We are delighted to offer an exciting opportunity for an experienced Support & Development Worker to join our Midlothian Community Mental Health and Wellbeing Team.

In this rewarding role, you will support people experiencing mental health difficulties by developing, coordinating and facilitating psychoeducational and mental wellbeing groups across a range of community venues in Midlothian.

You will take a person-centred, trauma-informed, strengths-based and creative approach, helping individuals build confidence and self-value, develop coping strategies and access appropriate support. You may also be involved in recruiting, supporting and supervising volunteers to help with the groups.

We are looking for someone with experience in developing and delivering group-based activities, knowledge of mental health and self-help strategies, alongside excellent communication, administrative and organisational skills.

The role will be primarily office-based, with regular travel required to community venues across Midlothian. Flexibility in working hours will also be important to ensure our services meet the needs of the people we support.

If you are passionate about mental health and wellbeing, enjoy working collaboratively and want to make a meaningful difference in people’s lives, we would love to hear from you!

Who we are

Alzheimer Scotland is Scotland’s national dementia charity. Our aim is to make sure nobody faces dementia alone. We provide support and information to people with dementia, their carers and families, we campaign for the rights of people with dementia and fund vital dementia research.

What you’ll do

As Day Services Manager you will be responsible for leading and managing high quality, therapeutic registered day services and commissioned and non-commissioned community supports for people with dementia, those at greater risk of dementia, and their families, and carers within the area.

You will be responsible for ensuring that services are of the highest quality, meet Alzheimer Scotland’s vision for unique therapeutic, highly person-centred support. There is also the responsibility for ensuring that our commissioned services meet all service level agreement, contract specifications and Alzheimer Scotland’s quality guarantees.

You will have overall day-to-day responsibility for the services within the area and will be responsible for promoting the services with key local stakeholders within Health and Social Care as well as relevant other organisations. As Day Services Manager you will manage the referral and assessment process.

You will work collaboratively with the Head of Services to ensure safe practice and delivery of high-quality, person-centred therapeutic day services, ensuring practice complies with Alzheimer Scotland’s policies. You will be responsible for evidencing, reviewing and continually improving the quality of the services and will proactively participate in internal audit and Care Inspectorate inspections. This will include evidencing that services meet Alzheimer Scotland’s Quality Guarantees, Scotland’s Health and Social Care standards and other quality frameworks including those of the Care Inspectorate where relevant. This includes ensuring that the activities and supports offered meet the identified personal outcomes of those attending the services.

You will provide strong line management and leadership to your team, through setting clear objectives and outcomes, regular review within Support & Development processes and undertaking appraisals.

What you’ll have

The successful candidate will have experience of managing a team in a social care, health or other similar setting or be able to demonstrate a clear knowledge and understanding of the key principles and good practice of effectively managing and leading a team.

You will have knowledge and understanding of the Health and Social Care Standards and SSSC codes of practice and the Care Inspectorate and their role in registered services.

Understanding and knowledge of dementia, mild cognitive impairment and Brain Health and experience of working with or supporting people living with dementia and their families.

The successful candidate will have a recognised professional qualification in health, social work or related field, to SCQF Level 7 (SVQ 3)

This post requires a full driving licence and access to a car.

About the Project/Service

As a Senior Practitioner, you will have delegated supervisory responsibilities, including providing day-to-day guidance and support to staff, but you will not hold overall management accountability for the service. You will contribute across multiple projects by helping to create safe, inclusive and person-centred environments where people feel believed, respected and heard, and where they can take part in meaningful activities that build confidence, resilience and sustainable self-management of their mental health.

Change Mental Health offers a community-based Hub at The Gatehouse in Golspie, providing non-clinical, person-centred support in a welcoming environment where people can take part in group activities, peer support and recovery-focused opportunities. The Hub supports people to build social connections, develop knowledge, skills, confidence and resilience, and improve their mental health and wellbeing. Activities include: art; mental health self-management programmes and workshops; walking groups; gardening; wellbeing sessions and confidence-building opportunities.

Change Mental Health also offers Outreach support, which is a Care Inspectorate Registered service. This service provides person-centred, outreach support to adults affected by mental illness in their own homes, in line with the Health and Social Care Standards and relevant policies, procedures and regulatory requirements. We serve the surrounding community of Sutherland with non-clinical emotional and practical support that helps people build the knowledge, skills, confidence and resilience to self-manage their mental health and wellbeing, using practical tools, coping strategies and signposting to the most appropriate next step in their journey. Our Outreach teams are required to register with the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) within the required timescales, maintain registration, and hold a relevant SSSC-recognised qualification for the post.

Purpose of the Role

The postholder will deliver high-quality, hub-based support that is person-centred, non-clinical and community-based, helping people to build the knowledge, confidence, skills and resilience to self-manage their mental health or mental illness and live well in their communities. Alongside line managing hub-based and outreach Mental Health and Wellbeing Practitioners, you will provide guidance, support and supervision that promotes reflective practice, excellent service delivery and positive staff development.

As a Change Mental Health Senior Mental Health and Wellbeing Practitioner, you will be experienced in providing direct support to individuals experiencing poor mental health/ living with mental illness. You will work directly with individuals helping them achieve the best possible outcomes across their mental, physical, emotional and financial health. You will empower people to self- manage their mental health, build self‑confidence, reconnect with others, and become more integrated within their local community. You will be a trusted and experienced point of contact for the team, offering support and guidance to colleagues and peers around working with people who find themselves in complex situations.

The role includes facilitating group activities, offering structured 1:1 support, accompanying outreach Health and Wellbeing Practitioner staff on some of their outreach support visits, undertaking community engagement, and delivering recovery‑focused interventions. You will support people to develop and review personal plans ensuring goals are meaningful and achievable.

Working closely with colleagues, partners and communities, you will contribute to creating an environment where people feel safe and accepted, connected to others, and hopeful for the future. You will adhere to and role model the values of Change Mental Health.

You will support the local management team in their roles to meet national and funder criteria. You will offer ideas and feedback to your line manager to support service development.

Occasional travel will be required for external meetings, training, pop-up hubs and fundraising.

Reports To: Team Lead

Disclosure & Barring Check: This post will be subject to a PVG check for working with vulnerable adults.

Empathy is seeing with the eyes of another, listening with the ears of another and feeling the heart of another”

Alfred Adler

| Compassion | Integrity | Respect | Realising Potential | Inclusion |

Health in Mind is one of Scotland’s best-known and trusted Mental Health Charities. Established in 1982 we have evolved in response to need which means we actively promote positive mental health in local communities across Scotland. Our vision is straight forward, we build hope and live life through our values because people are at the heart of what we do.

We have a great opportunity for an experienced practitioner to join our team. You will bring compassion, integrity, positivity and reflection, delivering effective and high-quality support to those individuals who access support from Future Pathways.

Future Pathways offers support to people who were abused or neglected as a child when they were in the Scottish care system. The service was established alongside the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry and has expanded considerably since its start in 2016. Future Pathways’ aim is to help people live well. To change paths, enjoy life, succeed and grow.

Reaching our shortlist is straightforward providing you can say ‘yes’ to our list of ‘must haves’ below. Please kindly make sure they fit into your career and personal attributes. You can then ask for an information pack and application.

• We’d like a degree in Health and Social Care, Social Work or similar field but, if you hold a recognised, relevant professional qualification at a minimum SVQ Level 4 with relevant workplace experience this works too.
• Up to date child and vulnerable adult protection knowledge together and ideally completion of suicide prevention training such as ASIST.
• You are an exceptional compassionate individual with experience of working with those in society who’ve faced personal challenges, childhood disturbance, abuse, separation, institutional care and trauma
• Curiosity, empathy and a focus on learning, empowerment, collaboration and self-awareness.
• Experience of personal outcomes focused approaches, working in partnership with people to set goals, agree plan and support people to achieve their potential.
• Able to hold hope and walk alongside someone on their journey, you are good at nurturing self-confidence and supporting people to make positive changes in their lives.
• Worked in accordance with the statutory framework and requirement including GDPR, BACP, the SSSC and the Care Inspectorate.

With a great range of benefits including 30 days annual leave plus 10 public holidays and 2 wellbeing days we work fulltime 36.25 hours per week. The salary scale for this post is Point 39 to 43 (£39,047 to £43,202).

Committed to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, we embrace and encourage people from all walks of life, including welcoming applications from Neurodiverse individuals. It is important to us that you feel comfortable and confident and, as such, we are willing to adjust or adapt our application, interview and selection process to suit your needs, including working patterns and hybrid working wherever and whenever we can. Simply contact us and we’ll come back to you.

This role does, however, require periodic but not continuous office presence.