JOIN OUR BOARD: Become a Driving Force Trustee

Could YOU be the Driving Force for our community?

About The Driving Force

For20 years, The Driving Force has been a lifeline for cancer patients in Denny, Bonnybridge and Banknock. We provideFREE transportto vital treatment appointments for those who need it most.

Our Impact:

• 20 years of continuous community service
• Hundreds of cancer patients supported
• Thousands of journeys to life-saving appointments
• 100% volunteer-driven organisation

Every journey we provide is one more chance for someone to access the treatment that could save their life.Now we need more strategic leaders to help us drive our mission forward.

Why Become a Trustee?

Being a trustee isn't just about attending meetings – it's about making a real difference at a strategic level. You'll help shape the future of a charity that directly saves lives in your community.

What You'll Gain:

·Personal satisfaction of creating strategic community impact

·Development of governance and leadership skills

·Networking with other passionate community leaders

·Insight into charity sector operations and best practices

·The knowledge that your decisions help cancer patients access life-saving treatment

·Being part of something meaningful beyond your day job

What is a Trustee?

In simple terms:Trustees are the guardians of our charity – ensuring we stay true to our mission of helping cancer patients access treatment while managing our resources responsibly and planning for sustainable growth.

The legal bit:Trustees have overall control of a charity and are responsible for making sure it's doing what it was set up to do. They exercise their powers and duties with care, always acting in the charity's best interests, ensuring compliance with charity law and our governing document.

You'll be part of a supportive boardworking collaboratively to govern The Driving Force effectively.

Time Commitment

We respect that trustees are volunteers with busy lives. Here's what we ask:

Core Commitment:

• 5-6 board meetingsper year (approximately 1 1/2 hours each, scheduled in advance)
• Occasional email/phone consultations(1-2 hours per month)
• Annual strategic planning session(half day)

Total time: approximately 15-20 hours per year

Flexibility:We schedule meetings with trustees' availability in mind. If you can't make a meeting, we just ask for advance notice.

Additional Involvement (Optional):Some trustees choose to get involved in specific projects, sub-committees, or events – but this is entirely voluntary.

Are you passionate about supporting families?

We are seeking new Board members, including those with Digital, Finance, Policy or Communications expertise.

Scottish Families supports anyone who is concerned about someone else’s alcohol or drug use. We were established in 2003 by families themselves, who came together to support each other and to campaign for recognition. Our five Outcomes are that Families are Supported, Included, Heard, Connected, and that Families Create Change.

We are a national charity based in Glasgow but working right across Scotland. We provide a range of national and local services, including a national helpline, one to one support, bereavement counselling and local family support services. We also deliver a national workforce development programme; Connecting Families; My Family, My Rights; communications; fundraising; and policy/ campaigning work, as well as our Routes young persons programme, and Grow Your Own Routes national development programme.

We are Scotland’s leading charity supporting families affected by substance use, and are recognised by the Scottish Government as one of their Key Third Sector Partners in the field of alcohol and drugs. We are funded through a combination of Government grants, commissioned services, charitable trusts and fundraising.

You can find out more about our work by reading ‘The Cost of Loving’, our Strategic Plan 2023-26, and ‘Celebrating Families’, our Impact Report 2023-24. Our website is at sfad.org.uk.

We are seeking a number of new Board members in response to recent and upcoming changes in our Board membership. (Board members serve an initial three-year term, which can be extended for a further three years).

You should be available to attend quarterly meetings, which are held in person at our national office in Glasgow city centre (with the option of joining online via MS Teams). Meetings are held on Saturday mornings and the schedule is set well in advance.

The Society provides financial support to people in their homes who are unable to work because of long term medical conditions. We have charitable status and manage Trust funds of over £5m which are used to provide grants and annuities.

We wish to appoint additional Trustees who will play an important role in leadership of the Society, setting its strategy and priorities and ensuring good governance.

The Society was established in 1805 and an updated Royal Charter was approved by the King in 2024 confirming our continuing mission of Home Support.

We will consider all applications and to maintain a diversity of skills, knowledge and experience on the Board and we are particularly interested in applications from individuals with any one of the following backgrounds:

• Community experience of long-term medical conditions including healthcare and social welfare backgrounds.
• Lived experience of long-term medical conditions either personal or as a carer
• Business and financial experience

We also particularly welcome applications from people of working age as this group is currently under-represented on our Board.

This is a voluntary role so not remunerated. Reasonable expenses may be paid in accordance with the Society’s policies.

If you would like to express your interest or find out more about the role, please email us with your contact details at SM-charity@azets.co.uk, and a member of our team will be delighted to contact you.

Embracing difference, leading change

Are you looking for your next step in your social care career? Are you a dynamic leader who thrives on building strong relationships, adapting to new challenges, and bringing out the best in others? If you're passionate about coaching and developing teams to grow and succeed together, this is your opportunity to lead with purpose and make a lasting impact.

Join our friendly and dedicated team as Senior Autism Practitioner in our West of Scotland area with services from Hamilton to Helensburgh.

Across our West of Scotland Services, we support 75 autistic adults across several welcoming locations. Our care is tailored to each person’s needs, including Housing Support, residential care, and transitional assessment services. You’ll be joining a warm, dedicated team that’s passionate about making a real difference and always looking for ways to grow and improve.

About the Role

As the Senior Autism Practitioner, you’ll ensure the successful delivery of each person’s service across our West of Scotland Services. Leading a team of dedicated Autism Practitioners, you will inspire them to provide a consistent, high-quality support service to autistic people. You will coach and mentor them to ensure they perform to the best of their ability.

Using your outstanding communication skills, you’ll collaborate closely with families, agencies and multi-disciplinary teams to implement and further develop support plans designed to help individuals succeed in their day-to-day lives.

Actively involving yourself in the recruitment process, you will always be on the lookout for talented individuals who could make the team even stronger.

This is a superb opportunity to gather experience of a different role, to undertake additional training and lead a hard-working team to success.

About You

To be considered for this diverse role, you must have:

• Experience gained within a supervisory and/or management role within social care
• Demonstrated experience in supporting autistic people
• Experience coaching and mentoring colleagues
• A health and social care qualification, or the willingness to gain an SVQ Level 4 in health & social care and Leadership and Management for Care Services (LMC) qualification provided by the organisation
• A good level of IT literacy, including MS Word and Excel
• A Full UK Driving License.
• Able to work a variety of shifts including evenings and weekends and support with regular on-call support. This can be discussed further at interview.

Scottish Autism offers you:

We are proud to offer a comprehensive colleague benefits package which includes a competitive salary and a personalised learning pathway for all. We keep it simple with 3 pay points which you progress at your pace as you develop.

• 32 days holiday pro rata (which increases with your length of service)
• Sector leading training from day one, including fully funded support to complete your necessary SVQ
• Non-contributory life assurance scheme
• Workplace Pension (Employer matched up to 9%)
• Discount platform
• Employee Assistance Programme.

Find out more about our comprehensive benefits package HERE

This post is subject to a PVG Disclosure check. All new employees must have applied to register with the Scottish Social Services Council within 3 months of starting in post and be registered within 6 months. Scottish Autism cover all the costs of PVG membership and SSSC Registration for employees.

Valuing diversity and promoting equal opportunities is at the heart of our vision, mission, and values.