Mission Statement

Our long-term vision is to end youth homelessness. Our more immediate mission is to ensure that every young person in Scotland has access to expert youth specific services to assist them to avoid, resolve and move on from homelessness, making it rare, brief, and non-recurring.

Context

The Project Worker will work as an intensive support worker linking directly with young people either in the community or from the office base in Govan. They will coordinate and provide emotional and practical support on a 1:1 and group basis. Working with young people to secure a tenancy or to maintain their tenancy to ensure that a young person’s experience of homelessness is rare, brief, and non-recurring.

The Project Worker will offer line management, guidance, and support to volunteers, working together to support young people to improve their practical independent living skills, access other services and to reach their full potential. Project Workers are responsible for completing housing applications, support plans and risk assessments and are the main contact for any key peopleinvolved in the care and support of young people.

For over 50 years, Cyrenians has tackled the causes and consequences of homelessness.

We understand that there are many routes into homelessness, and that there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach to supporting people towards more positive and stable futures. That’s why all our work is values-led and relationships-based. We meet people where they are and support them towards where they want to be.

Our mission: To tackle the causes and consequences of homelessness through learning from lived experience; by delivering targeted services which focus on prevention, early intervention and support into a home; and by influencing changes in legislation and policy.

Compassion | Respect | Integrity | Innovation

Read more about us and our values

About the team

Our Policy & Participation Team helps develop Cyrenians’ work to influence policy and systems change through learning from lived and professional experience.

Based within Cyrenians’ Outreach pillar, we work closely with services across the whole organisation, as well as external stakeholders and partners, including national and local government, funders and other third sector organisations.

The team currently consists of a Policy & Participation Manager and Youth Participation Lead.

We cover three main projects:

• The Scottish Frontline Network: Part of a UK wide network for frontline professionals who support people at risk of or experiencing homelessness. We facilitate free events and training opportunities, providing a regular opportunity for frontline workers in Scotland to network, share expertise and link to policy makers.
• All in for Change: A platform for lived and professional experience of homelessness in Scotland. The programme is co-facilitated by Cyrenians and Homeless Network Scotland and led by the Change Team – a group of around 25 people who bring their own unique experience and expertise of homelessness to influence policy change.
• Youth Participation: taking a youth work approach, we provide opportunities for young people supported by Cyrenians to share their experience and expertise and influence change in policy and practice in areas such as youth homelessness, The Promise, neurodiversity etc.

In addition to delivering the projects above, the team works closely with the Press & Public Affairs Manager on influencing opportunities and – when capacity allows – supports other policy and participation initiatives across Cyrenians’ services, e.g. cross-organisational responses to public policy consultations.

About the role

This is a new role created to mainly support delivery on two of our participation projects: the Scottish Frontline Network and All in For Change.

Working closely with the Policy & Participation Manager, you will deliver activities across both projects. The main focus will be to create safe and inclusive ways for people with experience of homelessness and frontline staff to share their expertise and influence change. Key activities will include organising and facilitating various types of engaging events, workshops, focus groups and meetings (both online and in-person) for frontline professionals and people with lived experience of homelessness.

As this is a new post and there will be scope to shape the position depending on your own interests and experience. We are keen to support you to try things out and bring your own ideas to the table.

We are looking for someone who can listen to, and learn from, people from all walks of life; has a passion for participation and co-production; and a desire to make a difference and create change at policy and systems level.

Crisis is the national charity for people experiencing homelessness. We have embarked on our 10-year strategy for ending homelessness. We know it is not inevitable. We know together we can end it.

About the role

Working at Crisis Skylight Edinburgh, you will lead on the delivery of our volunteer programme. You will be responsible for the recruitment of new volunteers, the support of existing volunteers and volunteer to maintain a positive volunteer experience. You will work across teams to ensure volunteers’ experience of volunteering is positive and play a key role in volunteer retention. You will be collaborative and dynamic in working with the team to identify and develop new volunteering opportunities. You will have the ability and confidence to increase the diversity and variety of our volunteering opportunities to reflect our local community and better serve our members. You will be flexible and innovative in reaching a diverse group of people from across the local community. You will also lead on the delivery of events that involve our members, build networks and increase awareness of Crisis’ work in Scotland.

You will have experience of working with people who are socially excluded or with support needs. You will understand the importance of delivering equitable services and can empower our members to share their experience and contribute to continuous service adaptations and improvements. You will be creative and inclusive in establishing service-specific member involvement opportunities so members can influence our service locally. You will work across teams to ensure we deliver our service with people experiencing homelessness, instead of delivering a service to people experiencing homelessness. You will work with the central Crisis team to respond to member involvement opportunities, influencing policy and providing members with the opportunity to share their story with the wider public and media.

About you

• Experience of developing and implementing volunteer programmes.
• Experience of organising successful events.
• Experience of working with socially isolated and excluded groups.
• Awareness of psychologically informed approaches.
• Person-centred, sensitive, and empathetic to the needs of members.
• A track record of successful partnership working.
• Flexible and adaptable to change.
• A strong team player, able to use own initiative and reflect on own practice.

Please see the full Job Pack linked below, for a full list of requirements for this role. We realise that long lists of criteria can be daunting, and you may not want to apply for a role unless you feel 100% qualified. However, if you feel you have relevant examples to answer the screening questions, we encourage you to apply.

We believe diversity is a strength, and our aim is to make sure that Crisis truly reflects the communities we serve. We are actively working towards our organisation being a place where everyone can thrive and make their best contribution to our mission of ending homelessness for good. We know that the more perspectives, voices, and experiences we can bring to this work, the better. We particularly welcome applications from people who have lived experience of homelessness, and people from all marginalised groups, communities, and backgrounds.

Working at Crisis

Our values, Bold, Impactful, Collaborative and Equitable, are at the heart of everything we do as we continue in our mission to end homelessness.

Our staff, members and volunteers are vital to getting the right government policies in place, providing breakthrough services, and building a supportive community. We’ll lead by example to nurture a positive and ambitious workplace guided by ending homelessness.

As a member of the team, you will have access to a wide range of employee benefits including:

• A competitive salary. Please note our salaries are fixed to counter inequity and we do not negotiate at offer stage
• Interest free loans for travel season ticket, cycle to work, and deposit to secure a tenancy.
• Pension scheme with an employer contribution of 8.5%
• 28 days’ annual leave (pro rata) which increases with service to 31 days and the option to purchase up to 10 additional days leave
• Enhanced maternity, paternity, shared parental, and adoption pay.
• Wellbeing Leave to be used flexibly
• And more! (Full list of benefits available on website)

Alongside our excellent staff benefits, we will support your ongoing development to build your skills, experience, and career.

When you join us, you will have the opportunity to join our staff diversity networks, which aim to champion issues across the organisation, enable staff to be their authentic and best selves and contribute to making Crisis a truly diverse organisation.

Are you an influential and collaborative individual with experience of advice work and a good understanding of money and debt support? Are you a natural at supervising and supporting others and have a desire to progress your specialist level knowledge? If so, join Shelter Scotland as a Senior Housing Rights Worker and you could be soon playing a key role in helping to build the financial resilience of people in Scotland with poor financial health.

About the role

We are seeking a strategic and experienced professional to lead the delivery of housing rights advice and advocacy, across office, community, and remote settings. The role includes managing local projects, line managing up to three staff, and ensuring quality assurance in line with Scottish National Standards and Shelter Scotland’s service model. You will lead community engagement, stakeholder relationships, and work with people with lived experience of homelessness to inform and influence practice. The postholder will contribute to evidence gathering, reporting, and strategic advocacy, ensuring alignment with organisational outcomes and supporting anti-racist and inclusive approaches in housing.

Role specifics

The ideal candidate will demonstrate strong leadership and motivational skills, enthusiasm for delivering workshops and presentations, with proficiency in IT and CRM systems. Experience in advice work, preferably with a housing focus, alongside knowledge of housing or social justice issues and the ability to develop specialist expertise, is highly valued. You will be skilled in creative problem-solving, influencing decision makers, and presenting information clearly and compellingly.

Apply to be part of our team and be the change you want to see in society.

Benefits

We offer a wide range of benefits, including 30 days of annual leave, enhanced family friendly policies, pension and interest free travel loans. Our employees also have access to a tenancy deposit loan, payroll giving, cycle to work scheme and an employee assistance programme.

We are happy to talk about flexible working, personal growth, and to promote a workplace where you can be yourself and achieve success based only on your merit.

About the team

There are three Community Teams - North, West and East. These teams of housing rights workers engage with and activate communities in delivering insight and evidence and targeted interventions, to address local issues and contribute towards the Shelter Scotland Housing Emergency campaign for structural change