We are looking for an experienced practitioner to work within our busy Family Support Service which provides individual and group work support to parents/carers experiencing a range of social challenges.

You will have at least two years’ experience of supporting families within a social care/ community setting. You should hold a minimum qualification of SVQ 3 Services Children and Young People or HNC/D in Social Care or Working with Communities, or equivalent, and have a positive and flexible approach as well as an understanding of social issues that affect individuals and families.

You will need to be self-motivated, have a flexible approach, a good team worker and have the ability to work independently.

You will be expected to be competent in working with Microsoft based software.

This post will be subject to a PVG and references.

You will be expected to work a minimum of 18 hours per week but also have flexibility to work hours in addition to this where required.

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 individuals who can integrate seamlessly into our existing team, working alongside it and relief adults to support excellent service delivery. We are looking for 2 Residential Workers to work 37.5 hours per week 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.

In February 2021, Fife Council produced an initial phase service brief relating to Community Mental Health and Wellbeing supports and services for Fife. The funding for this service brief was initially for a 6-month period with a view that the data/reports collected from the initial phase would inform this longer-term service supporting Community Mental Health and Wellbeing in Fife. Barnardo's was successful in this second phase for the following areas: North East Fife, Levenmouth, Glenrothes, Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath and have since acquired Dunfermline and South-West Fife allowing us to support children, young people and families across the whole of Fife. Barnardo's Mental Health and Wellbeing Service is currently funded by Our Minds Matter, Fife Council until March 2026.

Our Mental Health and Wellbeing service aims to provide Fife-wide support to children and young people aged 5-24 (up to 26 depending on life circumstances). We deliver a variety of interventions which aim to support the emotional and mental health needs of children, young people, and families and do so through a range of supports. This can be in the form of one-to-one therapeutic support, group work, workshops and we also offer capacity building sessions to parents and professionals.

The service seeks to provide early intervention at an additional level through support by upskilling, supporting, and educating. Our hope is to enable young people to have positive mental health and wellbeing, thrive in their community and to be able to bounce back from life's challenges. We also aim to support parents to feel confident in responding to their children's mental health needs and increase their capacity to support them.

We are looking for someone who is passionate and excited about joining a small but committed team to help develop practice and meet the mental health needs of the children, young people and families across Fife. To make this happen we are looking to recruit to the following post.

1 x Mental Health and Wellbeing Practitioner (Full time, fixed term until March 2026) – You will carry a caseload and be responsible for providing ongoing therapeutic support to children, young people and their families as well as capacity building for parents and professionals.

Please note due to the high volume of applications for some posts, this advert might close before the displayed closing date. We recommend that you apply for this role as soon as possible.

Pay & Reward Framework

We know that our colleagues go above and beyond in delivering our vital work, driven by their passion and commitment to Barnardo's values. We also know that we can only realise our ambitions and achieve better outcomes for more children, thanks to the talent, hard work and creativity of our people.

For all these reasons, we are committed to a new approach to pay and reward, to ensure it is fair, attractive and progressive, which was rolled out in April 2023. This is a positive change for the charity, and a part of our People & Culture Strategy. It will assist us in supporting colleagues to belong, thrive and grow in their colleague journey at Barnardo's and in time will offer clear routes of progression for colleagues in both their career and their pay.

Whilst the full pay band and salary range is advertised, our approach to starting salaries is to appoint between the minimum to mid-point of the pay band – this ensures that pay steps are available to reward our colleagues annually based on their contribution to excellence and alignment to our values and behaviours. More details on Barnardo's pay framework can be found upon application.

Benefits

Workplace Offer: What it means for you

The world of work has changed. We are understanding of what works best for our colleagues both current and future as we look to embrace this new way of working. Our hybrid working initiative is based on trust, flexibility and empowerment. We understand our workplace offer means different things to different people, and we encourage those conversations. This may mean working at one of our stores, services, working at home, at one of our Collaboration Hubs or any combination of these.

Barnardo's believe in creating equality of opportunity in the workplace and supporting people to manage their work-life balance; we are therefore open to offering flexible working arrangements.

• 26 days annual leave plus bank holidays, increasing after 5 years service
• The ability to buy up to another 5 days annual leave via our HolidayPlus scheme
• A host of family friendly leave options including company Maternity Paternity and Adoption pay; together with all family additional leave options
• Service related sick pay from day 1
• Access to a Group Personal Pension with a matched 4% or 6% contribution from Barnardo's. Ability to pay via salary sacrifice to garner both tax and NI savings on your own contribution
• Death in service cover of 4x annual earnings for all staff contributing to our Group Personal Pension
• Cycle2work scheme
• Interest free season ticket loans
• Discounts and cashback from at high street shops including major supermarkets, cinemas, gyms, leisure/theme parks, holidays and much more via our Benefit Portal
• 20% discount at Barnardo's stores
• Opportunity to purchase a health cash plan to claim towards dental, glasses, therapy etc
• Free access to round the clock employee assistance program for advice and support
• Access to Barnardo's Learning and Development offer

*T&C's apply based on contract

About Barnardo's

At Barnardo's we believe in children – no matter who they are, what they have done or what they have been through. Please read about our basis and values following the link below. You will be asked questions relating to them as part of the recruitment process for this role.

Our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) is reflected in our values and our practice, and we have invested in this area of our work to ensure that we can deliver on our commitments to be an inclusive employer. EDI is a key enabler of our purpose as a charity and we want to ensure that the diversity of our teams is reflective of the communities we serve and that we continue to learn and develop our work with a focus on inclusion. We particularly encourage applications from candidates from Black, Asian and Minoritised Ethnic Communities, candidates who are LGBT+ and Disabled candidates.

Our basis and values

Would you like to join a vibrant, exciting team working alongside families and volunteers in North Lanarkshire?

An exciting opportunity has arisen within North Lanarkshire to be part of a new early intervention family support service – Families Here and Now. This project is funded by North Lanarkshire Council and will provide holistic support for the whole family in local communities/hub areas.

You will play a key role in developing this service alongside families and community partners. The service is a collaboration between four charities: Barnardo’s, Home-Start Glasgow North and North Lanarkshire (HSGNNL), Action for Children and Impact Arts, and you will work closely with colleagues from these organisations.

This outreach support role covers the North Lanarkshire area, based in or around community hubs/schools/nurseries and family homes. The aim of the service is to enable families (pregnant and/or with children up to age 18 years/26 years for care experienced children) to access supports at the earliest possible time, ensuring a ‘whole family’ and ‘no wrong door’ approach.

The service will operate 7 days a week between the hours of 8 am – 8 pm, 365 days per year.

The postholder will be required to work at least one evening every fortnight and at least one weekend every 8 weeks.

The role is initially funded until April 2027.

Do you have what we are looking for?

• Creative personality and passionate about working with children and families
• Experience of supporting pregnant families and families with children of all ages
• Good IT skills (Microsoft)
• Team player but ability to self-motivate and inspire others
• A car driver with access to a car