Community Renewal is a dynamic and innovative organisation at the cutting-edge of work towards ending persistent poverty in Scotland.

In keeping with our atmosphere of trusting and valuing our staff we offer generous benefits, policies and a flexible approach to working.

Community Renewal works among deprived communities to develop, deliver and share better approaches to unlocking flourishing lives and flourishing neighbourhoods. These approaches always place people and communities in the lead: listening to them, identifying their strengths, supporting them on their terms, and building their capacity to flourish.

Community Renewal alleviates poverty by engaging and forming trusting relationships with individuals, whole families and whole communities together then supporting them by combining holistic case management (e.g. around income, work, health, wellness) with community development (e.g. forming new community activities/groups). This work is about testing change which can inform policy, be scaled up or replicated to achieve a much greater impact than our direct delivery alone.

The role will be as part of our Citywide Next Step Team specialising in providing employability and welfare advice support to people presently facing unemployment and who are actively seeking to return to work. The successful applicant will be working with clients across the city both in community settings and remotely taking an active role at job fares and setting up training sessions for clients. We are keen to hear from people with experience in Employer Engagement.

Community Renewal Trust is a values-led, dynamic and innovative organisation at the cutting-edge of work towards ending persistent poverty in Scotland. With 45 staff in three neighbourhoods and running two social enterprises there is always lots of impact and interesting learning.

Our work always places people and communities in the lead: listening to them, identifying their strengths, supporting them on their terms, and building their capacity to flourish.

Community Renewal Trust works by engaging and forming trusting relationships with individuals, whole families and whole communities together then supporting them by combining holistic case management (e.g. around income, work, health, wellness) with community development (e.g. forming new community activities/groups).

A set of core values guides all the work of Community Renewal:

• TRUSTING – Our impact is built on choosing to place trust in people.

• TRUSTWORTHY – Our trustworthiness is what makes our relationships grow.

• LEARNING – Our charity is about learning so we celebrate success but also appreciate failure

• BUILDING ON STRENGTHS – Our aim is always to build on strengths: we reject paternalism

• ALONGSIDE COMMUNITIES – Our aim is always to stay alongside people for as long as it takes.

• ACHIEVING PREVENTION – Our choice is to be proactive so we can achieve prevention, build resilience and find the right people at the right time.

• INSPIRING TRANSFORMATION – Our focus is always inspiring towards transformation, rather than incremental change.

This is an ideal role for a local community member who is looking to get involved in fantastic community events and learn about how to lead their own events or local activities while also gaining workplace experience.

The idea is to collaborate with our existing team around events in Bingham, Magdalene and the Hays that will take place in Autumn and Winter 2024-25 including seasonal events (e.g. Christmas), drop-in sessions, fun activities for families and others.

We need someone who can make a positive difference themselves and is enthused by community activities and supporting their neighbours. We also need someone who is prepared to learn about and follow some of the health and safety or similar regulations we need to follow around events. But this is also a chance to find how you can identify and use your strengths, ideas and learn skills.

This is an ideal role for a local community member who is looking to get involved in fantastic community events and learn about how to lead their own events or local activities while also gaining workplace experience.

The idea is to collaborate with our existing team around events in Bingham, Magdalene and the Hays that will take place in Autumn and Winter 2024-25 including seasonal events (e.g. Christmas), drop-in sessions, fun activities for families and others.

We need someone who can make a positive difference themselves and is enthused by community activities and supporting their neighbours. We also need someone who is prepared to learn about and follow some of the health and safety or similar regulations we need to follow around events. But this is also a chance to find how you can identify and use your strengths, ideas and learn skills.

Community Renewal Trust is a values-led, dynamic and innovative organisation at the cutting-edge of work towards ending persistent poverty in Scotland. With 45 staff in three neighbourhoods and running two social enterprises there is always lots of impact and interesting learning.

Community Renewal works among deprived communities to develop, deliver and share better approaches to proactively find the right people in the right places where transformative and empowering work can make the most difference. These approaches always place people and communities in the lead: listening to them, identifying their strengths, supporting them on their terms, and building their capacity to flourish.

Community Renewal alleviates poverty by engaging and forming trusting relationships with individuals, whole families and whole communities together then supporting them by combining holistic case management (e.g. around income, work, health, wellness) with community development (e.g. forming new community activities/groups). This work is about testing change which can inform policy, be scaled up or replicated to achieve a much greater impact than our direct delivery alone.

A set of core values guides all the work of Community Renewal:

• TRUSTING – Our impact is built on choosing to place trust in people.

• TRUSTWORTHY – Our trustworthiness is what makes our relationships grow.

• LEARNING – Our charity is about learning so we celebrate success but also appreciate failure

• BUILDING ON STRENGTHS – Our aim is always to build on strengths: we reject paternalism

• ALONGSIDE COMMUNITIES – Our aim is always to stay alongside people for as long as it takes.

• ACHIEVING PREVENTION – Our choice is to be proactive so we can achieve prevention, build resilience and find the right people at the right time.

• INSPIRING TRANSFORMATION – Our focus is always inspiring towards transformation, rather than incremental change.

This role is part of the Community Renewal Lifting Neighbourhoods Together team. This team brings together community workers and transformative caseworkers with specialist knowledge of different ways to support people in deprived neighbourhoods – for example welfare rights, employability, community food and health/mental health.

A five year grant from National Lottery Community Fund is core to enabling this team to operate in a different methodology which is deeply aligned with Community Renewal Trust’s core approach and values as described above.

This role is a fixed term activity to:

- Recruit a cohort of additional volunteers to support activities and services in the community.

- Ensure the best possible support is available to existing volunteers in the area to consider their needs and aspirations.

- Create an effective volunteer recruitment, on-boarding and retention process and increase knowledge in the team of these topics.

- Provide training and support training to volunteers in leading listening conversations and holistic conversations.

- Learn from work in Walker to make good use of volunteers in a Lifting Neighbourhoods Together approach and share this with the team.

About the role

This role is at Senior Associate level and is a key part of our team in Scotland, reporting to the Business Development Manager.

Roles & Responsibilities

1. Social Innovation Runway Project Implementation Support

You will collaborate with innovative venture founders from a variety of professional backgrounds, guiding them through the journey of transforming their early-stage concepts into impactful social ventures. This involves assessing the viability of their ideas and providing comprehensive venture building support during the initial development phases. To this end, you will lead various commercial research projects, typically involving:

• Conducting market research to identify product-market fit
• Demonstrating end-user/beneficiary business and impact cases
• Developing business models and go-to-market strategies
• Creating financial models
• Preparing data rooms and materials for investor readiness

2. Pipeline and Business Development

Your role will also involve engaging with and triaging enquiries to The Ventures Lab, as well as establishing and nurturing relationships with pipeline partners such as university knowledge and exchange teams, industry-specific associations, third-sector associations, and entrepreneurial networks. These activities will culminate in two key responsibilities:

• Driving the preparation of project scopes for commercialisation research
• Identifying third-party funding opportunities and assisting in bid preparation

Additionally, you will lead promotional activities to expand our prospect list and engage with more potential ventures.

3. Additional projects and responsibilities

• As a member of the Challenges Catalyst team, you should expect to be involved in additional exciting global projects that support Challenges Group on a broader scale.