Avenue is dedicated to supporting families during challenging times. We provide a safe, supportive and nurturing environment where families can spend quality time together during Family Time sessions. Our aim is to strengthen family relationships and ensure the wellbeing of children.

We are looking for a compassionate and experienced Family Time Service Manager to lead and oversee our Family Time service. In this role, you will be responsible for managing day to day operations, ensuring the highest standard of service delivery, whilst supporting both families and colleagues.

The Family Time Service Manager will work in collaboration with external stakeholders to facilitate positive and safe family interactions, while also managing staff, maintaining service delivery, and ensuring that all processes comply with relevant guidelines and safeguarding protocols.

The Family Time Service Manager must be a highly organised, empathetic and pro-active individual with proven experience in a managerial role, and experience in childcare or family-facing role. The ideal individual will have excellent communication skills, a strong understanding of safeguarding and child protection, and the ability to manage both people and processes efficiently.

PVG: New applications or scheme record updates will be paid for by Avenue.

About Aberlour Options Lothian

Aberlour Options Lothian offers a range of short break services to children and young people with complex needs. We offer a safe, homely environment for a child to come and stay for a short break that gives their families a rest from their caring role. During that break, children enjoy a range of fun activities and experiences with our staff. Our service is very much a ‘home from home’ for the children who stay with us. We are within easy commuting distance of Edinburgh, Midlothian and East Lothian with access via the numbers 26, 111 and 124 bus routes.

The difference we make to families:

“It’s not easy to accept that sometimes you need help. We had reached rock bottom but Aberlour Options Lothian was that lifesaving buoyancy aid.

It wasn't easy accepting leaving my son there especially in the early days when it was new to everyone. It is a safe and welcoming place and a second home in many respects now. Somewhere he is safe, cared for and has loads of fun with the carers and other children.

It’s not just about respite; we have received help with managing behaviour, preparing for hospital visits and operations. Help and advice when there seemed to be no one else listening or who understands. It’s hard to look back to where we were but no we wouldn't be here today without their help and support.

To sum it up: Saved our lives. Peace of mind. Finally a rest.”

What we are looking for....

As part of a small team, you will ensure that the highest level of physical and emotional care is provided to the children and young people. Experience in this type of work is preferred however we will consider all applications. We are looking for someone to work 12 hours per week ; working mainly weekends including sleepovers.

At Aberlour we want 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. At Aberlour we have strong values - Respect, Integrity, Innovation and Challenging - which influence our everyday work. If you choose to apply for this role please tell us about your values in your supporting statement.

What we offer...

As well as a supportive team and excellent training opportunities, 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.

Aberlour is featured in the top 100 Sunday Times big organisations Best Places to Work 2024.

About Aberlour Sycamore Children’s Houses

Aberlour Sycamore Services’ vision is to provide warm, loving homes for children where everyone learns, laughs, grows into their future and is treasured always. At any one time, the residential houses within Sycamore require additional support to help to maintain stability and balance within the teams. Sycamore services are widely recognised in Scotland for providing a range of quality therapeutic residential houses for some of the most vulnerable children and young people in the country. The Service is a national resource and as such receives referrals from throughout Scotland.

What we are looking for....

We are looking for an individual who can integrate seamlessly into our existing team, working alongside it and relief adults to support excellent service delivery. We are looking for a Residential Worker to work 18.75 hours per week, covering maternity until September 2025, on a residential rota including early, late, waken nights, sleepovers and weekend shifts. You will have a knowledge and understanding of the importance of attachment, trauma and how this can impact on an individual’s development. At times our children express their distress through their behaviour and the role can be emotionally and physically challenging; we are therefore looking for someone who is resilient, understands that behaviour is a means of communication and is trauma responsive.

You will be skilled in building therapeutic relationships with the children, young people and young adults to enable them to feel safe, loved and cared for.

You must have the ability to quickly build your relationships with the adults within the house. The nature of the role is such that you could be working to cover a shift or longer periods as required, including days and wakened nightshifts and you may also be supporting young people to attend school or participate in other learning programmes. You must therefore be able to quickly adapt to the working environment within each house.

You will be comfortable with working within Aberlour’s culture embracing respect, integrity, innovation and the ability to challenge. Demonstration of these qualities will be particularly important in this role given that you will be dipping in and out of the different teams. You must be able to be an exceptional role model for other staff and the young person.

Undertaking the role of Residential Worker will afford you the opportunity to develop and build on a range of transferrable skills which are valued in a range of employment. You will be able to demonstrate excellent flexibility and adaptability with exceptional interpersonal skills, ability to work with different teams and different children, young people and young adults living within our Sycamore Houses.

What we offer...

As well as a supportive team and excellent training opportunities, 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.

Aberlour are the largest solely Scottish children’s charity; we help to transform the lives of disadvantaged children, young people and families across Scotland, and we are looking to recruit new Trustees who will join us in our efforts to ensure children have the opportunities and support they deserve.

Aberlour has a rich history of delivering vital services to vulnerable children, young people and their families. Since our inception as an orphanage in Speyside in 1875 and the formal establishment of Aberlour Child Care Trust in 1976, we have developed a significant reputation for delivering the following services: residential care and fostering, recovery, early years, disability, early intervention and youth work. We offer support at the earliest opportunity – giving children the best possible start in life is at the heart of everything we do.

Due to Trustees coming to the end of their term, we are seeking up to five new Trustees with a range of skills to join the Board during 2025 to help us to deliver our ambitious strategic priorities and goals to transform the lives of disadvantaged children across Scotland. Applicants should have the values, experience and passion to lead one of Scotland’s leading charities at a time when our support is needed more than ever.

We are looking for the following skills:

• Chartered accountant with strong financial skills, in particular charity accounting, that would allow you to chair or join our Finance Committee.
• Understanding of children’s services or social care. Also experience of scrutiny or quality improvement that would allow you to chair or join our Improvement, Audit & Risk Committee.
• Experience of social investment.
• Policy development, especially in relation to engaging with children and families who are overcoming trauma.
• Learning and development.
• Lived experiences that can bring empathy with children and young people.
• Understanding of the demands and complexities of board-level governance and experience of operating at a senior level in Corporate, Public or Third sector environments would be an advantage.

In welcoming applications from all parts of Scotland’s communities, we recognise that diversity in the voices around our table will better reflect the communities we serve. If you believe you could add real value to our board table but don’t meet some or all the criteria we have laid out, we would still love to hear from you, but please highlight for us the value you would bring in your application.

You will be required to attend 4 Board meetings, relevant committee meetings and a Board Development Day each year.

Charity trustees are expected to direct the affairs of the charity through efficient, effective and accountable governance, ensuring that the organisation is professionally run and acts in accordance with its stated aims and objectives. These are unpaid roles, but reasonable expenses will be reimbursed.