ABOUT EAST LOTHIAN COMMUNITY RAIL PARTNERSHIP

Community Rail Partnerships (CRP) were first established in England in the 1990s as a formal mechanism to reinvigorate local and rural railways. CRP status provides a framework for community involvement in strategic planning, development and operation of a specific railway line.

Since 2014, the East Lothian Community Rail Partnership has been pulling together a wide range of local organisations with an interest in communities and sustainable transport, to fix the link between railway stations, town centres and the surrounding areas, and realise an integrated transport network accessible to all. We work with four train operators (ScotRail, LNER, TransPennine Express, and Cross Country), Transport Scotland, East Lothian Council, the Regional Transport Partnership (SEStran), local businesses and community groups towards the following aims:

• Supporting the local economy by promoting rail use and rail facilities
• Actively promoting the use of rail and other public and low carbon-emitting transport
• Supporting safety, security and access initiatives relating to railway use
• Working with ‘station adopters’ (individuals and groups) to provide a more pleasant environment within the station areas.

ABOUT THE VACANCY

Harry Barker has been chairing East Lothian CRP since its inception in 2014 and is now preparing to pass on the reins of a well-established and respected organisation. In addition the time is right to expand the Board and also appoint a vice chair. Examples of projects completed to date include:

• restored the murals at Prestonpans Station (best community project 2023)
• improved signage to stations
• provided information boards for display in stations promoting local attractions and historical information
• supported many local events in the North Berwick and Dunbar areas
• producing a line guide and leaflets to encourage tourism
• working with bus operators to improve integration between bus and rail

Projects have always been dependent on external funding which to date has not proved problematical, and, as such, the incoming Chair will have the flexibility to pursue their own agenda. The CRP is financially sound and new ways of operating are being explored by The Community Rail Network and the new Chair will be well placed to provide input to these.

East Lothian CRP has no paid staff, and projects are led by volunteers under direction from the Board, and therefore the amount of work involved can vary but can be expected to be around 10 hours per month for the Chair.

DUTIES OF THE CHAIR

Responsibilities include:

• Ensuring that the CRP is run in accordance with the constitution
• Guiding and encouraging projects that will be undertaken from time to time
• Ensuring that the Action Plan is kept up to date
• Chairing four meetings per year, including the AGM (normally held in November)
• Producing an annual report for the AGM
• Ensuring that the activities of the CRP are within the guidelines produced by the Train Operating Companies in all respects particularly including safely

BENEFITS

You will receive a ‘staff’ rail pass from ScotRail permitting free rail travel throughout Scotland when travelling on ScotRail trains.

Reasonable expenses will be paid if required to travel on other rail services and/or stay overnight.

REQUIREMENTS

The successful applicant will be expected to support public transport in general, with a keen interest in integration between modes such as buses, active travel and rail.

A willingness of Board members to attend committees and conferences is essential (expenses will be covered) and these will give valuable access to professional railway staff and management on the front line, where your views can be heard. These include:

• the local ‘Rail Forum’ involving MSPs, Councillors and Train Operating Companies - twice a year, usually virtually
• in-person or virtual annual conferences of the four local Train Operating Companies (ScotRail, Cross Country Trains, TransPennine Express, and LNER) which may be held anywhere in the UK
• An annual event in Scotland sponsored by Modern Railways magazine which is attended by many high profile railway managers and senior representation from Transport Scotland
• Virtual attendance (via Zoom) at the national Community Rail Network meetings
• In-person Community Rail Networks Awards ceremony, if the CRP is short listed for an Award – this year’s was in Swansea over three days
• Six Community Area Partnership ‘On the Move’ groups consider local transport in East Lothian – CRP representation on one or more of these groups is important for a full appreciation of issues surrounding each station. Each On the Move Group meets every two months

A knowledge of railways and their workings is desirable but not essential.

Living in East Lothian and using the county’s rail services from time to time would be advantageous.

You will be expected to liaise with the station adoption groups from time to time. They have a separate relationship with ScotRail.

You will be expected to be pro-active in instructing the website to be kept up to date via the CRP’s appointed webmaster, and in responding to public enquiries which come via the website. You will not be required to answer complaints from the travelling public but direct these to ScotRail for attention.

From time to time it may be necessary to communicate with the local Press (East Lothian Courier and occasionally Edinburgh Evening News).

The Community Links Worker programme, funded by EVOC & Edinburgh Health & Social Care Partnership, is delivered in partnership with GP Practices and the 3rd sector to support people to live well through strengthening connections between community resources and primary care.

The Community Link Worker (Maternity Cover) will be employed by Edinburgh & Lothians Greenspace Trust and will work as part of three practice teams (Gracemount, Liberton and Inch Park) in the South East locality of Edinburgh to provide 1:1 person-centred and practical support to people in contact with the GP practice team.

Taking a person-centred approach, you will work with individuals to enable them to identify personal outcomes and priorities for their health and well-being and link them to local, city and national activities and support services.

The postholder must have experience of working with people who are facing complex social and emotional circumstances, a strong understanding of the challenges affecting people living in areas of disadvantage in relation to living well, extensive effective interpersonal skills in working with people on a 1:1 basis as well as experience in networking and relationship building with other professionals and organisations.

PVG: This post requires membership of the Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) Scheme. Application will be processed for the successful candidate.

About Us:

The Edinburgh & Lothians Greenspace Trust is a successful and widely respected independent charity that undertakes community-based environmental projects, working with partners to improve the quality and accessibility of greenspaces in and around Scotland’s capital city. We believe that quality local greenspaces can have a positive impact on the health and well-being of individuals, particularly those living in disadvantaged areas.

The One World Shop was established over 40 years ago and has played a lead role in the Fair Trade movement in Scotland, including helping Edinburgh and Glasgow become Fairtrade cities. As well as running a thriving city centre shop, we have an online shop and we support schools, faith groups and local businesses to learn about and sell fair trade products. We currently employ 7 paid staff and over 20 volunteers. Our aim is to reduce poverty in deprived areas of the world through trading fairly and we are committed to reducing our carbon footprint and promoting low-carbon living.

We are seeking to appoint several new voluntary Management Committee members; we are particularly looking at people with skills and experience in any of the following:

- Human Resources

- Property, leases, surveying

- Retail sales and management

- Business management

- Finance, funding, ethical investment

Board meetings are held every two months by Zoom

The Plan Vivo Foundation (PVF) is currently looking for a Communications and Administration Officer. The main focus of this role will be to provide support across PVF's offerings, through working with and assisting the Communications Coordinator and the Operations Manager.

The successful applicant will work as part of the PVF Edinburgh operational team (the Secretariat) and will be line managed by the Communications Coordinator. The most suitable candidate will be someone with good written skills and with some marketing experience. They will also need to have administrative experience, and not be frustrated by rolling standardised and organisational tasks.

The role is based in Edinburgh. It is full-time, but part-time will be considered depending on the ability and availability of the candidate. The role is based in Edinburgh, however the candidate does not necessarily need to be located within Edinburgh. We will accept applications from remote workers, although our preference would be for the successful candidate to come into the Edinburgh office at least once a week.

The candidate must hold the right to live and work in the UK. This is a 18-month contract, which may be extended, depending on performance and project funding.