Aberlour Guardianship Scotland - National Child Trafficking Support Service

About Aberlour Guardianship Scotland

Guardianship Scotland is a specialist statutory service providing Independent Child Trafficking Guardians (ICTG) to all unaccompanied asylum seeking children, victims of trafficking and children vulnerable to trafficking who arrive in Scotland. We deliver this in partnership with Aberlour and Scottish Refugee Council on behalf of the Scottish Government.

The children and young people we help in Guardianship have been through unimaginable traumas. Now, they must cope with being apart from their families in a strange, new country. They face language and cultural barriers, and they enter complex systems which include the welfare, asylum and trafficking processes which are very complicated, and it can be difficult for them to understand.

We support young people to understand these processes, stand by the young peoples’ side throughout these processes, support them to access the help they need and advocate when needed to ensure their views are clearly listened to. Our guardians support the young people to make informed decisions about their future and to settle into a new life in Scotland.

Could you be the person to support children to navigate complex processes and feel empowered throughout? We have an exciting opportunity for you to join our team.

What we are looking for....

We are looking to recruit nine Guardians, 2 based in Aberdeen, 1 in Inverness, 2 in Edinburgh and 4 in Glasgow. This service is Scotland wide, and you will at times be required to travel to other Local Authorities. You will work 37.5 hours per week, these hours will be worked in line with the needs of the young people and service and may include evenings and weekends.

Please specify in your Supporting Statement your preferred work location.

We are looking for candidates who have a relevant professional qualification at SCQF level 8 and has, or is prepared to work towards, the Office of Immigration Services Commissioner Level 2 Registration.

You will have experience of working with young people and children, dealing with child/adult protection issues, experience of advocacy work, inter-agency and partnership working and a good knowledge or experience of the asylum systems.

At Aberlour we want to make sure every child and young person has the love, support and opportunity they need to reach their potential. If you share the same vision, we want you to join our team. To have a look at our values to understand more about what we are looking for from our employeesclick here

What we offer...

As well as a supportive team and excellent training opportunities, we want all our employees to feel valued and rewarded for the vital work they do. When you work with us, we'll recognise your efforts with generous annual leave, an excellent employer pension scheme and a range of deals and discounts across various retailers. Find out more about our Employee Benefits and our commitment to Equality and Diversityhere.

An exciting opportunity has become available to join Families Outside as our Communications Officer. If you are passionate about making a difference for families impacted by imprisonment and working to tackle and reduce stigma, we want to hear from you!

Staff Benefits

• 25 flexible leave days plus 10 public holidays
• 4% matched contribution workplace pension scheme
• Hybrid & flexible working
• Employee Assistance Programme (Health Assured)
• Cycle to Work Scheme
• Laptop and mobile phone for all staff

The Role

Joining a welcoming and friendly team, you will be working in a diverse and varied role, where no two days will look exactly the same. You’ll be involved in creating content for our social media channels, engaging with press, collaborating with teams across the organisation, developing resources, supporting our fundraising, working with families to bring their voice to the forefront of our communications, and more!

This is an exciting opportunity to take on a role that is vital to helping raise awareness of our service and the support we provide. Our communications are an integral part of Families Outside, and it is our goal for all families impacted by imprisonment in Scotland to know about our organisation.

About You

We are looking for someone who can work independently as well as part of a team, is organised, is confident using all social media platforms, and has an interest in helping vulnerable or marginalised groups.

We are looking for individuals who:

• Have excellent communication skills.
• Can effectively manage their own workload.
• Can collaborate with different teams to produce new ideas and opportunities.
• Can use a range of digital platforms and tools.
• Can demonstrate a strong understanding and commitment to our organisational mission and values.

About Us

Families Outside is the only national charity in Scotland that works solely to support families affected by imprisonment. Imprisonment can often have a huge impact on the things that matter most to families: money and secure housing, safe and connected relationships at home and in the community, and the emotional health and wellbeing of families. Families Outside is dedicated to providing a range of practical, social, and emotional support to people with someone in prison that are relationship-based, prison-aware, and family-focused.

Who Cares? Scotland is Scotland’s only national independent membership organisation for Care Experienced people. Our mission is to secure a lifetime of equality, respect, and love for Care Experienced people in Scotland and we currently have over 3000 Care Experienced members.

At the heart of Who Cares? Scotland’s work are the rights of Care Experienced children and young people, and the power of their voices to bring about positive change. We provide individual relationship-based independent advocacy and a broad range of imaginative participatory opportunity for Care Experienced young people across Scotland; we work alongside corporate parents and communities of all sorts to broaden understanding; we work with policy makers, leaders and elected representatives locally and nationally to shape law, policy and practice on the basis of all that can be learnt from the voices of those with experience of care - working together to build on the aspirations of The Promise and secure positive change.

The post holder will work directly with children and young people with experience of care, in an individual relationship-based advocacy role, and within participation and group activity across our West Central region. This unique role requires you to listen to what children and young people with experience of care say and support them to ensure their rights are upheld and their voices are heard in the processes of making decisions about their lives. You will also help facilitate a broad range of participatory and engagement opportunities and create the conditions for collective advocacy.

The right candidate for this post will be brilliant at forming positive relationships with children and young people. You will have excellent interpersonal and communication skills, both written and verbal, adaptable to a wide range of contexts. You will enjoy working collaboratively with partners. You will be committed to children’s rights, inclusive working, equal opportunities, and believe that all young people can make transformative change happen in their lives if given the opportunity.

The successful candidate will be joining Who Cares? Scotland and working within the West Central locality team 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. Flexibility will be required given the remit of the role. Some evening and weekend work will be necessary, as will a full driving licence and access to transport.

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 Jamie McAnally, our Advocacy and Participation Manager for our West Central team on jmcanally@whocaresscotland.org.

About Aberlour…

We are a values driven organisation delivering around 50 services across Scotland supporting children, young people and families.

Our development team delivers success. We are growing year on year and are looking for the right person to help us continue our success through funding and developing new services and improving organisational sustainability to enable us to reach even more children and families.

What we are looking for...

In joining our dedicated Business Development Team, you will use your experience and knowledge of developing and coordinating tender responses and funding applications to provide a comprehensive and specialist support to the organisation. You will report directly to our Head of Business Development and work closely with specialists to negotiate their contributions and keep projects to completion deadlines.

You will have written and delivered high quality, successful public tenders, ideally in a social care or equivalent environment and have the ability to present information and ideas engaging a wide range of stakeholders.

What we offer...

As well as a supportive team, we want all our employees to feel valued and rewarded for the vital work they do. When you work with us, we'll recognise your efforts with generous annual leave, an excellent employer pension scheme, life assurance worth 3x salary and a range of deals and discounts across various retailers.