Community House Ltd is a well-established charity in Alloa, Clackmannanshire with its roots in the local community for over 20 years. Supporting some the most vulnerable families, it employs two part-time Practitioners, 2 part time practitioners Assistant, a part-time Senior Practitioner and a full-time Chief Officer, a cleaner and volunteers

Currently our service delivery consists of groupwork, and we offer a variety to woman and children within our demographic area. Every day we offer an after-school group where children attend from local primary schools via referrals and engage in a fun activity and receive a healthy nutritious dinner. We offer baby massage, Thrive, own my Life and will be running PPP groups for parents. We are expanding our service delivery and hope to be engaging in outreach working supporting families and women who have been the victims of Domestic Abuse. We have an adult helping hands groups which supports adults with additional needs and their carers, offering some respite, fun activity, and lunch. We have a dining area, crafting area, movie room and sensory area along with a large outside space for playing that we are currently looking at developing.

Community House Ltd is seeking committed volunteer Trustees and specifically a Treasurer to join the Board to support the charity in fulfilling its objectives.

Trustees must understand that they are accountable to the Community House Ltd mission as contained in the charity’s constitution ensuring the effective governance of the charity and in collaboration with the Chief Officer.

Specifically, the Board of Trustees are looking for individuals with professional experience in any of the following fields: finance, business, or legal although any other professional vocations will also be considered. Currently the Board of Trustees meets monthly, normally for no more than two hours and when necessary, meetings can be facilitated via Zoom so internet access is vital. All documents are stored on a one drive so access to online facilities is crucial to delivering a supporting role as a trustee. There is also an AGM once a year around September.

Principle Responsibilities

In conjunction with the other Board of Trustee members, the Trustees will: -

• Ensure appropriate governance arrangements are in place and are working effectively for the organisation.
• Ensure Community House Ltd compliance with OSCR requirements.
• Ensure stewardship of Community House Ltd financial position.
• Ensure the Board of Trustees' knowledge base of issues relevant to the charity is kept up to date.
• Ensure the Board of Trustees is regularly refreshed by encouraging the recruitment of new volunteers.
• Work within Community House Ltd agreed policies and standards.
• Address any conflicts which may arise within the charity in a fair and timeous manner.

The Treasurer role is an Office-Bearers role for which there are extra responsibilities: -

• Supporting the Chief Officer of Community House Ltd in financial planning, preparing a budget and monitoring actual expenditure/income against the budget
• Preparing annual financial information for the Community House Ltd accountants
• Monthly Reconciliations

It is not a requirement that applicants are resident in Clackmannanshire, but it is hoped they have a genuine desire to help its communities and believe in the Community House Ltd mission.

Trustees are appointed for a period of one year, extendable annually at the AGM for a maximum of a further three years with board approval.

SKILL AND QUALITIES

Essential Qualities

• Trustees must be supportive of and comfortable with the Community House Ltd mission
• Trustees should demonstrate a strong commitment to the main aims and purposes of Community House Ltd
• Trustees should have good interpersonal skills and relationship and team building abilities
• A good knowledge of administrative procedures
• Ability to provide clear advice on procedural and relevant legislative matters.
• Ability to communicate clearly
• Ability to work with a team

For the Treasurer role:-

• Ability to support the preparations of budgets
• Monitoring and reporting of expenditure/income against budget to the accountants
• Ability to prepare financial information for the annual accounts
• Be a second authority for approving banking payments

Desirable Qualities

• Experience of third sector is helpful but is not necessary for the person taking on this role.
• Previous experience of charity governance would be an advantage but is not an essential requirement for the post.
• A working knowledge and understanding of the Scottish Governance Code for the Third Sector, an understanding of good governance, OSCR, Companies House requirements, relevant legislation, and statutory requirements is desirable.
• An understanding of the challenges facing small charities in maximising income streams, maintaining sustainability, and developing new business.
• An understanding of the Community House Ltd constitution.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Knowledge of the local voluntary sector.

Summary

If you are passionate about providing a positive, caring place for children and adults, that really makes a difference in the community, then this job is for you!

Serving primarily the South and East of Alloa, but with the possibility of a wider scope, Community House is seeking to appoint an experienced Project Leader who has the vision and skill to support existing projects but also to enhance, integrate and develop new initiatives.

About Community House

Community House is an established charity with its roots in the local community for over 20 years. Supporting some of the most vulnerable children and adults, it employs 4 part time members of staff and a full-time Project Leader. With a Christian ethos but open to all faiths and none, the long-established core of Community House is to provide a safe space which welcomes all.

Currently our projects and services consist of a daily after-school club and daily holiday club during the school holidays, a Helping Hands Group for young adults with additional needs, a coffee morning and craft club for older people and a weekly lunch club run in partnership with Meals@The Gate.

Our annual budget is c £100,000, which includes a service level agreement from Clackmannanshire Council and the remainder from medium term grants and charitable activities.

What are we looking for in a Project Leader?

We are looking for a person with proven management and leadership skills, who can lead an organisation and has the drive and passion to help Community House achieve its charitable objectives of providing a safe space for the most vulnerable in our community.

As well as overseeing the day-to-day operations of the charity, the successful candidate will be someone who enjoys the variety of working with children and vulnerable adults as well as looking for new ways of engaging with local people to develop new projects and resources.

They will be a team player as well as a team leader and have the skills to develop and maintain partnership working at a strategic level.

Reports to: The Board of Trustees

A full job description is available to download below.

The post holder will be required to Assist both Community House Practitioners and The Chief Officer in all the weekly activities, including forward planning and preparation of all groups and activities.

Prepare for the daily activities as required in advance of sessions. Prepare snacks/dinners for children and young people and the adult groups and sessions this includes preparing homemade soups, baking etc so being confident in the kitchen is a bonus. Clearing away plates and dishes, loading and unloading the dishwasher, ensuring cleaning is paramount.

Responsible for weekly shopping via Tesco online ordering and in person as and when required. Access to own car is preferable however not essential for the right candidate. If a car user Business Cover Insurance is essential as per our policy as you may be required to get additional shopping or potentially take a patron in your car however this is not common but has been known on occasion.

Prepare refreshments including tea/coffee/juice and other snacks for groups throughout the day. Personally aid service users with games and activities as set out during planning sessions. Actively suggest ideas for groups and thinkshower with staff to bring exciting new opportunities to the organisation. Develop appropriate and positive relationships with the children, young people and adults who use the project.

Ensure that policies and procedures are always adhere. To support practitioners with report writing in line with our policies, these are entered onto the Oasis system in line with GIRFEC. To adhere to confidentiality without exception with the exclusion of any child or adult disclosures relevant to legislation who is at risk.

Must be proficient with admin and able to operate Office 365 although training can be provided. This allows for calendar entries to be kept up to date and to keep the lines of communication open and seamless for the team via email and teams. To clear away activity equipment and sanitise at the end of the session. To meet regularly with the Chief Officer for support and supervision sessions, currently bi-monthly. To undertake necessary training as deemed appropriate with the Chief Officer.

To participate in an annual review with the Chief Officer. General Administrative duties including scanning, uploading of sensitive information appropriately, shredding and diary management.

This description is indicative of the nature of the responsibilities associated with this post. It is not exhaustive, and the post holder may be required to undertake other duties and responsibilities in accordance with the objectives of the Project as deemed appropriate by the Chief Officer and the Management Committee. The contents of this Job Description will be periodically reviewed and updated as appropriate.

Hours of work:

30 hours per week currently 9.30am – 6.00pm with 1 hour for lunch, Monday to Thursday. However flexibility will be required to meet the needs of the service.

Partial funding for this post is supported by Fairwork Incentive so candidates must live in the Clackmannanshire area to be suitable for shortlisting. Candidates must also have access to a car.

We deliver a variety of programmes and activities and will be delivering the “own my life course” in the new year.

This is a programme for women who have experienced domestic abuse, due to this service delivery all staff must be female,

Membership of the Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme is a requirement this post.