Help shape the future of a fostering and adoption charity with over 100 years of impact.

We are seeking an inspiring and values driven Chair of the Board to lead our Trustees at a pivotal point in our journey. With a proud history of delivering adoption services for more than a century, the charity has grown to also provide a mainstream fostering service, alongside our therapy centre, supporting children, young people and families living within a 60 mile radius of our office in Edinburgh. A key focus of our current strategy is to improve the overall financial resilience of the organisation by broadening our philanthropic support base and extending our services to the sector more widely on a fee-paying basis.

As Chair, you will provide inclusive leadership to the Board, ensure strong governance and safeguarding, and work in close partnership with the Chief Executive to set strategic direction and uphold our mission and values. You will help ensure the organisation is financially sustainable, well governed, and delivering the highest quality outcomes for children and families, and you will support the Chief Executive in delivering the strategic objectives of the organisation.

This is a voluntary role, requiring approximately 2–3 days per month, and offers a meaningful opportunity to use your leadership experience to make a lasting difference. We welcome applications from individuals who share our commitment to children’s rights, equity, diversity and inclusion. Lived experience of fostering, adoption or care is particularly valued.

Join us and help shape the next chapter of our work for Scotland’s children.

Harmeny Education Trust is a charitable organisation providing therapeutic care and education to children who have experienced early years trauma through abuse, neglect and family disruption, referred from all over Scotland. We currently work with children and young people aged 5-18, both on a day and all-year-round residential basis.

Our core service comprises:

An education service, which includes an outdoor learning team.

A care service, with five residential cottages.

Support services, made up of Finance, Estates, Catering and Domestic, Fundraising, IT, HR, Learning and Development, and Admin teams.

Children who come to Harmeny often have severe attachment disorders, have suffered some form of early years trauma leading to high levels of anxiety and difficulty in managing their behaviour, as well as a range of complex needs. Through highly therapeutic care and education programmes, we help children to gain the skills and resilience to lead healthy and happy adult lives.

We are registered with the Scottish Social Services Council, General Teaching Council for Scotland, Care Inspectorate, Education Scotland, and The Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR).

Harmeny is situated in a beautiful 35-acre woodland estate, which includes a community garden, orchard, wildlife habitats, children’s play areas and a mountain bike track. Harmeny is located in Balerno on the outskirts of Edinburgh, at the foot of the Pentland Hills; we are easily accessible by bus and there is ample parking.

We are seeking new Trustees to join the organisation and oversee its governance, and we are particularly keen to find candidates with knowledge and experience in any of the following:

Education

Local authorities/Social work

Therapeutic practices

Digital

Corporate

Finance and Treasury

PR/Marketing/ Media

Fundraising

Health (ideally mental health/ neurodiversity)

Trustees are expected to prepare for and attend four Board meetings per year. Meetings are ideally in-person, albeit we can accommodate remote attendance as required. Additional meetings may be held for urgent matters that do not fit with the set calendar of meetings.

Trustees are also expected to be involved in other matters, for example to join a sub-committee relevant to their skill set or working group, take part in a recruitment panel, attend Harmeny events, attend meetings with the Senior Leadership Team to audit progress against objectives, or support Harmeny’s work externally. Sub-committees meet in advance of the main meetings for a shorter duration, and are generally conducted virtually.

Harmeny is committed to equality of opportunity and the promotion of diversity, including in relation to its Board. We welcome applications from all parts of society, and we encourage applications from individuals from diverse ethnic backgrounds and those who are care-experienced.

This is an exciting opportunity to join a team of Trustees in a friendly organisation making a difference to the lives of some of Scotland’s most remarkable children. Support and mentoring can be provided to the successful candidate, particularly those who may be early in their career and/or lacking experience in acting as a board member. An induction programme will be provided.

A fuller job description and person specification can be found using the link below. Harmeny is a values-led organisation and a good fit with our ethos is as important to us as having relevant experience.

There is no remuneration attached to the role but out-of-pocket expenses will be reimbursed.

If you would like to find out more about this rewarding opportunity, please contact Gavin Calder, Chief Executive on 0131 449 3938.

Who Cares? Scotland is Scotland’s only national independent membership organisation for Care Experienced people. Our strategic vision is to secure a lifetime of equality, respect, and love for Care Experienced people in Scotland.

At the heart of Who Cares? Scotland’s work are the rights of Care Experienced people, and the power of their voices to bring about positive change.

We provide individual lifelong relationship-based independent advocacy and a broad range of imaginative participatory and engagement opportunities for Care Experienced people across Scotland. We work alongside Corporate Parents and communities to broaden understanding and create change. We work with policy makers, leaders, and elected representatives locally and nationally to shape law, policy, and practice, working together to build on the aspirations of The Promise and secure positive change.

The post is primarily focused on the development, delivery, and evaluation of our Communities that Care work within schools primarily in Edinburgh but will feed into our national work too. Providing training and support to schools and other organisations across Scotland and leading on the evaluation and reporting will be key to this role.

The post holder will work with the Coordinator and existing Development Officer to deliver and report on an already-established programme of training and support for all schools in Edinburgh. The post holder will be responsible for liaising with all primary and secondary schools and key senior leaders within the local authority; providing ongoing training and support; gathering evaluation data via ongoing consultation and focus groups with teachers and pupils; and reporting on the impact of this work on the school community/wider local authority.

Whilst the post holder will have a principal focus on Edinburgh schools, they will also support the delivery of the Communities that Care model to schools and local authorities across the country. Participation is also a key part of this role, with the post holder leading on the development, delivery, monitoring and evaluation of local participation groups and supporting local Care Experienced people to engage with our wider membership offer.

The successful candidate will be joining Who Cares? Scotland at an exciting time, when the voices of those who are in or have experienced care are growing in power, individually and collectively – bringing with them insight, challenge, hope and change. While we would welcome the knowledge gathered through relevant qualifications, we are just as interested in relevant work experience.

We welcome and encourage applications from those with experience of care.

If this sounds like the role for you, we would love to hear from you. For an informal conversation about this opportunity please contact Ray MacLean at rmclean@whocaresscotland.org.

We are seeking an enthusiastic and committed Senior Residential Project Worker to join our Pentland Way residential Service.

Barnardo's Caern Disability Services consists of three unique Projects who deliver a variety of quality services for young people with learning disabilities and/or autism. We have done this for over 40 years.

At the Caern Short Breaks Service, we support up to 5 children and young people aged 5-18 by offering respite and short break packages to them and their families.

Working primarily in the residential setting you will promote the happiness, safety and welfare of the young people. You will play an active role in supporting the children and young people and their families/carers to achieve positive outcomes, as identified in the Young People's Individual Support Plans.

ABOUT YOU

Ideally you will have experience in working directly with children and young people in a residential setting. Experience in supporting children and young people with a learning disability and/or Autism is required.

You will work directly with the children and young people on shift, as part of the staff team on rota. In addition to this your main role will include

• Responsibility for the day to day running of the house
• Leading the staff on shift including rota management, leading practice and ensuring staff are working to high levels of performance in the best interests of the C&YP in our care.
• Supervision of staff including Residential Project Workers and As & When staff
• Supporting the Team Manager and Children's Service Manager with the ongoing development of the Service

The staff team across Caern Services must be fully accepting of our children and be prepared to offer them a professional relationship based on acceptance and informed by our understanding of their individual needs, wishes and experiences. We are passionate about the children and young people that we care for, showing understanding, empathy and consistency in our approach.

You will currently hold or be working towards a SVQ3 (Children and Young People) and also be willing to work towards a recognised SSSC qualification/s relevant to this role (Residential Worker with Supervisory Responsibilities).

This is a full-time position (37 hours). Working on a dayshift rota basis, you will typically work a rota of 5 out of 7 days, including weekends. You will require to be flexible for the needs of the Young People and the Service.

For an informal chat about this role – please call Aileen Gallagher on 0131 339 8840.

Pay & Reward Framework

We know that our colleagues go above and beyond in delivering our vital work, driven by their passion and commitment to Barnardo's values. We also know that we can only realise our ambitions and achieve better outcomes for more children, thanks to the talent, hard work and creativity of our people.

For all these reasons, we are committed to a new approach to pay and reward, to ensure it is fair, attractive and progressive, which was rolled out in April 2023. This is a positive change for the charity, and a part of our People & Culture Strategy. It will assist us in supporting colleagues to belong, thrive and grow in their colleague journey at Barnardo's and in time will offer clear routes of progression for colleagues in both their career and their pay.

Whilst the full pay band and salary range is advertised, our approach to starting salaries is to appoint between the minimum to mid-point of the pay band – this ensures that pay steps are available to reward our colleagues annually based on their contribution to excellence and alignment to our values and behaviours. More details on Barnardo's pay framework can be found upon application.

Benefits:Workplace Offer: What it means for you

Our hybrid working initiative is based on trust, flexibility and empowerment. We understand our workplace offer means different things to different people, and we encourage those conversations. This may mean working at one of our stores, services, working at home, in the community, at one of our Collaboration Hubs or depending on the role any combination of these. Please read through the advert carefully to understand the remits of hybrid working that will be specific to the role.

Barnardo's require colleagues to be UK residents, based in the UK and to complete their roles from within the UK (with the exception of colleagues providing Barnardo's services in Jersey and colleagues who live in the Republic of Ireland providing services in Northern Ireland)

• Barnardo's believe in creating equality of opportunity in the workplace and supporting people to manage their work-life balance; we are therefore open to offering flexible working arrangements.
• Annual Leave entitlement for full-time colleagues is 26 days per annum, increasing to 27 days per annum, after 3 years Barnardo's service, 29 days per annum, after 5 years Barnardo's service and 30 days per annum, after 7 years Barnardo's service. Those working less than full time are entitled to the same level of holiday pro rata
• The ability to buy up to another 5 days annual leave via our Buy Your Leave scheme
• A host of family friendly leave options including company Maternity Paternity and Adoption pay; together with all family additional leave options
• Service related sick pay from day 1
• Access to a Group Personal Pension with a matched 4% or 6% contribution from Barnardo's. Ability to pay via salary sacrifice to garner both tax and NI savings on your own contribution
• Death in service cover of 4x annual earnings for all staff contributing to our Group Personal Pension
• Cycle2work scheme
• Interest free season ticket loans
• Discounts and cashback from at high street shops including major supermarkets, cinemas, gyms, leisure/theme parks, holidays and much more via our Benefit Portal
• 20% discount at Barnardo's stores
• Opportunity to purchase a health cash plan to claim towards dental, glasses, therapy etc
• Free access to round the clock employee assistance program for advice and support
• Access to Barnardo's Learning and Development offer

*T&C's apply based on contract

About Barnardo's

We are committed to being an inclusive employer and cultivating a culture where everyone can belong and thrive through inclusion and connectivity. We want our workforce to be reflective of the communities we work with, and for equality, diversity and inclusion to be embedded in everything we do. We are a Disability Confident Leader, are progressing our ambition to be an anti-racist organisation with Anti-Racism Commitments and actions in place and have networks for colleagues who are disabled, LGBT+, Black and Minoritised Ethnic and Women. We particularly encourage applications from Black and Minoritised Ethnic and/or disabled candidates who are currently underrepresented in our workforce. For disabled applicants, we offer reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process.