Inspiring Young Voices is a SCIO (Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation) which exists to inspire and be inspired by the voices of children and young people in Highland facing challenges in their lives. We seek to ensure that these voices are raised, heard and acted upon. We will advocate for changes in policy and practice across Highland which support and promote the meaningful participation of children and young people at every level of decision making.

The role of the Participation Lead is to enable participation through engagement with children and young people, particularly those with additional support needs/ disabilities, to have their voices heard – where and when they wish, empowering them to influence policy and practice.

The role of the Participation Lead is to enable participation through engagement with children and young people, particularly those with additional support needs & disabilities, to have their voices heard and empower them to influence policy and practice.

The Participation Lead is responsible for leading the development and delivery of our participation work and projects. Including:

• Supporting the members of Inspire Highland, our youth-led collective voice for young people in Highland. Inspire Highland is a creative, dynamic project which aims to promote the rights, participation and inclusion of all young people (up to the age of 25) who are facing challenges in their lives.
• Developing and piloting a place based youth-led participation approach, working with young people with disabilities and additional support needs to develop their learning and understanding of inequality, stigma, discrimination and youth-led participation. From this shared understanding, young people will be supported to identify the barriers and enablers they face to participation and use this to develop youth-led participation projects to bring about transformational change.
• Developing and delivering a program of work supporting ‘New Young Scots’ in Highland to have their voices heard, including young asylum seekers and refugees.

To deliver these projects the Participation Lead will work with and line-manage our Youth Participation Worker.

The Participation Lead also promotes children’s rights, inclusion and participation across services, offering training, advice and/or support.

More widely, Inspiring Young Voices has played a key role in the development and drafting of the Highland Community Planning Partnership’s Integrated Children’s Service Plan (ICSP) 2023-2026. We have also been involved in the development of the Highland Children and Young People’s Participation Strategy 2024-2029.The Integrated Children’s Service Plan “recognises the necessity for greater active participation of children, young people and families in all aspects of planning and service delivery”. Additionally, the implementation of the Highland Children and Young People’s Participation Strategy supports this and outlines a statement of intent to enable “all children and young people from 0-25 years (26 year for care experienced young people) feel that they can meaningfully participate in decision making processes and influence change in their own lives and in wider society.” There is now an exciting opportunity for a new Participation Lead to support the implementation of the Integrated Children’s Service Plan and the Highland Children and Young People’s Participation Strategy through their work with Inspiring Young Voices.

Our approach to our participation work is rights-based and grounded in trauma informed practices and principles to ensure that our charity responds in ways that prevent further harm, support recovery, address inequalities and improve life chances of vulnerable young people in Highland. Our work is grounded in the principles and approaches of youth work and community development, and we adhere to the Community Learning and Development (CLD) Standards Council Code of Ethics.

We are a small charity and teamwork is essential to our effective functioning and success. It will sometimes be necessary and desirable for team members to share responsibility for a range of tasks such as communications, fundraising, monitoring, administration and reporting.

This post will require the postholder to be able to undertake some business travel across Highland.

Are you passionate about youth work and community development? Can you develop creative workshops for youth groups? Can you provide goal orientated support for young people? If so, we want to hear from you.

Join our vibrant team of staff and volunteers delivering high quality youth work services supporting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer plus young people right across Scotland.

We are passionate about equalities at LGBT Youth Scotland. This means that everyone is accepted for who they are, regardless of age, disability, sex, gender identity, marital status, race, faith or belief, sexual orientation, socioeconomic background, pregnancy or maternity. In line with our commitment to race equity and trans inclusion, we are particularly seeking applications from People of Colour/ BAME people and trans people. If you have a disability and would prefer to apply in a different format or would like us to make reasonable adjustments to enable you to apply or attend any interview, please let us know.

We are looking for an enthusiastic and innovative person to support the delivery of our youth work services in Dundee.

Based in Dundee you will:

• Develop and deliver engaging and informative workshops for LGBTQ+ young people
• Provide one to one support to LGBTQ+ young people through an asset based coaching model

This is a fantastic opportunity to be at the forefront of youth work and make a lasting, and sometimes life-saving, impact for LGBTQ+ young people

We want to hear from you if you have:

• A strong foundation in youthwork or CLD
• A passion for supporting young people to achieve their potential
• An understanding of LGBT identities and the key issues facing LGBTIyoung people – or a willingness to learn this

It is an exciting time at the DRC Youth Project! Our charity is growing, and we are looking to strengthen our team by welcoming a new motivated group worker onto our team of staff.

• Are you motivated and passionate about working together with young people?

• Do you have a ‘can do’ attitude?

• Can you inspire young people to make positive changes in their lives?

• Are you excited about working for a modern charity with great opportunities for career progression?

• Do you have a UK Drivers License (held for a minimum of 12 months)?

The DRC Youth Project is a modern youth service which offers safe spaces and supports young people. The new group worker will work together with groups of young people across DRC personal development initiatives. The aim of each group is to provide support, advice and guidance on employment, training and career and personal development for the young people. In doing this, the new group worker will liaise with relevant bodies as directed with a key focus on prevention, employability and in some cases, recovery. At the DRC, young people are at the heart of everything we do, and our aim is that every young person we work with is empowered to live their life to its fullest potential.

The group worker’s core function is to offer a variety of information and support that will help fulfil the personal development requirements of each young person. The group worker will equip the young people to meet life challenges and in particular allow them to access employment and a career path within their own aspirations and capabilities. To achieve this, the post holder will continually engage with young people utilising various DRC Youth Project resources and key specialist partners. The post holder will also support the DRC management team in the day to day running of the project’s various youth provisions.