Are you passionate about supporting parents?

Are you passionate about supporting people with care experience?

Are you frustrated at having to spend more time on reports than engagement?

If you answered yes to these questions, then please check out our job opportunity below!

We're Hiring! Join the Why Not? Trust as a Community Development & Engagement Team Member – Central Scotland

Online Info Sessions to find out more about us and the role:

28th May from 4:00-4:30pm - weblink: teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19:meeting_M2QyNTViNWEtZTIwNC00ZDZiLTlmZWMtYTY1MzkzMzRhZTc3@thread.v2/0?context={"Tid":"b6e83a2e-3116-4da3-8d6c-502816d15860","Oid":"986ee5a4-dd23-4506-a003-3c5283a65b04"}

4th June from 4:00pm-4:30pm - weblink: teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19:meeting_MDg0MGZlNzEtODhhMi00OWExLTg2YzMtMDY3NWZmZTlmZGRi@thread.v2/0?context={"Tid":"b6e83a2e-3116-4da3-8d6c-502816d15860","Oid":"986ee5a4-dd23-4506-a003-3c5283a65b04"}

The Village

The Village was co-created with care experienced parents, to provide trusted relationships and opportunities for new parents to connect with others with shared experiences. Now part of Why Not? Trust, The Village is a mainly online community, a confidential safe space, where parents can reach out for support and support each other. As a community, not a service, we do not undertake assessments, or write reports on people. We offer a social support network, offering the support in early parenthood that everyone needs.

If you are successful in this role, you will be…

You will be responsible for our work in Central Scotland supporting parents who have been impacted by care. Our aim is to reach all expectant and new parents with care experience in Scotland and ensure they are aware of what is being offered through The Village and our other Why Not communities. You will use a variety of approaches, communication methods and platforms to maximise engagement, including both in person and digital options. In this innovative role you will engage with statutory, health staff, and third sector staff building knowledge of The Village and promoting our work.

You will work alongside supportive colleagues creating a welcoming environment within The Village, creating material to share, leading group activities and developing positive trusting relationships with individual parents. You with others will look to develop self-assessment prompts which can be used by parents to help them recognise what areas they may wish support and to measure their own progress in different areas. You will engage groups of parents with different support needs, including but not limited to:

Pregnancy planning and newly pregnant parents; Parents of toddlers and preschoolers; Parents whose children are no longer in their care; Kinship parents

Using a coaching style approach, Team Members will be available to answer individual questions and offer individual support to the parents via telephone calls and text/voice messages. Any support offered will be directed by the parents, at a pace that is comfortable for them. Goals will be identified and agreed allowing the parent to be in control of all interactions but encouraging the parent to recognise their own strengths and areas where they would like to strengthen. Team Member will aim to empower the parent, recognising strengths and developing confidence through sharing and encouraging learning and reflecting on experiences.

Team Members will work together to create the positive online environment offering information which will be helpful for parents and parents to be, including podcasts, blogs, and parenting education through storytelling. There will be a focus on recognising any specific needs of parents who have experienced care, including the stigma that can be experienced, however, will also recognise the shared needs of all parents and the processes and systems encountered by all.

Opportunities will be created through events and facilitated groups for parents to increase their social and support networks.

Team Members will contribute to team development through active participation in team meetings, peer supervision and continuing professional development opportunities.

The role will be mainly home-based with flexible pre-agreed hours, but there will be a monthly team meeting and occasional engagement events across Scotland.

There will be some travel within the identified locations, facilitating group activities or meet ups, and building connections and promoting our work. There may be a requirement for occasional evening or weekend work to suit specific project needs. A UK driving licence is required for this role.

Line Management and professional development

Team Members will be line managed by the Why Not Trust, Operational Lead.

The team members will contribute to regular peer supervision and reflections sessions to ensure there is a cohesiveness as a team and clear understanding of strategic priorities.

The team members will take part in regular CPD events, responding to emerging themes and recognising individual needs.

A robust induction process will be offered.

Everyone's behaviour will be led by the principles of The Why Not Trust.

Why Not Principles

These principles are what underpin all we do; they show our values and shape our behaviours. They make it clear to all what they should expect from us and what we expect from them.

#1 Show respect - everyone is worthy of being treated with a high level of respect. Stigma and discrimination are not welcome, and we will strive to eliminate both.

#2 Be Kind – We cannot control other people’s behaviour, but we can control our own. We will treat people with kindness and use curiosity and listening to understand other perspectives.

#3 Be human – we are all human and no matter how well intended we are, we will all make mistakes, we will own these and learn from them. We will help each other learn by being honest with each other.

#4 Promote the positives – we will focus on strengths and support learning in every way we can. We will celebrate success and recognise achievements. We will recognise everyone is doing their best.

#5 Be ambitious – we will strive for success in all we do, recognise the change we want to make and go for it!

#6 Recruit allies – we will work with others to achieve our aims and support others to achieve theirs.

#7 Champion individual growth – we will support the development of individuals, promote opportunities, and develop leadership qualities.

#8 Keep it real – we will do our best to recognise when we or others are feeling challenged and offer support where we can. We will pull together; no-one is too important to help do what needs done. We will strive to avoid jargon and use inclusive language.

#9 Be storytellers – we will share our learning and tell our generic stories or share themes, where it supports learning. We will not share individual ‘case studies’ or require people to tell their story.

#10 Listen to learn – we will listen to people to learn, not to respond. We will allow others processing time and go at their pace.

Closing Date: 11th June 2025

Interviews tentatively scheduled for Friday, 20th June and Tuesday, 24th June

Weblink to application: forms.office.com/e/YiyANjJRxn