SDS Forth Valley, a project of the Independent Living Association and is increasing its staff team to support the increasing number of individuals, families, children and unpaid carers who are looking to management their own support having received a budget from their local Health and Social Care Partnership. We are the local disabled persons support organisation covering the whole of the Forth Valley area.

Having received funding for 3 years we are looking for a SDS Information Officer to enhance our current team. Based in Alloa, the Information Officers will work as part of a small team providing Self Directed Support information and guidance across the Forth Valley Area. This is to individuals, carers, families and our Health and Social Care partners.

We have an exciting opportunity for someone who has demonstrated experience in fundraising and is looking to share their skills in a freelance capacity.

The purpose of the role is to work with the National Lead to create and implement fundraising plans aligned with Dates-n-Mates strategic plan. You will have knowledge and experience of individual giving, major donor programmes and corporate sponsorship.

The right candidate will be able to offer 2-4 days freelance per month for 12 months, a daily rate will be agreed depending on experience.

So, who are we? Dates-n-Mates Scotland is an organisation run by and for adults who have a learning disability. We are Scotland’s first friendship and dating agency connecting people in Renfrewshire, Glasgow, Falkirk, Aberdeen, Stirling, and Clackmannanshire.

Formerly a project of C-Change Scotland for 15 years, Dates-n-Mates became an independent charity in 2023. Our work is underpinned by a human rights-based approach, and we believe it is people’s right to live life free of discrimination and to develop relationships of their choosing, to love and be loved. We are award-winning and celebrated a win at the 2017 Scottish Charity Award’s for Pioneering Project and have been shortlisted this year in the category of Scottish Charity of the year.

Learn more about Dates-n-Mates, visit our website: datesnmates.org.uk

Role Purpose and Background

Community Solutions is an exciting, respected and effective partnership programme which supports community and voluntary organisations to improve people’s wellbeing, promote equality and provide support to vulnerable people across North Lanarkshire by:

• funding 6 locality host organisations to facilitate joint working at local level, including sharing information and good practice; identifying priority needs; managing allocation of small grants through a Locality Activity Fund and promoting other funds managed through the Community Solutions Programme

• funding over 200 local and/or NL-wide thematic projects on a wide range of issues including advocacy and self-directed support; carers support; children and young people; mental health and wellbeing

• supporting wider community engagement in the Community Solutions programme and health and social care integration

• promoting the Community Solutions values and approach to inform development of other health and social care services and, where appropriate, other services and initiatives that support wellbeing.

The Community Solutions programme was established in 2012 and now has recurrent annual funding of around £1.1 million from Health and Social Care North Lanarkshire (HSC-NL), plus additional funding from HSC-NL and other sources – with a current annual total of over £3 million.

With additional funding over the coming two years coming from:

• Health and Social Care North Lanarkshire Prevention and Early Intervention additional funding

• NHS Charities Together – Connecting Communities for Health: Investing in Lanarkshire’s Social Prescribing Network

• Macmillan Cancer Support – Improving the Cancer Journey (ICJ)

The Community Solutions programme is piloting a new Improving Lives Initiative (ILI). In addition to increasing the resources to support the Locality Hosts and increasing the funding to distribute through the Locality Activity Fund; the ILI will also establish a team of Community Connectors to provide support to people who would benefit from informal community-based support and help accessing formal statutory support should they need it. The Community Connectors will signpost people to community supports provided by Community and Voluntary Sector (CVS) Organisations and where appropriate link to statutory services such as Home Assessment Teams and Integrated Rehabilitation Teams.

The Community Connectors will be employed by North Lanarkshire Disability Forum (NLDF), which was established in 1991 by and for disabled people and their carers, and continue to be a user led organisation. NLDF provide up to date information on disability issues throughout North Lanarkshire. The ethos of NLDF is keeping people independent and in their home for as long as possible by empowering people with information, access to appropriate supports and ensuring they know their rights.

NLDF are keen collaborators within Health and Social Care supporting individuals and their carers to contribute to consultations that matter to them such as National Care Service, devolved benefit consultations through Social Security Scotland, Strategy guidance on Self-Directed Support (SDS), and more local issues around supports for people with Additional Support Needs (ASN) such as accessing Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS).

NLDF currently has four projects providing practical supports around finances, social needs and carer breather sessions for people in North Lanarkshire to link into providing information, advice and wellbeing tools.

NLDF are Volunteer Friendly accredited and Living wage employers.

At Key and Community Lifestyles, we provide person-centred support to over 2,000 disabled people, across 17 Scottish local authorities, to enable each person to lead full, active lives in their own homes and communities. The people we support have significantly varying life experiences and needs and range from young people still at school through to people in their 90s. Key is also a specialist Registered Social Landlord (RSL) providing over 700 homes specially designed for disabled people and those with long term support needs.

Our workforce is compassionate, talented, and committed to providing high quality, personalised support so that people can live full, active lives in their own homes and communities. Respect for the fundamental dignity of each and every person, regardless of the level of support they require, lies at the heart of our organisation, as do the principles of choice, control, participation and inclusion.

We are excited to be recruiting to this full-time Practice Development Manager position, which is a crucial leadership role in both Key and Community Lifestyles. We are looking for someone who:

• Has experience of successfully supporting individuals with very complex support needs to live good lives in their own homes and communities

• Can contribute to the development of individually designed support services that uphold human rights and enable citizenship.

• Has strong interpersonal and leadership skills, able to work closely with the people we support, their families and teams, as well as multidisciplinary partners, to support and sustain the highest standards of practice.

• Is able to confidentially role model excellent practice in line with our values, through a thriving community of practice leaders and positive behaviour practitioners as well as contribute to external networks and initiatives.

• Has strong project management and IT skills to support the implementation of effective processes, systems and tools which measure and demonstrate the impact of our strategies.

You will have a recognised social care or relevant professional qualification and while a recognised PBS/BILD qualification would be advantageous, this is not essential as we will offer support to attain this.

The post is based in Glasgow but will involve travel to our services across Scotland.

If you think you’re the person we are looking for, and you’d like to discuss the role further, please contact Sheila Hanney, Head of Staff Development, Policy and Practice by email sheila.hanney@key.org.uk