Do you want to help alleviate poverty and improve the lives of families and children? Within the UK there is an estimated £23bn a year in unclaimed welfare benefits, and in Edinburgh it is estimated that 1 in 4 children are living in poverty.

This is an exciting opportunity to join our Growing Families project and help deliver a quality advice service to families with young children in Edinburgh. Working alongside the project’s current advice team and in partnership with Health Visitors, Midwives and Family Nurse Practitioners, this post will support and develop this service. The Advice Worker will provide income maximisation, benefits and housing advice to expecting families and families with babies and young children. Comprehensive and continuous training is provided by CHAI to support this rewarding role.

Are you?:

• Passionate and committed to making a meaningful difference for families with young children.
• Able to quickly learn complex rules and legislation on Welfare Benefits and Housing.
• Able to grow trusting professional relationships in a formal setting.
• Understanding of people’s journeys and the challenges they have had in their lives, and how poverty can have an impact on them.

As an Adviser in CHAI, You will:

• Provide high quality accurate advice, information, and representation in line with the Scottish National Standards for Information and Advice Providers.
• Provide advice within a range of settings including the CHAI office, clients’ homes, community venues and some home working.
• Work in partnership with NHS practitioners and other statutory and third sector providers.

CHAI offers the following exceptional benefits:

• Extensive training programme
• Flexible working
• Access to Simply Health benefit plan
• 33 days of annual leave + public holidays
• Enrolment to NOW pension scheme
• Supportive work environment
• Opportunities to improve services and make a difference

About Space

Do you want to work for an organisation that truly cares about its staff?

Would you like to use your skills to make a difference in people’s lives?

If the answer is ‘yes’, Space is the place for you!

Space is a community anchor organisation supporting people and their families in South West Edinburgh, with some of our services stretching city wide.

WE BELIEVE THAT CONNECTIONS BUILD COMMUNITIES

Space delivers 22 projects, with around 110 staff and volunteers. We deliver diverse services supporting young people, families, older people and carers amongst others.

As a dynamic organisation no two days are the same, with a wealth of learning and development opportunities for our staff and volunteers.

We are an accredited Living Wage employer and proud to share our Carer Positive accreditation, as part of our commitment to the growing number of people in the workforce who need flexibility due to their caring role.

Space is wholly committed to inclusion and diversity and to building a culture and environment where everyone is appreciated for the unique person they are.

For more information about Space and all our projects can be found on our website – spacescot.org

Space and all our projects can be found on our website – spacescot.org

The Role

Space is seeking to recruit an enthusiastic Project Worker to join our expanding Youth Befriending Team.

Our befriending service is proud to hold an excellence award from Befriending Networks UK and was awarded the King’s Award for Voluntary Service in 2024.

The Project Worker will join our existing team of three staff and a manager who coordinate our volunteer based befriending service.

We match volunteer Befrienders with young people aged 5-16 years, living across Edinburgh, who have been affected by current or historical parental substance use or harms caused through gambling. The relationship between a befriender and the young person last for a minimum of 12 months.

Befrienders meet with their matched young person on a weekly basis, spending 2-3hrs doing a range of activities that may take place at The Broomhouse Hub or at community/social venues across Edinburgh. Activities are typically arranged for after school up to 8.30pm in the evening, or on Saturday’s up to 3pm.

Key tasks in this role include:

· Managing a caseload of volunteer befriender and befriendee matches.

· Recruiting, training and supervising volunteer befrienders.

· Carrying out Initial family assessment of need and conducting regular case reviews with other relevant stakeholders.

· Identifying interests and personal attributes in befrienders and befriendees to create appropriate and fulfilling matches.

· Supporting befrienders to plan and risk assess activities the child/young person would benefit from to help them engage in additional opportunities and connect to suitable networks in their local area.

· Plan and attend group activities for children/young people and volunteers.

· Record appropriate information gained through assessment, monitoring and review in order to provide quantitative and qualitative data about the service.

· Provide On Call telephone support and supervision for befrienders/befriendees.

The successful person for this role will:

· have a minimum of two years’ experience working directly with vulnerable children, young people or families.

· have a sound understanding of the needs and challenges, faced by families affected by substance use or the harms caused through Gambling.

· be educated to HNC level in Youth Work, Community Education, Child Care or another topic relevant and beneficial to this role.

We welcome applicants from people who have historical experience of substance use and or the harms caused through Gambling, however this is not an essential criteria for the role.

You can download the full job description and person specification below.

Hours of Work*

This is a part time role of 18hrs per week which can be split over 3 days. The team meet on Tuesdays at The Broomhouse Hub so some hours must reserved for that.

Whilst the majority of working hours will take place between 9-5pm, the role requires a degree of flexibility to provide occasional on call telephone support to volunteers while activities are taking place.

What it’s like to work at Space:

· We care deeply about what we do and how we work. We work hard and get stuck in because we truly care about our community and each other.

· We live our values – they’re not just words printed on letterheads.

· We’re a team and work collaboratively, we support each other to succeed, we value relationships as much as results – egos are best left at the door.

· We’re not a finished article, we’re still evolving, still learning and not everything is perfectly optimised (yet).

· We find a way – we focus on solutions; challenges are puzzles to be worked out not excuses to give up.

· We’re curious and innovative, we challenge the norm and aren’t scared to voice ideas if we think we have a better way.

· The sector is demanding and unpredictable at times, priorities shift but if difficult decisions have to be made and we do it with integrity and maintain a people first ethos.

· We have a pretty flexible approach to work - we know that everyone’s body clocks,

responsibilities and preferred working environments differ. At the same time, we really value staying connected and collaborating with each other. From experience, our work is at its strongest when we come together, so we encourage a healthy balance with a regular presence in the office.

What to expect at the Interview

Interviews will be conducted in person at The Broomhouse Hub.

Please expect to be with us for 80-90 minutes during which you will complete a task relating to befriending matches and interview questions to explore your experience.

Background

This is an exciting and challenging opportunity to work with a driven team in one of Scotland’s most well regarded and effective local active travel and bike refurbishing charities.

The Bike Station has been based in the community for over 20 years, with a credible reputation of recycling, refurbishing and reusing donated bikes and making bikes available within the community.

Our communities continue to be under increasing pressure with the cost-of-living crisis and within a climate crisis.

Enabling more people to choose cycling has multiple financial, health and social benefits and the demand for our services has grown in recent years.

We are looking for a confident and strategic Development Manager to build strong relationships and develop services that will significantly enhance their sustainable income.

This role will create and lead our long-term unrestricted income and business opportunities.

Primary Aim

Contribute to the long-term sustainability of The Bike Station by increasing unrestricted income.

Purpose of the role

• Explore and source public giving commercial opportunities in alignment with The Bike Stations strategic objectives.
• Analyse market data to support opportunities for business development with existing and potential clients and provide recommendations to success and routes to increased revenue.
• Develop and maintain strategic partnerships and relationships developing strong working relationships with key stakeholders, influencing decisions both internally & externally.
• Develop and deliver our commercial income opportunities including our skills development programme, corporate volunteering and public giving campaigns.
• Collaborate with The Bike Stations refurbishing, skills development, community, volunteering and communications teams to ensure strong customer experience .
• Lead on developing messaging, with the support from the Communications Team, to create marketing materials that facilitates expansion of The Bike Stations commercial and giving opportunities.
• Monitor performance against budget and implementing action plans to ensure achievement of budget targets.
• Line manage Volunteer Development Officer and Communications Officer to ensure programmes of activity are well resourced, ensuring high quality with a commitment to continuous improvement and return custom.
• Such other tasks as may be required which are consistent with the duties and responsibilities of the post.

Person Specification

Real experience, aptitude, values, fit with team and a passion for cycling are more important to us than formal qualifications.

That being said this post requires strong business acumen, evidence of successful income generation and a practical and effective approach.

Essential

• Confident, self-motivated and proactive with excellent communication, organisational and people skills.
• An excellent understanding of third sector and commercial business development including charitable trading, grants and contracts.
• Evidence of securing unrestricted income through commercial and public giving campaigns
• An excellent relationship builder with people and professionals from a range of backgrounds and sectors: ideally someone with gravitas and integrity.
• Ability to process complex information, analyse data and articulate it well to a range of audiences and stakeholders.
• Experience of completing financial and resource analyses of opportunities to create sustainable options and lead on creating appropriate plans. This can include options appraisals, business plans, funding assessments.
• Experience of preparing programme budgets including financial reports and cash flow forecasts.
• Ability to problem-solve and design and implement solutions.
• Ability to manage their time effectively, multitask, work on several projects simultaneously with tight timescales.
• Proficient in the use of technology and willing to learn new ways of working as needed.
• An excellent team player and willing to share skills and knowledge with co-workers with experience developing an line managing teams