Home-Start Clackmannanshire is a long standing, dynamic charity, striving to ensure every young child (under 12) has the best possible start in life locally. Raising a family has never been easy; our trained volunteers and staff are there to support families through challenging times. In Scotland, Home-Starts have over 1,500 volunteers supporting over 3,500 families and 6,500 children each year through compassionate, confidential help to parents/carers when they need us most. The parents/carers we support are often overwhelmed and isolated. They may be struggling with mental health, illness, disability, multiple births, poverty, domestic abuse, separation and/or trauma. We provide a bespoke support package of 1:1 in home and group services for families, helping them to cope with the stresses and strains of daily life and encourage them to build the skills, confidence, and strength they need to nurture their children for years to come.

In 2024, Action for Children, NHS (speech and language) and Educational Psychology launched an exciting new provision called Play Roots with the support and funding from our local Child Wellbeing Partnership. Play Roots is an enhanced 0-5 group provision for local families operating across four localities in Clackmannanshire weekly.

Purpose of the job

Play Roots has developed rapidly since the first group launched, with families directly informing our sessions, allowing us to ensure we are delivering a communities based, group support system, providing a nurturing and educational environment for children (0-5) and their parents/carers. Play Roots aims to enhance positive well-being, parent-child attachment, support early childhood development, and encourage wider community connections and changes for parental progression; providing the foundations for children and families to flourish long-term.

We are looking for an enthusiastic, driven practitioner, capable of coordinating the delivery of our four local groups to ensure their effective running, and maximising impact through groups supporting the development of children and parents/carers by creating fun and interesting learning environments/activities to enhance skills, promote emotional resilience, and encourage positive behaviours and routines. Central to this role is effectively liaising with partners and supporting our delivery team made up of staff from Home-Start Clackmannanshire, Action for Children, Educational Psychology, Speech and language, and a growing team of volunteers.

You will also:

• Contribute to the effective day to day operation of the scheme in accordance with the Home-Start Memorandum & Articles of Association, Home-Start, Standards & Methods of Practice, Home-Start Agreement and Quality Assurance Standards.
• Maintain high standards of practice in supporting families within the Home-Start model.
• Ensure equality of opportunity, fairness and diversity in all aspects of the scheme’s work.
• Implement best safeguarding practice in all areas of work.

Main Responsibilities

Supporting the work of Home-Start Clackmannanshire and our Play Roots Partnership

• Undertaking work as delegated by our CEO to support the strategic management, development, evaluation, and future funding of Play Roots.
• Supporting the implementation of and upholding all Home-Start policies and procedures.
• Complying with the scheme’s administration, monitoring and financial systems.
• Promoting the work of the scheme, as required by the CEO.
• Contributing to and supporting the development of the Home-Start network locally, regionally and nationally.

Support for families

• Take a lead role in receiving and assessing referrals to Play Roots in a timely manner.
• Making initial contact/arranging implementation of support or delegating to operational team members within Home-Start and Action for Children to do.
• Lead delivery partners in planning, preparing for, and delivering group sessions (4 sessions across 4 locations, weekly, during term time).
• Enhance group support offer by leading the planning, preparation and delivery of Holiday Programmes for families.
• Providing rich learning environments where children and their families can engage.
• Facilitating interventions one to one or in a group to support identified areas of need.
• Building effective relationships and channels of communication with our partners, such as children, young people, families, colleagues, and external agencies.
• Ensuring support to families is of a high standard, in accordance with Home-Start’s model, policies and procedures.
• To undertake designated responsibilities to safeguard and promote children’s welfare.

Supporting Volunteers

• We could not deliver our services without the support of our incredible team of volunteers. As such, you will be involved in ensuring any Home-Start volunteers contributing to Play Roots sessions are appropriately onboarded, supported, informed, and adhere to all organisational policies and procedures.

Working in Partnership

• Ensuring appropriate liaison with referrers and other professionals.
• Networking appropriately within the community.

The post holder may be required to undertake any other duties that fall within the nature of the role and responsibilities of the post as detailed above.

Do you want to help create a safer, brighter future for children in Scotland?

At Children First, Scotland’s national children’s charity, we stand up for children, keep them safe, and support families to thrive.

This is an exciting opportunity to utilise and develop your skills, knowledge and experience by joining our North Strathclyde Bairns Hoose team.

Scotland’s first Bairns Hoose was opened in 2023 in North Strathclyde and since then has continued to place the best interests of the child at the centre of all the systems that are there to protect them and to offer the child and their family or caregivers all the support they need.

Our North Strathclyde Bairns Hoose is an innovative partnership between Children First, 4 Local Authorities ( East Renfrewshire, Renfrewshire, Inverclyde, and East Dunbartonshire), Police Scotland, SCRA, Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service, and Crown Office & Procurator Fiscal Service.

Bairns Hoose is based on the European Barnahus model. Barnahus is a child-friendly, multidisciplinary, and interagency model of justice, care and recovery for children who are victims and witnesses of all forms of violence. A place where all Police, Social Work, Health, Court and Recovery services are based under one roof. Children receive a coordinated trauma responsive plan to support their journey through the care, protection, and justice system. The aim of the model is to prevent re-traumatisation caused by delayed and disjointed investigation and court proceedings; to keep children safe; allow them access to fair justice and to help them recover from the trauma of their ordeal.

We are currently looking for the right person to join our team on a temporary basis whilst a colleague is on Maternity Leave.

What kind of person will make a great Bairns Hoose Rights, Advocacy and Trauma Recovery Worker for Children First?

• is fiercely passionate about children’s rights
• thinks it’s a privilege to work with and on behalf of children and families
• is kind and will bring their whole selves to the job: heart and mind
• is committed to being part of transformational change alongside children and their families

What kind of Rights, Advocacy and Trauma Recovery Worker will you be?

Knowing our ambition for children, you will be someone who:

• is resilient, skilled and knowledgeable; who wants to transform children’s lives
• can connect well with young people and their families, help them to feel safe and build a relationship based on trust
• understands trauma and knows that with the right support children and young people can recover – there is always a way
• is able to build strong relationships and manage tricky conversations
• is able to work collaboratively with partners
• has a cool head and clear minded at times of pressure
• is able to make decisions
• can inspire colleagues and teams to be even better
• is an amazing ambassador for children and Children First

Above all else, the most important thing to us is that you are someone who will do the right thing for children and their families at every turn.

Calum’s Cabin is seeking a highly motivated individual who is looking for an opportunity to make a huge impact for the organisation. If you are looking for a Fundraising role where you will directly see the difference every pound raised makes to the hundreds of families we support every year, this is it. In 2025:

• 201 families had a holiday in one of our 6 (now 7) holiday homes
• 41 families stayed in our 12 home-from-home Glasgow flats
• 687 Christmas and Easter gifts given
• 7,975 snacks given to hospitals
• 2,454 fairy box items donated
• 1,064 people attended our mindfulness sessions

As we work towards our 20th Anniversary in 2027, we have ambition to support more families across Scotland and the UK. This will mean further capital investment and ultimately increased running costs. You could be a major part of ensuring we have the sustainable income required to achieve that.

Role Purpose

The Fundraising and Corporate Partnerships Senior Officer plays a key role in growing sustainable income for Calum’s Cabin by developing and managing high-value fundraising streams, including a renewed focus on corporate partnerships. The postholder will build strong relationships with corporate supporters, trusts, and community partners, delivering innovative fundraising initiatives that support families affected by cancer.

This role combines strategic development with hands-on delivery and is ideal for an experienced fundraiser who is passionate about making a tangible impact in a small, dynamic charity environment. You will work closely with the Chief Operating Officer and the founders to develop and deliver the Fundraising Strategy.

Who we are looking for

You will be experienced in and passionate about the charity sector, with an ambition to grow as an expert in fundraising. We are looking for a someone with the creativity and initiative to develop new fundraising ideas, and who is professional, personable, and resilient.

As a small team, we provide a significant level of support to families each year. You will be required to undertake a variety of tasks, sometimes working with others in the team, and at other times working independently. You will be a strategic thinker with a hands-on approach.

You will have excellent communication, relationship-building and influencing negotiation, and organisational skills, with a track record of achieving targets.

About Aberlour Guardianship Scotland

Guardianship Scotland is a specialist statutory service providing Independent Child Trafficking Guardians (ICTG) to all unaccompanied asylum seeking children, victims of trafficking and children vulnerable to trafficking who arrive in Scotland. We deliver this in partnership with Aberlour and Scottish Refugee Council on behalf of the Scottish Government.

The children and young people we help in Guardianship have been through unimaginable traumas. Now, they must cope with being apart from their families in a strange, new country. They face language and cultural barriers, and they enter complex systems which include the welfare, asylum and trafficking processes which are very complicated, and it can be difficult for them to understand.

We support young people to understand these processes, stand by the young peoples’ side throughout these processes, support them to access the help they need and advocate when needed to ensure their views are clearly listened to. Our guardians support the young people to make informed decisions about their future and to settle into a new life in Scotland.

Could you be the person to support children to navigate complex processes and feel empowered throughout? We have an exciting opportunity for you to join our team.

What we are looking for....

We are looking to recruit a Guardian who will support our work in the Highlands and Moray. You will work from our Inverness office a minimum of two days per week with regular travel throughout Easter Ross and Moray and occasional travel elsewhere in Scotland. You will work 37.5 hours per week, these hours will be worked in line with the needs of the young people and service and may include evenings and weekends.

We are looking for candidates who have a relevant professional qualification at SCQF level 8 and has, or are prepared to work towards, Immigration Advisory Authority Level 2 Registration.

You will have experience of working with young people and children, dealing with child/adult protection issues, experience of advocacy work, as well as inter-agency and partnership working. Knowledge or experience of the asylum and National Referral Mechanism systems are desirable, though full training will be provided.

At Aberlour we want to make sure every child and young person has the love, support and opportunity they need to reach their potential. If you share the same vision, we want you to join our team.

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.