Working in Care and Support Services

Would you like to make a difference to a person’s quality of life? Would you like to learn BSL while being paid? We are looking for caring and motivated staff to support deaf BSL users to join our team. Could that be you?

Who are we?

Deaf Action is a deaf-led charity, supporting and celebrating deaf people. We were established in 1835 and work with deaf people across Scotland and the South of England. Our work is geared towards empowering all deaf people to achieve their potential and fully participate in society, with equality of rights, access, and opportunity.

You can find out more about us at deafaction.org.

About you

We are looking for people who are caring, fun, motivated, willing to learn and show initiative. The people we support want our team to be friendly, reliable and practical.

If you have experience in supporting people in their own homes, tenancies, or a care home setting, that is beneficial. If you do not, we can provide training. We always provide on the job and formal training, and our workers often go on to complete formal qualifications in social care. If you already have knowledge of BSL that is a bonus, however we can provide training if you do not.

The ideal candidates will be fully committed to our values, which can be found on our website.

The role

We have varied roles within our Care and Support Services such as Care at Home support worker, Outreach Support worker in our services in Edinburgh, the Lothians and Glasgow; as well as Care and ancillary positions at our Care Home at Isle of Wight.

You will be delivering a person-centred service supporting deaf people within our services. This will enable them to fully participate in the decisions affecting their lives, ensuring that wherever possible, service users benefit from informed choice, control, and independence. This will include both activities in the care home, in their own home and within the community which will promote independence and social inclusion.

What do we offer?

• Living Wage Employer - £12 per hour
• Occupational pension scheme with employer contributions
• Generous annual leave entitlement
• 24/7 access to an Employee Assistance Programme provided by Health Assured. Access to the Cycle to Work Scheme and IT Voucher Scheme
• Ongoing support for learning and development through our PDR process
• Training to learn British Sign Language at Level 1 and 2
• Death in service benefit.

Columcille is a creative day support service which offers a wide range of activities for adults with learning disabilities, autism and mental health needs. Activities include gardening, cooking, pottery, arts and crafts, drama, music, dancing, and woodwork.

We are looking to recruit a driver for our 12 seat minibus to provide transport to individuals who attend the centre, as well as outings during the day.

This position is on a temporary basis to cover long term sickness of our driver.

You must be eligible to drive a minibus, ideally with relevant experience and a D1 licence, and be available from mid-August.

About the role:

We seek a part-time (21 hours per week) Learning Coordinator to promote and deliver Lead’s Aberdeenshire Multiply Numeracy Skills Project. This is a learning service for disabled people and carers who experience barriers to learning, work, and further education.

The successful applicant will be committed to:

1) Engaging and supporting disabled people and carers to overcome barriers and embark on personalised learning journeys, making positive, sustained transitions into their chosen progression routes and positive destinations.

2) Being an active part of the Lead Scotland team as we develop new, exciting learning opportunities in Aberdeenshire for disabled people and carers.

This post is home-based in Aberdeenshire with frequent travel around the region and involves regulated work for which a satisfactory PVG will be required. Lead Scotland has a Recruiting People with Convictions Policy.

About you:

You will be passionate about the transformative power of adult learning, be confident in communicating one to one and with groups and have a flexible and creative approach to problem-solving.

You will have great organisational skills and previous experience of supporting disabled people experiencing a range of barriers, of working one-to-one with learners, and of designing and delivering learning programmes. Access to transport is essential due to the nature of the work in homes and communities across the region. You will hold an Assessors Award or be willing to work towards this.

Applications from disabled people:

Lead has Disability Confident status, and we encourage applications from disabled people. All disabled people meeting the minimum requirements will get a guaranteed interview. Information about our commitment to recruit disabled people is available on our website. If you would like to be considered under this scheme, please indicate this in the online form. This will in no way disadvantage you in the recruitment process. All job application information can be made in alternative formats on request including braille, large print and audio and people can make applications in alternative formats.

Recruitment paperwork is kept for 6 months before it is destroyed. Please complete our anonymous equal opportunities form to help us ensure we are attracting a broad range of candidates.

If home-based, you will be required to spend 1-2 days each week in Almonds offices and also attend meetings in person in West Lothian and Edinburgh.

We are looking for a motivated and highly organised Welfare Rights Advice Worker to join our accredited advice service.

The Action Group is working in partnership with Almond Housing Association to provide an expert Welfare Benefits Advice service to its tenants. This will be done by:

• Carrying out benefit checks
• Assisting people make benefit claims
• Helping people to understand their benefits and their rights
• Providing type I debt advice
• Identifying where people need wider advice and support and assisting them to access this
• Helping people to challenge decisions, including representing at appeal tribunals
• Liaising with a range of partners and external agencies
• Collating information and leading on reports for funders

You will be a friendly, positive and helpful person and have the ability to communicate specialist knowledge in a straightforward and accessible way.