goodmoves

Closing date: 10 December 2019 at 11.30pm

We’re looking for a proactive individual with experience of using community organising approaches and/or working in a charity, political or social campaigning environment to join us as a Community Organiser. Experience of local political and policymaking systems and how to influence them is also required.

A decent, safe and affordable home is a fundamental human need, yet tens of thousands of people across Scotland struggle on a daily basis with homelessness, bad housing conditions, unaffordable rents and the threat of eviction. Our strategy sets out a new approach to support local communities to demand long term solutions to this housing emergency, including the delivery of more social housing and to defend hard-won housing rights. To achieve this we are creating a network of Community Organisers, who will be located in each of our Hubs in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee by the end of our three year strategy.

Community Organising differs significantly from one-off charity campaigning and service user participation or co-production as an approach to achieving change. It is a process that seeks to put power in the hands of the people affected by a social injustice or societal problems. We need ambitious individuals who are passionate about our cause to join us at this exciting time. This is your chance to play a part in the fundamental change we are striving to achieve in Glasgow.

Organising, engaging, influencing and working in local communities is critical to all that we do, and this includes running national and local campaigns, influencing politicians and working to build a network of active and motivated campaign supporters. Join us, and you could soon be helping to grow and develop local activism in Glasgow.

About the role

As a Community Organiser, you’ll play an important role in developing local community responses to the housing emergency in and around Glasgow, coordinating and delivering a range of community-based activity including rights awareness workshops and developing and facilitating local activist groups. You will develop local knowledge and create a community organising plan, working closely with the teams in the Glasgow hub and across Shelter Scotland.

We will rely on you to build on existing national and local campaigns and priorities and develop that further in the Glasgow context. Understanding the local dynamic, identifying opportunities, managing projects and motivating others to get involved will also be a large part of this role. You will work closely with the various teams including Glasgow Hub, Campaigns, Policy and Communication amongst others, to ensure the Glasgow community organising activity aligns with existing workstreams and national priorities.

About you

As well as experience of delivering effective community organising activity and/or working in a charity/social campaigning environment, you have a good understanding of local political and policymaking systems and how they operate. We’re also looking for a proven ability to work with and represent an organisation effectively to a range of stakeholders. A good project manager, with lots of enthusiasm and a ‘can-do’ approach, you have strong influencing and negotiating skills too. Finally, while prior housing and homelessness working experience is not a requirement, you’ll need a passion for Shelter Scotland’s issues. A good, affordable, safe and secure home is critical to all of us, yet this is being denied to an increasing number of people. You’ll thrive on the challenge of taking on this issue, working with the community to create relevant campaigns and making it a local priority.

Benefits

We offer a wide range of benefits, including 30 days of annual leave, enhanced family friendly policies, pension and interest free travel loans. Our employees also have access to a tenancy deposit loan, payroll giving, cycle to work scheme and an employee assistance programme.

Shelter Scotland helps millions of people every year struggling with bad housing or homelessness through our advice, support and legal services. And we campaign to make sure that, one day, no one will have to turn to us for help. We’re here so no one has to fight bad housing or homelessness on their own.

To find out more about the role and the benefits of working for Shelter Scotland please visit our website. Apply to be part of our team and be the change you want to see in society.

Safeguarding is everyone’s business. Shelter Scotland is committed to protecting the health, wellbeing and human rights of those we support, and enabling them to live free from harm, abuse and neglect. All our staff will be expected to observe professional standards of behaviour and conduct their work in line with our Safeguarding Policies.

At Shelter Scotland, we welcome and encourage applications from everyone regardless of age, disability, gender, ethnicity, religion and sexual orientation. We also encourage applications from people, who have been homeless or have been at risk of homelessness. We are facing diverse problems, so need diverse people to tackle them.

Shelter Scotland does not accept unsolicited CVs from external recruitment agencies nor accept the fees associated with them.

As an award-winning innovative care provider, we support the elderly and people living with physical disabilities and long-term conditions across Scotland. We pride ourselves on our knowledge and passion for delivering complex care, making sure that our customers receive high quality care services that can range from visiting a few hours a week to several daily visits.

We deliver our vision of helping our customers live their life to the full through the hard work and dedication of our Support Workers who provide our customers with a wide variety of assistance such as personal hygiene, dressing, medication prompts and light household chores in line with their personal support plans.

Blackwood are currently looking for Support Workers to join our Care Services teams to support our customers living in their own homes in the community and/or in our Care Homes. We operate care services in Aberdeen, Dundee, Perth & Kinross, Edinburgh, Stirling, Lanarkshire, Glasgow, Ayrshire and Inverclyde.

Don’t worry about having any previous care experience, we provide comprehensive training and development opportunities to help you become a great carer!

Our main priority for this job role is to find people who can show our values and behaviours. These are:

• Taking responsibility
• Being open and honest
• Keeping our promises
• Having respect and understanding

The ideal candidate must have:

• A commitment to delivering high quality care
• Strong communication, interpersonal and IT skills
• An ability to work independently in the community and as part of a team
• A relevant qualification (SVQ2), this is not essential as training will be given
• Flexibility to work on a rota basis, including early mornings, evenings and weekends.

…Could this be you?

Blackwood offers a range of employee benefits, including:

• Travel expenses and paid travel time between customer visits
• Fully funded SVQ training on completion of probationary period
• Company sick pay scheme on completion of probationary period
• 34 days’ holiday per annum, pro rata for part-time hours
• Company mobile phone
• Company pension scheme and other benefits
• Payment of PVG and SSSC registration
• Recruit both drivers and walkers on care at home runs
• Fully paid induction and shadowing with experienced carers.
• EE Perks – discount packages for family and friends.

Could you help decide how National Lottery money supports communities in Scotland?

The National Lottery Community Fund (the Fund) is the largest community funder in the UK. We are recruiting a new Scotland Committee member. The Scotland Committee sets the direction of our work and takes decisions about our large grants in Scotland. There are seven members including the Chair. We are looking for someone who will add to the broad base of knowledge, skills and experience of current members.

The National Lottery Community Fund: People in the Lead

We believe that when people are in the lead communities thrive, forming relationships, developing skills and sharing ideas. This is the goal we’re working towards - a society where people can take the lead in growing happy, sustainable communities.

We help fund all kinds of organisations in Scotland. Our funding ranges from small grants of under £10,000 through, National Lottery Awards for All Scotland, to large grants in excess of £500,000 investing in projects to develop community owned assets, tackle issues like loss, isolation and loneliness or deliver new approaches to supporting families through early intervention work. Further details of our programmes can be found here: tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/funding

In 2018/19 we awarded 1,098 grants worth over £50 million supporting organisations in every local authority area in Scotland.

Our commitment to supporting Scotland’s young people to thrive continued as we refreshed our Young Start fund, awarding £4 million to projects which put young people at the heart of planning and delivering activity.

But we’re more than just a funder. We also collaborate with other funders, charities and individuals, sharing knowledge and building partnerships, so we can all be as effective as possible. We like to bring our stakeholders and the groups we fund together so that they can share their learning, influence policy and practice and strengthen links between them.

Skills and Experience Required

We want our Committee to have a broad base of knowledge, skills and experience and to reflect the diversity of modern society and the communities that we serve.

Our focus on places has seen the development of closer relationships in communities across Scotland. This has increased opportunities for Committee members work more closely with our Area Teams and engage directly with local stakeholders, grant holders and people who want to apply for funding. The skills and experience we are seeking for this role reflect the need to engage effectively at this level as well as performing core committee roles.

The following criteria are essential for this role:

• An understanding of and interest in the Scottish social, cultural and political landscape and the role of the voluntary and community sector in it.
• An understanding of the principles of the National Lottery Community Fund’s strategic framework ‘People in the Lead’.
• Experience of representing an organisation and willingness to represent the Fund at public events.
• A clear understanding and commitment to achieving diversity and inclusion
• The ability to understand complex issues and make decisions taking into account competing demands.
• An understanding and commitment to the principles required to hold a public post of this nature (The Nolan Principles).

We are committed to enhancing diversity and inclusion in our organisation to reflect the communities within which we work and proactively encourage applications from all groups and communities.

Time Commitment and Remuneration

The time commitment is expected to be an average of two days per month to include the following:

• The Scotland Committee meets seven times a year plus one annual planning day. Most meetings are in Glasgow but will be at other locations across Scotland at least once per year.
• Ad hoc attendance at project visits and meetings with other stakeholders at locations throughout the country.
• The successful candidate will receive an annual fixed payment of £5,232 plus expenses such as travel, and subsistence incurred on The National Lottery Community Fund business.
• The appointment is for an initial period of three years

The purpose of the post will be the leadership, management and development of designated services, staff and projects across the organisation. To provide effective line management to a staff cohort in the delivery of direct advocacy services, engagement and involvement or commissioned work. The role will be to lead the team to excellence in service delivery with a strong emphasis on organisational and service development and quality.

The post will be integral to a management structure of peers and seniors, with direct reporting to the Operations Director or Business Director.