1 Year Fixed Term

Travel and some weekend/evening work required

21 hours per week - Edinburgh (Communities that Care)*

21 hours per week - East Lothian*

14 hours per week - Mid Lothian*

Who Cares? Scotland is Scotland’s only national independent membership organisation for Care Experienced people. Our mission is to secure a lifetime of equality, respect, and love for Care Experienced people in Scotland and we currently have over 3500 Care Experienced members.

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.

This unique role offers the chance to create and facilitate opportunities and activities for Care Experienced people, leading on participation to ensure Care Experienced people can share their views and experiences, and helping to bring about positive change.

The post holder will utilise and create opportunities for participation and belonging activities with Care Experienced people, whilst supporting a range of events and other local or national activities. Core belonging and participation activities will involve fun connection activities; issue-based and focus groups; and forums, and events, both one-off and longer term in duration. The role will involve working closely with organizational partners and other services to create new opportunities or develop existing ones.

Responsible for maximizing the networks through which Care Experienced young people can connect, develop, and grow as individuals, you will use a range of communications channels to promote belonging and participation activities to Care Experienced children and young people. By developing accessible and applicable youth work tools and activities, you will build upon your experience working with children and young people to create attractive offers locally that encourage Care Experienced people to join our membership.

In your capacity as a Development Officer, you will work closely with Who Cares? Scotland Volunteer Manager to ensure we are providing the best support available to volunteers serving our young people. Through collaboration with our Participation & Membership Manager, as well as our fundraising team, you will identify and attract local funding and fundraising opportunities to enhance our local offering to Care Experienced people. In doing so, you will develop and maintain good working relationships with relevant regional organisations (e.g. Local Authority, Third Sector, Public Sector Corporate Parents) and gain experience in awareness-raising and promotion. Providing reports in relation to participation, belonging, and the impact of your work, you will bolster the evidence base to support fundraising and awareness- raising opportunities, as well as to influence local policy initiatives, such as The Promise. As an ambassador for Who Cares? Scotland, you will be joining Who Cares? Scotland at an exciting time, when the voice of those who are in or have experienced care is growing rapidly across Scotland - bringing with it insight, challenge, hope and change.

The right candidate for this post will be able to form positive, empathetic, understanding and compassionate relationships with children and young people and have good interpersonal skills, as well as experience in designing tailored group work programmes. You feel confident communicating, with a solution focussed attitude. As well as evidencing your work, you can prioritise and meet deadlines. You hold knowledge of the current structure, developments, policy, and practice in relation to children and young people experiencing care in Scotland. You are flexible, given the remit of the role, as some evening and weekend work will be necessary, along with a full driving licence and access to transport.

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, our Advocacy and Participation Manager for the South East team on rmaclean@whocaresscotland.org.

*Candidates may apply for an individual role, or, if preferred, a 21-hour post and 14-hour post can be combined to create a full-time (35 hours per week) opportunity. Please indicate your preferred option(s) clearly in your application.

Barnardo's Threads Service is partnership with Renfrewshire Social Work is recruiting a Project Worker 2 for our Early Help Service.

This role has been created to provide an alternative to social work intervention for families who are experiencing difficulties which without support, might escalate to require statutory involvement.

Early Help Project Workers will take a strengths-based approach to their work with families, working in partnership to identify and develop strengths and protective factors. Practitioners will focus on achieving:

• More positive family relationships
• Improved family functioning
• More effective parenting
• Improved health and wellbeing for children, young people and parents/carers
• Reduced social isolation and better connections within the local community
• Better connecting families to other sources of community support.

The project worker will have a good knowledge and understanding of the wider supports available from voluntary and community-based organisations and will refer families to these supports where appropriate. This will maximise family engagement with long term community-based support available to them within their local area.

The role activities include assessing and planning, parenting and family support. Outcomes include Improved Family Wellbeing, Reduced Isolation and Community connectedness.

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

The world of work has changed. We are understanding of what works best for our colleagues both current and future as we look to embrace this new way of working. 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, at one of our Collaboration Hubs or any combination of these.

• 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 HolidayPlus 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.

Our basis and values

Barnardo's PACe: Intensive Family Support

This service has been operating in East Dunbartonshire since 2011 supporting children/young people (CYP) aged between 5-18 and their families, where there are significant difficulties at home, school and/or in the community – meaning there is a significant risk of them becoming looked after and/or accommodated. Support can be directly with the CYP or the parent/carer or with a family group. The service exists to help CYP remain and thrive within their community.

Barnardo's Parenting Capacity Assessment Service

This service has been in operation since 2017 undertaking individual assessments with families over approximately 16 weeks to help social work services determine long-term decisions for CYP where there is significant concern regarding parental capacity to meet the child/children's needs.

This part of the post will be focused on supporting the lead practitioner to undertake the Parenting Capacity Assessment process, involving direct work with parents/carers during this process, supporting the delivery and recording of sessions.

Do you want to make a difference to children, young people and families in East Dunbartonshire? If so, then this is the role for you! We are seeking an experienced, committed and motivated person to join our well-established team who support families across the local authority. With a mix of individual, family and group work as well as some involvement in undertaking parenting capacity assessments - this is a creative, rewarding and interesting role for the right person. You'll need to have experience of working with families who have complex needs. If this is you, we'd love to hear from you.

When completing your application please refer to your skills knowledge and experience in relation to the Person Specification, Job Description and Additional Information document. This should be done with an understanding of the context of the service described.

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

The world of work has changed. We are understanding of what works best for our colleagues both current and future as we look to embrace this new way of working. 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, at one of our Collaboration Hubs or any combination of these.

• 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 HolidayPlus 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.

Who Cares? Scotland is Scotland’s only national independent membership organisation for Care Experienced people. Our mission is to secure a lifetime of equality, respect, and love for Care Experienced people in Scotland and we currently have over 3500 Care Experienced members.

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.

This unique role offers the chance to create and facilitate opportunities and activities for Care Experienced people, leading on participation to ensure Care Experienced people can share their views and experiences, and helping to bring about positive change.

The post holder will utilise and create opportunities for participation and belonging activities with Care Experienced people, whilst supporting a range of events and other local or national activities. Core belonging and participation activities will involve fun connection activities; issue-based and focus groups; and forums, and events, both one-off and longer term in duration. The role will involve working closely with organizational partners and other services to create new opportunities or develop existing ones.

Responsible for maximizing the networks through which Care Experienced young people can connect, develop, and grow as individuals, you will use a range of communications channels to promote belonging and participation activities to Care Experienced children and young people. By developing accessible and applicable youth work tools and activities, you will build upon your experience working with children and young people to create attractive offers locally that encourage Care Experienced people to join our membership.

In your capacity as a Development Officer, you will work closely with Who Cares? Scotland Volunteer Manager to ensure we are providing the best support available to volunteers serving our young people. Through collaboration with our Participation & Membership Manager, as well as our fundraising team, you will identify and attract local funding and fundraising opportunities to enhance our local offering to Care Experienced people. In doing so, you will develop and maintain good working relationships with relevant regional organisations (e.g. Local Authority, Third Sector, Public Sector Corporate Parents) and gain experience in awareness-raising and promotion. Providing reports in relation to participation, belonging, and the impact of your work, you will bolster the evidence base to support fundraising and awareness- raising opportunities, as well as to influence local policy initiatives, such as The Promise. As an ambassador for Who Cares? Scotland, you will be joining Who Cares? Scotland at an exciting time, when the voice of those who are in or have experienced care is growing rapidly across Scotland - bringing with it insight, challenge, hope and change.

The right candidate for this post will be able to form positive, empathetic, understanding and compassionate relationships with children and young people and have good interpersonal skills, as well as experience in designing tailored group work programmes. You feel confident communicating, with a solution focussed attitude. As well as evidencing your work, you can prioritise and meet deadlines. You hold knowledge of the current structure, developments, policy, and practice in relation to children and young people experiencing care in Scotland. You are flexible, given the remit of the role, as some evening and weekend work will be necessary, along with a full driving licence and access to transport.

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 role sounds like the opportunity for you, we would love to hear from you.