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.

About Aberlour Children’s Charity

Aberlour is one of the largest Scottish children’s charities, celebrating 150 years helping to improve the lives of Scotland’s disadvantaged children and young people. At Aberlour we know that not all children are born with an equal chance so we work to support children, young people and families overcome poverty, disadvantage and discrimination.

Our staff teams are critical in delivering this support and therefore need exceptional training. Many of our services are registered with the Care Inspectorate and staff have to be registered with the Scottish Social Services Council. This registration includes a requirement to meet a minimum level of qualification.

What we are looking for....

We are looking for a qualified assessor to support SVQ assessment across the organisation.

We are approved by the SQA to deliver SVQs in Social Services (Children & Young People). To enable assessment in this award you should have a relevant professional qualification at SCQF level 7 or above along with your assessor award.

Your experience should include working in a relevant care setting, assessment of at least 4 candidates through to completion of their SVQ’s. You must be able to demonstrate that you have experience of planning, preparation, delivery and evaluation of learning activities in a social care setting.

The post is 37.5hrs per week and will require travel across Scotland. Your work base can be flexible, we are able to support a mix of office and home working as required.

What we offer...

As well as a supportive team, 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 here.

At Aberlour we strive 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. To have a look at our values to understand more about what we are looking for from our employees click here.

Family Mediation West provides support to families affected by separation, divorce, and conflict. We have premises in Glasgow and Kilmarnock allowing us to offer services across the West of Scotland. We are affiliated to Relationship Scotland, who support a national network of 21 local service providers for individuals, couples and families experiencing relationship breakdown. The values and the standards of the organisation help to ensure effective support can be provided to help families through difficult times.

We are seeking an administrator, with experience, to support a broad range of administration tasks within a family conciliation service. Full support and training will be given for this role within both the service provisions well as all our operational systems. FM West operations largely deal with service users, their family solicitors, and the Scottish Court system. The role may suit a candidate well that has experience of administration within a legal, charity, social work, or child services background. There is full training on operations available, and the opportunity to work alongside our current administrators who will provide personalised 1-2-1 on the job support to the successful candidate.

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.