, partner organisations and others. For the remainder of the time, you can be based from our City of Edinburgh office or at home (must be locally). If working from home, you will need good internet access and a suitable home working environment, all IT equipment, mobile phone and any home working supplies will be available.

Duties & Responsibilities

• Role model and display our organisational values – being Compassionate, Empowering, Inclusive, Positive and Straightforward
• Teamwork across the regional staff team and the wider charity, working in a flexible way
• Deliver and develop the Family Supporters programme across Edinburgh, meeting ambitious goals and milestones, ensuring all volunteers and families involved achieve positive outcomes
• Attract, recruit, train and provide ongoing support to a team of dedicated volunteers, from a wide cross-section of the community
• Maintain Volunteering Matters standards around quality and effective Volunteer Management
• Establish and maintain excellent working relationships with stakeholders including colleagues, volunteers, families, Social Services, Health and Education teams, third sector partners and others
• Support appropriate risk assessment, safeguarding, quality assurance and audit processes
• Develop relevant promotional material and information, for Family Supporters, and for our organisation locally
• Ensure quarterly statistical data is collected and that the programme meets its agreed goals, reporting format and schedule as required by our funders.
• Administration tasks including the use of Office 365, Microsoft Teams and other relevant software

This job description is intended to include the broad range of responsibilities and requirements of the post. While some variations may be expected, these will be at an appropriate level for the role.

Person Specification

Skills & Knowledge Required

• Excellent knowledge of the life challenges and issues that parents and families face in Scotland, and an understanding of “The Promise”
• An understanding of how to assess the needs of an individual, using a person-centered approach
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Excellent people skills, able to build professional, long-term relationships with various stakeholders, to influence and motivate others
• Excellent time management and organisational skills with the ability to manage a busy workload and prioritise effectively
• Excellent IT skills including the use of Office 365, Microsoft Teams, and other software (training provided)
• A good problem solver, able to work independently and use own initiative

Experience Required

• Experience working directly with families, particularly those who face life challenges
• Experience in all aspects of effective Volunteer Management (recruitment, training, support)
• Experience developing strong working relationships with a range of internal and external stakeholders
• Experience of project management, achieving goals, managing a busy workload, and working to deadlines
• Experience of measuring the impact of mentoring/volunteering, and understanding the results
• Understanding of, and full commitment, to Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion

Role Reports To: Project Manager for Edinburgh

Qualifications

We are not looking for any specific qualifications, for this role. Relevant experience and skills are more important, along with a commitment to our organisational values.

Protection of Vulnerable Groups (PVG)

This role requires membership of the PVG scheme. Having a conviction is not necessarily a barrier to employment. If you are not currently a member of the PVG scheme, we can support you with the application process (fees will be reimbursed by Volunteering Matters).