Do you have relevant experience of working with children and young people with a disability/and or autism or relevant experience in a similar sector or work environment?

About Aberlour Options Fife - Respite and Outreach

Options Fife Respite and Outreach provides a range of flexible support through outreach and overnight short breaks at weekends, evenings and school holidays to children and young people with complex learning disabilities and autism. We offer a high-quality child centred service providing positive and enabling experiences for the young people, supporting them through the challenges and complexities that enable them to work towards their individual outcomes and personal goals. We work closely with families and other professionals in providing support tailored around the child’s plan.

What we are looking for....

We are looking to recruit two Young People’s Worker Nights, working four nights on (10 hours per night) every second week. You will play a fundamental role in ensuring that the young people you work with have the best possible experience in working towards their objectives in line with their care plan, supporting children to progress within their individual outcomes. Whilst not without its challenges and demands, this is a highly rewarding role, where the work we do has a demonstrable impact on each young person's progress. Using a person-centred approach, you will provide enabling support ensuring the highest level of physical, personal, and emotional care. We support young people who have epilepsy, need personal care and need gastrostomy feeding. Aberlour, in conjunction with NHS, provides all staff with training.

We are looking for candidates who have a passion for working with young people with disabilities. It is desired but not essential that candidates hold a relevant qualification at an SCQF level 7 or above. Due to SSSC requirements you may be required to gain qualifications after starting with Aberlour.

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.

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 Diversity on our website.

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.

Benefits:

• A generous annual leave entitlement of 29 days PLUS bank holidays
• Up to 5 more days leave for continuous service plus the option to buy and sell leave.
• Gain professional qualifications with excellent training, and development opportunities.
• Flexible maternity, adoption, and paternity packages.
• A pension with a up to a 7% employer contribution rate. Plus, if you pay in to the pension you will receive life assurance cover.
• Staff discount portal with your favourite brands.
• Blue Light Card eligibility with 15,000 discounts from national retailers.

Vulnerable children in the UK need your help

Wherever you work in the Action for Children family, you'll be helping to change the lives of the most vulnerable children in the UK.

Last year, we helped more than 670,000 children and families across the UK. From direct work in communities to national campaigning, we are focused on making sure every child has a safe and happy childhood, and the foundations they need to thrive.

Why Action for Children?

Working here is more than a job. Everyone in the Action for Children family is passionate about protecting and supporting children. It's the sense of purpose that drives us every single day. Because we know that, when we work together, we can make a huge difference to bring lasting improvements to vulnerable children's lives.

A bit about the role

The aim of our Silverton Hub based in Blantyre, is to support children with disabilities. We ensure the child feels involved in their community and enjoys their childhood experience and builds their confidence whilst developing the family's resilience to deal with the day-to-day challenges of their care giving duties.

You'll provide support to a range of young people from the ages of 5 to 23. The support is personalized to each child's specific needs, likes, character and their personality. This is directed through an extensive and well researched care plan which is strongly led by the child's voice.

More specifically your role will involve going out and about in the community with young people introducing them to mainstream activities and supporting them to enjoy new experiences and to follow their own interests. This could include trips to parks, swimming, bowling, and the cinema. It may involve shopping trips, outings on buses and trains, visits to cafes, clubs, and museums.

How you'll help to create brighter futures

You'll work as part of a well supported and trained team who work extremely hard to achieve positive outcomes for our young people.

As a Community Short Breaks Practitioner you'll be;

• Managing cases, completing assessments, planning and reviews to ensure positive outcomes.
• Working within a multi-agency social care multi-agencies, early years or health environments.
• Helping young people with a learning disability have a presence in the community.
• Supporting young people by providing emotional support and keep the child and or young people as the focus and ensure their feelings and wishes are represented in meeting

Let's talk about you

• Experience working within a care environment - preferably working with children and young people with learning disabilities, their families, and carers.
• A HNC/ SVQ Social Care preferred – but candidates without this may have an opportunity to work towards a qualification.
• Confident delivering specialist interventions within young people and their families on a 1:1 basis, group or community setting.
• Easily establish and develop relationships with those young people and their families
• To register with the SSSC (Scottish Social Services Council) within 6 months of starting in post.

Good to know

Please note we are unable to offer visa sponsorship for this role.

Application Process:There are five sections to complete: Personal Details, CV, Supporting Statement & Information, Equality & Diversity, Submission & Declaration.

Talent Pool: We know talent when we see it. But sometimes we find the right person but not for the right job. We'd love to keep your details for when the right job comes up. Let us know if you'd rather we didn't.

Contact: If, for any reason, you need support with your application, please contact Laura McCarthy at Laura.McCarthy2@actionforchildren.org.uk. We'll be happy to give you any support you require.

Diversity, equality, and inclusion

At Action for Children, we're dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace. We actively encourage applications from Black, Asian & Minority Ethnic, and disabled candidates as they are under-represented within Action for Children. We want to take deliberate and purposeful action to ensure equal opportunity to all groups in society and for Action for Children.

Don't meet every single requirement?

If you're excited about this role but your experience doesn't align perfectly with the job description, we'd love you to apply anyway. You might just be the perfect person for this role, or another role within the Action for Children family.

This is a full-time post working 37.5 hours per week. Hours of work can be worked flexibly although there may be a requirement for some work in the evenings or at weekends. There is a 5% unsocial hours allowance included in the salary to accommodate this expectation.

You can complete work from home or utilise a local office base but you may be required to travel to attend meetings.

About Aberlour …

We are a values driven organisation delivering over 40 services across Scotland supporting children, young people and families.

We have a strong record of using knowledge and evidence from our work to campaign for the rights of children, young people and families across Scotland.

With funding provided from The Robertson Trust, we are looking to conduct a specific 3 year programme to focus on public sector debt and the impacts on low-income families.

What we are looking for...

You will collaborate with key stakeholders to explore the views and systems related to the recovery of public sector debt. You will use your research to engage with government nationally and locally to highlight the lived experiences of affected families, to seek fairer policies and commitments that help tackle child poverty.

You will help Aberlour plan and coordinate further campaigning work around the approach to public sector debt recovery.

You will have knowledge of the current Scottish political systems at a local and national level, particularly relating to social justice, anti-poverty and debt recovery policy areas. You will also have knowledge of key policy areas that impact on children and young people, such as the UNCRC and The Promise. You will have experience of writing policy briefings or papers or addressing informed and influential audiences.

Please see the job description for further details about the role along with the required qualification level.

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.