The Yard is an award-winning charity that runs adventure play services for children with disabilities and/or additional support needs and their families.

Join us to help improve the lives of disabled children, young people and their families and carers by becoming our new Family Worker in Fife.

As Family Worker you will be providing information, emotional and practical support to families with children with a wide range of additional support needs, empowering them to understand and access the support available to them from external services.

The Family Worker role is essential in ensuring that families get the right help when they need it most.

About you:

This job is for you if you have:

·experience of working with children and young people with a range of disabilities and additional support needs

·excellent relationship building skills

·knowledge of children’s rights, trauma informed and inclusive practices

·an understanding of child and adult protection practices

·excellent organisational skills and administrative abilities

If you would like to work in a supportive and understanding work environment, ensuring that families feel valued and part of an inclusive community, we would love to have you on board.

The postholder will be expected to operate in line with our values which are: Justice, Equity, Trust, Collaboration and Compassion.

Overview:

All roles at OPFS contribute to our mission of working with and for single parent families, providing support that enables them to achieve their potential and help create lasting solutions to the poverty and barriers facing many single parents and their children. Our core values of Justice, Equity, Trust, Collaboration and Compassion are at the heart of everything we do and underpin all aspects of our work.

The Childcare Connector will contribute to the organisation’s vision of a Scotland in which single parents and their children are valued and treated equally and fairly, by supporting the delivery of various components which contribute to the Edinburgh service, including proactively supporting single parents to find, secure and access flexible childcare that meets their needs, allowing single parents to progress within their current employment, enter employment or enrol in education or training.

The role will include direct work with single parents to understand their needs, their current childcare limitations, and their current barriers to work, education or training. Liaising with childcare providers within Edinburgh, helping single parents access flexible childcare options and know and understand flexible payment options at local and national level is a key element of this role.

This role will include networking and events to promote the Childcare Connector service and will include outreach work with single parents, stakeholders, and partners in and around Edinburgh.

All roles at OPFS contribute to our mission of working with and for single parent families, providing support that enables them to achieve their potential and help create lasting solutions to the poverty and barriers facing many single parents and their children. Our core values of Justice, Equity, Trust, Collaboration and Compassion are at the heart of everything we do and underpin all aspects of our work.

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 be part of our West Central Services, to positively impact on the lives of children, young people and their families. These are innovative services, working alongside children and their families within communities across Glasgow, Inverclyde, Renfrewshire and South Lanarkshire. Our main community hub is in the Pollok area of South Glasgow, where this role would be based.

Children First along with our partners share a determination to act upon the recommendations from The Independent Care Review and deliver The Promise to children and young people. We are also determined that the full incorporation of the UNCRC means that children will have their rights respected in all areas of their lives and will have a real say in the way they are supported.

We’d love to hear from you if you have:

• will possess excellent administrative, IT and financial skills to support the work of Children First
• provide a front-line reception service, as the first point of contact to external visitors and telephone callers, answering questions and responding to queries using own initiative as appropriate to ensure a relational and responsive service is provided
• ability to maintain diaries, schedule and coordinate meetings and appointments
• a cool head and clear minded at times of pressure
• thinks it’s a privilege to work for and on behalf of children and families and
• is kind and will bring their whole selves to the job: heart and mind

Above all else, the most important thing to us is that you are someone that will support the teams who are doing the right thing for children and their families at every turn.

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

You will be based in our community hub in Pollok. Due to the needs of the service, this is a fully office-based role.

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.