Organisational background:

We are a Scottish charity providing baby loss counselling and peer support to families, with over 40 years’ experience of offering compassionate bereavement care in the community.

Many of our staff are bereaved parents themselves, so through shared, lived experience, we provide compassion and support to each other and connect through our care for our families and each other. Our families are the heart of everything that we do. All our support is free, personal to each family and for as long as is needed. Our support includes counselling, one to one peer support, our Hospital to Home service, group support and events.

We are in a period of growth, having expanded the team from 4 to 26 over the last 8 years and, most recently, extending our geographical reach from Edinburgh and the Lothians to Fife, Forth Valley and the Highlands.

Job Summary

• To deliver specialist baby and child bereavement counselling over 26 weeks to families in Forth Valley.
• To hold and manage a caseload with complex bereavement needs
• To work closely with other Counsellors, Bereavement support lead and the Head of Support Services in co-ordinating the service ensuring timely and sensitive communication.
• To monitor and develop the counselling service waiting list.
• To offer an initial assessment as part of a new triage system to clients referred to counselling.
• To lead on a new counselling structure

The Housing First Service is for people who are rough sleeping, homeless or at imminent risk of rough sleeping; they may present as challenging and difficult and are likely to have multiple and complex needs which make finding, securing, and maintaining accommodation impossible or extremely difficult.

The key aim of Housing First is to end the cycle of homelessness for those with high support needs, improve health and wellbeing, maximise opportunities and potential and encourage social integration. It is to move individuals from a homeless environment to a permanent safe and secure property of their own with intensive support for as long as they need it.

The Housing First Project Worker acts as the key worker for a small group of Housing First tenants providing a co-ordinated approach to support service users that have had multiple exclusions to sustain their Housing First tenancy. The Project Worker will assess and engage with service users to develop a person-centred plan that aims to address and resolve issues that have contributed to their chaotic lifestyles.

Staff will work to engage service users who have a history of disengaging from services, using a variety of techniques and approaches to build a relationship and develop a person-centred support plan. Staff will meet the service users’ needs first in supporting them to reach their identified goals, make informed decisions, and achieve a greater level of stability and independence. All staff will work alongside multi-disciplinary partner agencies who will be there to provide additional advice and support to service users as agreed in their person-centred support plan.

This role will report to the Team Leader. The role focusses on offering both practical assistance and emotional support to individuals being supported. By fostering positive relationships with clients, you will help them sustain a safe and well-maintained living environment.

This role will require you to provide both emotional and practical support to clients to address these issues, having a can-do attitude is essential. The range of tasks that this role involves aligns with tasks commonly referred to as intensive housing management. You will have a deep understanding of the challenges faced by individuals with complex needs, along with experience supporting clients through various issues. Additionally, you will demonstrate a strong knowledge of the skills necessary for independent living.

This role work in partnership with colleagues from Falkirk Council’s Housing and Social Work, Police Scotland, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, NHS Forth Valley, Substance Use Services, and other services as appropriate. In partnership we aim to provide services that are specifically designed to identify, engage, and support individuals. This includes issues of substance use with mental health, physical health, exclusion, learning disabilities, offending behaviour, self-neglect & hoarding, anti-social behaviour, housing, and social problems.

The post holder as an employee of Transform Forth Valley will have a corporate responsibility to contribute to the overall performance of the organisation to ensure that contractual outputs and targets are achieved. There is a responsibility for the post-holder to demonstrate a commitment to continuous improvements in service delivery for the benefit of the service user, the service, and the partners.

The post-holder will be required to work from several operational sites across the local authority areas and work flexibly within an agreed number of hours to maintain the most appropriate level of provision.

Organisational Profile

Transform Forth Valley is a Scottish based registered charity limited by guarantee (SC033772).

Transform Forth Valley is governed by a Board of Directors and is strategically led, managed, and operated on a day-to-day basis by a Corporate Leadership Team consisting of a Chief Executive, Operational and Corporate Service Managers.

Transform Forth Valley offer a wide range of services to support individuals and families who are impacted by inequality, whether this be societal, financial or in relation to their health.

Transform Forth Valley is dedicated to empowering individuals and families to live a more fulfilled life. We work with partners to actively challenge inequalities and to achieve sustainable change.

You can find out more about Transform Forth Valley here: transformfv.org.uk.

Benefits:

Leave – For full time employees Transform Forth Valley offer 30 days of Annual Leave plus 9 days of Statutory Holiday per annum.

Pension – If eligible Transform Forth Valley will auto enrol you into our pension scheme where we will contribute 5%, and employee’s a minimum of 3%, of your pensionable salary.

Wellbeing Days – For permanent members of staff, who have completed their probationary period, Transform Forth Valley offer two day’s paid leave of absence per annum as a ‘wellbeing day’ to support positive mental, physical, and emotional wellbeing for staff.

Death in Service Insurance – If eligible Transform Forth Valley will place you into the scheme upon commencement of employment and the lump sum benefit is 4 x Basic Annual Salary.

Alzheimer Scotland is the leading dementia organisation in Scotland. We campaign for the rights of people with dementia and their families, whilst providing an extensive range of innovative, personalised, and therapeutic support services.

We are committed to improving the lives and opportunities of people living with dementia, their carers, partners, and families as their journey transitions from the first point of contact through to end of life. We believe nobody should face dementia alone.

We are looking for a confident, innovative and collaborative Community Activities Organiser for the Pitlochry area. You will establish a range of community activities and opportunities across the locality that fill identified gaps and meet the needs of people living with dementia and their families.

The successful applicant will have a positive approach to dementia. You will be flexible, inclusive, creative, and organised in your approach. You will be sensitive and compassionate with the ability to support people in times of difficulty or distress. You will be an excellent communicator who can work effectively both with individuals and with groups.

You will have a positive approach to your own continued professional development and a willingness to participate in relevant training. A relevant qualification and previous experience of working with people with dementia would be an advantage.

In return you will be in a role which offers the opportunity to meet great people, have great job satisfaction and be employed by an Organisation that offers a range of employee benefits and career progression opportunities.

For a full job description and person specification please see the attachments section of this advert.

Who we are

Alzheimer Scotland is Scotland’s national dementia charity. Our aim is to make sure nobody faces dementia alone. We provide support and information to people with dementia, their carers and families, we campaign for the rights of people with dementia and fund vital dementia research.

What you’ll do

You will be responsible for supporting people living with dementia to achieve good outcomes using a range of therapeutic interventions, resources and activities as appropriate. Working as part of the Registered and Commissioned Services/Community Connections team you will have responsibility for ensuring that services are of the highest quality and meet Alzheimer Scotland’s vision for unique therapeutic, highly person-centred support.

You will work with the wider team and Day Services Manager to ensure safe practice and delivery of high-quality, person-centred, therapeutic Registered and Commissioned Services/Community Connections, ensuring practice complies with Alzheimer Scotland’s policies. You will contribute to evidencing, reviewing and continually improving the quality of the services and will participate in internal audit and Care Inspectorate inspections.

You may operate within a building-based Day Care or as part of a Community Connection team delivering Community Groups and Outreach services across an allocated area. At times, this will involve working without supervision in the absence of the Day Services Manager.

You will work with the wider team to evidence that services meet Alzheimer Scotland’s Quality Guarantees, Scotland’s Health and Social Care standards and other quality frameworks including those of the Care Inspectorate where relevant. This includes ensuring that the activities and support offered meet the identified personal outcomes of those attending the services.

What you’ll have

The successful candidate will have a good understanding and/or experience of working with or supporting people living with dementia and their families. This will include an understanding of the benefit of high quality, evidence based therapeutic activity, ongoing evaluation, quality assurance and continuous improvement.

Knowledge and understanding of the Health and Social Care Standards and SSSC codes of practice and the Care Inspectorate and their role in registered services.

Understanding and knowledge of dementia, mild cognitive impairment and Brain Health and experience of working with or supporting people living with dementia and their families.

This position requires applicants to be registered with Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC). Successful candidates are expected to hold a professional qualification in health, social work or related field equivalent to SCQF Level 6 (SVQ 2).

Full driving license and access to a vehicle during working time is essential for this post.