Held in our Hearts is a small but mighty and growing Scottish charity providing baby loss counselling and peer support to families. We have over 40 years’ experience of offering compassionate bereavement care to individuals and families and working closely with a range of partners including the NHS, Scottish Government and the third sector.

Our values of empathy, connection and love underpin all that we do and guide us as we continue to grow and expand our services and reach. Our support services include counselling, one to one peer support, our innovative early intervention Hospital to Home service, group support, and events.

In recent years, we have expanded our team and extended our geographical reach to bereaved families from Edinburgh and the Lothians to Fife, Forth Valley and the Highlands.

Role background:

Hospital to Home is an opt out service which supports families to transition from the hospital setting to being back in the community. 6-8 sessions are offered, to support and guide families in the very early days of their loss, enhancing existing community services to provide long term peer bereavement support.

We will work alongside NHS colleagues to provide a more comprehensive and cohesive transition from the hospital to home setting. Early intervention, through Hospital to Home, will highlight and identify emerging issues associated with complicated grief and trauma, and families can be offered long term support through peer support or counselling. This early support will reduce the isolation and loneliness that bereaved parents feel, improving family’s long term mental and physical wellbeing and their ability to grieve with empathic support in place in the community.

SAMH (Scottish Action for Mental Health) supports the aim of Scottish Government and COLSA for any child, young person or adult who has thoughts of taking their own life, or are affected by suicide, to get the help they need and feel a sense of hope.

Around since 1923, SAMH is Scotland’s national mental health charity. We are a committed and lead member of the Suicide Prevention Scotland delivery collective, ensuring that lived and living experience is at the forefront when delivering Scotland’s national suicide prevention strategy, Creating Hope Together.

About the Role

The Lived and Living Experience Panel (LLEP) is a group of people from across Scotland who have lived experience of suicide. The purpose of the LLEP is to ensure that the voice of people with experience of suicide is at the heart of Creating Hope Together: Scotland’s Suicide Prevention Strategy 2022-2032. The panel plays a central role in co-producing Suicide Prevention Scotland’s programme of work to deliver the strategy.

SAMH hosts the LLEP on behalf of Suicide Prevention Scotland, a delivery collective established by SG and COSLA.

The Lived and Living Experience Panel Coordinator will be responsible for coordinating LLEP engagement with all organisations involved in the delivery of Creating Hope Together.

The postholder will establish and manage effective relationships with panel members, national and local stakeholders and partners, coordinate meetings and engagements, and support provision of ongoing emotional and wellbeing support and guidance to LLEP members.

What we are looking for

To be successful in this post you will need experience of working in suicide prevention and working with people or groups with lived experience. You will have experience of providing emotional support, guidance and advice to people, and strong project management, coordination and administrative skills.

What we will provide for you

You will work in a supportive environment and will be provided with a full induction and training opportunities. You will be given the chance to develop your knowledge and skills, as well as develop professionally. Some of our benefits include:

• Funded continuous learning and development opportunities, access to over 100 courses online in addition to virtual training sessions
• 30 days annual leave rising to 33 after five years’ service
• Four public holidays
• Two paid wellbeing days off per year to use on what matters to you
• Team wellbeing budgets
• Workplace pension scheme
• Life Assurance policy
• Employee Assistance Programme.

Do you share our determination to address the inequalities arising from childhood abuse or neglect in care in Scotland?

Are you someone that enjoys a fast paced, varied role?

Good at prioritising and supporting others to succeed, you will lead a team that is collectively responsible for the general administration of the service, associated improvement work and the organisation of events and meetings.

You will join a warm, supportive team that strives to continually improve our work on behalf of the people we work with.

Future Pathways encourages all staff to maintain a healthy work-life balance. Hours can be worked flexibly in accordance with the needs of the service.

The role is based out of one of our two offices (Glasgow and Edinburgh) There is scope for occasional home working. Semi-regular travel may be required across Scotland.

The successful applicant will use their own lived experience to engage with those facing substance use issues and mental health difficulties. They will as part of a team look to promote positive recovery pathways through 1:1 and groupwork, delivering an active Peer Support Service offering social, emotional and practical support.

If you have had lived experience of problematic drug or/and alcohol use and have the potential to use it to support others in a meaningful way into or with their recovery we would love to hear from you.

Successful applicants will deliver time-managed, outcome focused one to one support as well as facilitate recovery-focused and trauma informed SMART groups. The role will also require regular involvement in work with Substance Use Service in Dalkeith and outreach to local Recovery Cafes. You will work in a person-centred and strength-based way. One to one support and groups will be delivered in various recovery and community venues across Midlothian.