Around since 1923, SAMH is Scotland’s national mental health charity. Today, we operate over 70 services in communities across Scotland, providing mental health social care support, addictions and employment services, among others. Together with national programme work in See Me, respectme, suicide prevention, and physical activity and sport, these services inform SAMH’s policy and campaign work to influence positive social change.

SAMH is dedicated to mental health and wellbeing for all: with a vision of a society where people are able to live their lives fully, regardless of present or past circumstances.

SAMH hosts ‘United to Prevent Suicide’; which is the social movement aspect of the national suicide prevention strategy, Creating Hope Together. We are a mass participation project open to anyone in Scotland who is passionate about preventing suicide, often due to lived experience of crisis and bereavement.

We support our members to take action in their own lives, their communities, and at a national level. In the past year, United to Prevent Suicide has undertaken a strategy to become a more member-led organisation, with new projects launched and more planned.

The post-holder will work alongside the Social Movement Development Manager to grow the movement, strengthen our participatory practice, and deliver key projects.

What we are looking for:

To be successful in this post you will need experience of working with sensitive subjects and with people who have had difficult life experiences, and be confident developing and sustaining excellent working relationships with volunteers and community members.

This role is ideal for anyone who believes in the power of collective movements to tackle entrenched social problems, and who believes that relationships of trust, solidarity and action can be part of a journey of recovery.

The role will require some travel and evening and weekend working as per the needs of the project.

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;

• Reimbursement of PVG & Disclosure costs.
• Funded continuous learning and development opportunities, access to over 100 courses online in addition to classroom and virtual training sessions
• 30 days annual leave rising to 33 after 5 years’ service (pro rata)
• 4 public holidays (pro rata)
• 2 paid wellbeing days off per year to use on what matters to you (pro rata)
• Team wellbeing budgets
• Workplace pension scheme
• Life Assurance policy
• Employee Assistance Programme

The Redress Support Service provides support for people who are applying to Scotland's Redress Scheme. The Scheme has been set up for survivors of historical child abuse in care in Scotland. It was set up to recognise and acknowledge what happened to them, and the harm which this caused. At the end of the process, survivors may receive a payment, an apology for the abuse they suffered, and emotional support.

The In Care Survivors Alliance was commissioned to provide support alongside this process. In December 2021, the Alliance established its second service to provide this: the Redress Support Service. You may read more about the service here: redress-support.scot

Our partnership approach is rooted in understanding that the impact of childhood trauma is individual and lifelong. We recognise that the experience of abuse in care often means people may face significant barriers to accessing much needed help.

As importantly, everyone we support will have different needs and have insight about what will work best for them. We provide a safe and trusted space for people to explore what is most important to them and to access tailored help toward their goals.

As Impact & Evaluation Lead, you’ll be responsible to plan, design and complete evaluation activity that can assess RSS progress towards its strategic objectives.

You’ll work closely with our Innovation and Improvement team, and other Impact & Evaluation Leads to ensure consistency of approach to evaluation across the organisation, ensuring that Penumbra’s experience and insight from other programmes is applied in Redress Support Service. You will manage data gathering and report writing activities within the Programmes team, to inform service improvement and programme development in collaboration with our partners.

As a mental health charity, we value the wellbeing of our staff. That’s why we want you to know that you’ll be joining a friendly team, who will give you a supportive environment to help you thrive in your role, including all the training you need to feel confident and equipped.

We can offer you a range of employee benefits, and we can promise you’ll be inspired by some amazing humans every single day. We will support you on your own career path; developing new skills, accessing formal and informal learning experiences and providing opportunities to put your continual progress into practice.

We protect and promote the human rights of people with mental illness, learning disabilities, dementia, and related conditions.

We have an exciting opportunity for a full time People & Organisational Development Adviser to join the Commission on a 12-month fixed term contract.

Reporting into the People & OD Manager, the role is part of our small but critical People & OD Team, where you will have the opportunity to interact with colleagues from across the Commission’s functions.

We are looking for an experienced HR professional who is motivated, self-sufficient and capable of providing generalist HR support and managing day to day operational HR issues with limited supervision/assistance. Key deliverables include managing the end-to-end recruitment process (including requisite background checks); supporting the induction /onboarding process; updating HR systems and extracting reports for management reporting; triaging the People Team inbox and responding to routine enquiries (e.g. annual leave queries, providing advice to managers on occupational health referrals/attendance management); managing lower level employee relations matters; updating core HR policies and procedures; and supporting on discrete people projects/activities.

This is an opportunity to join the Commission’s People & OD Team at a time of change, as we look to streamline our people systems and processes; drive forward cultural change by embedding our new organisational values into our people processes; and take forward more strategic workforce initiatives.

At the Commission we champion diversity, inclusion, and wellbeing. We pride ourselves on being an employer of choice, cultivating a sense of belonging and providing a workplace where everyone feels valued. We aim to have a workforce which represents the wider society that we serve and therefore encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and under-represented groups.

As an employer, we offer excellent terms and conditions including a generous NHS pension scheme, a commitment to learning and development, and access to an Employee Assistance Programme. We also offer a comprehensive range of HR policies including policies to help balance commitments at work and home and flexible working arrangements.

Our office environment is modern, light, bright and green with superb views and is very close to Haymarket Railway station and transport links.

Changes have secured funding from the National Lottery Fairer Lives Community Fund to continue delivering ‘Well Connected’ a befriending programme supporting positive mental health and wellbeing to those most isolated in our community. The befriending coordinator will be responsible for all aspects of the project (alongside their job share), from assessment and delivery to evaluation. The postholder will train and manage volunteers, work with other staff at the charity and host an East Lothian Befriending Network to share best practice.

We are seeking an enthusiastic, skilled and highly motivated candidate who is confident working with a high degree of autonomy in continuing this project and ensuring it’s success. This is a part time job share role. 16 hours to be worked Monday (afternoon/evening) and Wednesday daytime (ideally).

Changes Equalities statement:

“Changes strive to ensure fair and inclusive services which celebrate and value the diversity of the community of East Lothian. Changes welcome opportunities to improve equality, diversity and inclusion within the organisation and we will continue to review our progress and champion equalities.”

About Changes

Changes believes in positive mental health and wellbeing for everyone. As a charity in East Lothian, Changes is here to help the community achieve and maintain positive mental health and wellbeing by providing a wide range of services and activities including 1-1 therapy, support groups and courses, healthy living activities, training, and volunteering opportunities.

Services are free and open to everyone over the age of 18 living, or registered with a GP, in East Lothian. Changes provides support for a wide range of challenges including stress, panic, low mood, low self-esteem, anxiety, worry, depression, and negative thinking. Activities are friendly, welcoming, and inclusive and offer opportunities to meet new people, get active and get involved in the local community.

Our Vision:

Our vision is that everyone in East Lothian enjoys positive mental health and wellbeing.

Our Mission:

Changes have grown from within the community to enable people to achieve and maintain good mental health and wellbeing through:

• Support groups and courses
• Therapy from experienced therapists
• Physical wellbeing activities
• Training our community to support others

Our Values:

Compassion – We treat our work, our community, our partners and each other with warmth, respect and compassion.

Welcoming – We offer a warm, friendly and supportive welcome to everyone. We know it’s not always easy to ask for help but we’re here to support you.

Community – We are an inclusive community which celebrates and values the diversity of East Lothian and everyone living there.