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 Promiseand secure positive change.

As a project, Communities that Care works to create a world where Care Experienced children, young people, and adults are known, understood, welcomed, celebrated, and loved. The aim of the Communities that Care Team is to educate the public about the reality of care (as told to us by Care Experienced people), challenge stigma around care experience, and create the conditions for children, young people, and adults with care experience to thrive.

We are seeking a passionate and talented communicator to join our Communities that Care Team as a Development Officer. Working to shape, deliver, and evaluate our work in schools nationwide, with a particular focus in Edinburgh, you will provide training and support to educational establishments and organisations. You will also lead on the local participation offer for Care Experienced people within Edinburgh; supporting, developing and facilitating our current group and considering how we grow its reach within the local authority.

You will be welcomed into the team and expected to play a key role in supporting the delivery of our wider Communities that Care work, including Care Aware workforce training to employers and organisations.

As an individual with a background working with children and young people, you are adept at creating and delivering learning, teaching, and project plans, with experience providing dynamic training to a range of audiences. Confident writing reports and evidencing practice and impact, you have excellent interpersonal and communication skills, as well as the ability to develop strong professional relationships. Committed to child and human rights, working inclusively, and with the belief that young people can make transformative change in their lives, you understand how structural barriers, social oppression/liberation and intersectionality shape our world. With a deep knowledge and desire to learn about the issues affecting Care Experienced people, you are keen to help create meaningful positive change, challenge stigma, and to keep The Promise.

There is an expectation that the postholder will have a regular presence within the Edinburgh office to connect with the wider team, and across Edinburgh. Home working is offered as part of our commitment to flexible working and wider travel across Scotland will be necessary. Given the remit of the role and the expectation that team members contribute to our diverse programme of local and national participation groups, some evening and weekend work, including overnight stays, will be required. The role also requires a driving licence and access to a car for business use.

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 Donna Nicholas at dnicholas@whocaresscotland.org.

Overview

The Advice and Information Service is a national support service for single-parent families and professionals across Scotland. It provides multi-channel advice on a wide range of topics, ensuring accessibility and inclusivity.

The Advice & Engagement Worker plays a key role in increasing awareness, accessibility and engagement with the OPFS Advice and Information Service. Working collaboratively with colleagues, partner organisations and professionals across Scotland, the postholder will promote the service, build effective partnerships and improve access to high-quality advice and information for single-parent families.

Working within the OPFS My Life and Me framework, the postholder will provide high-quality advice and information through a range of channels, deliver outreach activities, facilitate online practitioner webinars and advice clinics and build the confidence and knowledge of professionals supporting single-parent families. The role will also identify emerging issues affecting families and contribute to service development, policy and campaigning by highlighting trends and barriers experienced by those accessing the service.

The Advice & Information Service is part of OPFS Support for Families Services, providing holistic support to single parents and their children across Scotland. Our work is guided by the six My Life and Me priority areas

• Money
• Health & Wellbeing
• Home
• Work, Education & Training
• Children
• Relationships

Through a person-centred, strengths-based approach, guided by our organisational values of Justice, Equity, Trust, Collaboration and Compassion, we work alongside families to:

• Involve them in shaping the support they receive.
• Strengthen their skills, confidence and resilience.
• Support them to achieve their goals and aspirations.
• Influence positive change in their lives and communities.
• Challenge the barriers and inequalities that impact them.

The Advice & Engagement Worker will contribute to these outcomes by increasing awareness of OPFS services, ensuring families can access the right support at the right time, strengthening partnership working across Scotland and empowering both parents and professionals with the knowledge and confidence to navigate services and improve outcomes for single-parent families.

This is an exciting opportunity to work within our Supportline Advice Service as well as support our Wider aims as a charity.

Our Advice service works alongside support collegues to help families to address the challenges and risks which may have led to vulnerability, promote connection to their local communities, and improve financial stability and resilience. Our aim is to support communties to become more resilient and a place where children feel safe, valued, understood and supported.

The Energy Advisor will work within an integrated model of family support, community connection, and expert Energy advice and exploring money and debt advice. This will enable families to stay connected, keep homes warm and resolve debt and money problems, become more financially resilient and break the cycle of fuel poverty.

A priority for the Energy Advisor will be to increase the Energy advice and support we offer our families and with the capacity of our current services to provide Type I and II money advice in one of the most deprived areas in Scotland.

You will work as part of our National Money Advice team. You will support families within their homes, by telephone and other digital methods deliver workshops within the community and in schools and offer drop-in sessions within the community.

If you have experience of energy advice welfare rights, income maximization, money and debt advice, understand the impact trauma and adversity can have on children and families, and believe that you can apply this to your practice, we want to hear from you.

This is a full time, 35 hours post. Hours to be worked flexibly to suit the needs of families, including evenings and weekends as required.

What we offer

• A workplace with values of with love, with purpose and with strength
• 40 days annual leave, inclusive of bank holidays
• Pension scheme and wellbeing support
• Flexible and hybrid working arrangements
• Access to Westfield Health, giving colleagues and their families confidential counselling support, wellbeing resources, and access to health and lifestyle benefits to support physical and mental wellbeing.
• Blue Light card discount
• A Fair Work accredited workplace

Our Values

Living our values, you will help create a workplace where our people can thrive, ensuring we deliver the best possible support to children and families.

With love, we put children first.

With purpose, we transform lives together.

With strength, we do whatever it takes to protect Scotland’s children.