About Citizens Advice Edinburgh

The Citizens Advice Service was first established in Edinburgh in 1939.

Over the years it has grown to deliver services from 5 main Bureaux (Dundas Street, Gorgie/Dalry, Leith, Muirhouse and Portobello) and over 20 project/outreach locations across the capital. In 2007 the separate Bureaux merged to form Citizens Advice Edinburgh (CAE).

Through a team of core and project staff and over 70 highly trained and committed volunteers, CAE provides a free, confidential, independent and impartial service to the citizens of Edinburgh on a wide range of issues including:

• Debt and money
• Welfare Rights
• Consumer issues
• Immigration
• Employment and workforce problems
• Housing
• Relationship and family issues
• Discrimination
• Health services
• Legal rights & responsibilities

The charity is a trusted and well-respected organisation. It enjoys high levels of client satisfaction and the excellence of its training programme is widely recognised. Its volunteer workforce and paid staff are fully committed and strive, with limited resources, to provide the advice sought by thousands of clients each year.

For a full overview of all our services and current work, please visit our website at: citizensadviceedinburgh.org.uk

Summary of Role

Citizens Advice Edinburgh works in partnership with the Edinburgh Integration Joint Board to deliver an outreach advice service from 8 GP Practices in Edinburgh. 4 part-time staff members provide weekly sessions for these sites.

The present vacancy comprises ½ day client contact and ½ day follow-up work for each of the following practices: Inchpark and Southfield. Please note that the specific practices may change. The total working hours are 14 per week.

The service is delivered on site at the practices, unless restrictions prevent this, in which case advice will be temporarily delivered by phone.

The project delivers welfare rights and health-related advice to patients of the named practices. Research indicates that resolving problems with benefits, debt, employment, housing, and family issues can have a positive effect on patient health. Embedding advice services within GP Practices has also been shown to reduce repeated contact between patients and GPs, and to successfully engage clients who have not sought advice elsewhere.

The successful candidate must be experienced in giving advice, particularly in relation to benefits, including appeal and tribunal work. They must have an understanding of the role within the healthcare environment and the impact of poverty on health.

The post holder will be required to assertively develop and maintain links with NHS staff, Community Link Workers, CAE specialists and external agencies.

The health sector can be a challenging environment in which to work. Clients are frequently extremely unwell and may present with multiple, complex advice issues. In addition to possessing the necessary practical knowledge, candidates will therefore require energy and resilience to make the project a success.

Responsibilities

1. Advice work and support

• Deliver Level 1-3 advice and support to patients in accordance with the Scottish National Standards for Information and Advice Providers (Benefits/Money/Housing)
• Work confidently in a practice setting, including accessing relevant practice systems (patient records and appointment bookings)
• Deliver advice remotely by phone and email
• Ensure accurate information and advice is given
• Maintain client confidentiality and, when appropriate, share information securely and efficiently
• Assist in audit processes
• Attend training to stay abreast of current legislation and proactively engage with Continued Professional Development

2. Case Management

• Carry a specialist case load and deliver ongoing support to clients, within the project remit (combination of short-term assistance and in-depth casework)
• Refer clients to other CAE volunteer or staff specialists where appropriate
• Manage referrals to external agencies and partner organisations

3 Project reporting and statistics

• Ensure that accurate, legible and comprehensive case records are kept
• Ensure that accurate statistics are available for reports as required
• Work closely with the senior management team and funder to demonstrate successful outcomes and develop the service

4. Other duties

• Take responsibility for maintaining records and completing reports on work and activities as required for funders, auditors or publications
• Develop strong working relationships with H&SC colleagues
• Carry out promotional activities as necessary to establish and maintain a steady flow of client referrals
• Implement organisational Equality Policies
• Liaise with project colleagues to share peer support and ensure consistency of service delivery
• Any other reasonable tasks as requested by the Senior Management team

Person Specification

Essential criteria

• Completion of CAB Generalist Adviser Training or equivalent
• Recent experience of delivering advice in the key areas of welfare benefits, money, debt, housing and employment
• Ability to understand and empathise with clients facing health-related issues
• Research skills
• Good interpersonal skills and case recording ability
• Ability to establish and maintain good relationships with NHS staff, Community Link Workers and other agencies
• Ability to work independently, under pressure, and with limited resources when required
• Excellent communication and IT skills
• Ability to work flexibly and pro-actively balance workload

Desirable Criteria

• Experience and understanding of the voluntary sector
• Experience of working in partnership with colleagues in related disciplines
• Experience of working effectively in outreach settings
• Demonstrable commitment to the aims and principles of Citizens Advice

Appointment subject to Right to Work checks and Disclosure check

Are you an experienced health or social care professional who has a passion to improve the quality of life and experience of those living with a neurological condition? Then this challenging and extremely rewarding role offers the opportunity to share your expertise, develop your clinical practice and work with a team of

like-minded individuals who support the Huntington’s disease community.

You would join our Lothian Service as a full-time Huntington’s Disease Specialist, in a role funded by Lothian’s Health and Social Care Partnerships.

About the role

Our Huntington’s Disease Specialists facilitate quality care for those impacted by Huntington’s disease and their families throughout the Lothian area. You will focus on case management, specialist assessment, anticipatory care planning, and coordination of support. This requires partnership working with, and signposting to, appropriate professionals/agencies.

Previous experience of working with Huntington’s disease is preferred but not essential. We will provide you with all the condition-specific knowledge you need in addition to funding your place on Stirling University’s CPD course ‘Huntington’s Disease: An enabling approach to supporting families’, delivered in collaboration with Scottish Huntington’s Association.

About you

• You will have an allied health profession, nursing or social work background and current professional body membership
• You will be a skilled communicator with good listening and inter-personal skills
• You will be enthusiastic and motivated to have a positive influence on the quality of life of the individuals on your caseload
• You will have a current UK driving licence and access to a car
• You will have experience of managing the conflicting priorities of a complex, community-based caseload
• You will be able to demonstrate your ability to work autonomously as an integral part of a small team

About us

Scottish Huntington’s Association is the only charity in Scotland dedicated exclusively to families impacted by Huntington’s disease, a devastating hereditary, neurodegenerative condition that causes severe and complex physical, mental and cognitive symptoms. There are currently 800 people in Scotland with symptoms of Huntington’s disease and a further 3200 believed to be at risk of developing the condition.

The successful candidate will join Scottish Huntington’s Association at an exciting time as we prepare to launch Standing Tall: A Strategy for Growth 2023 – 28 to transform the care and support for Huntington’s families throughout Scotland. We are an ambitious and hard-working organisation, recognised at national and international levels for our expertise and approach.

What we offer

• Salary of up to £34,976 per annum
• 36-hour working week
• Generous 32 days annual leave plus 5 fixed public holidays on appointment
• Increasing annual leave days to recognise long service (after 5 years)
• Contribution pension scheme
• An extended and thorough induction period with ongoing commitment to your training and CPD opportunities
• A flexible, hybrid approach to work
• Regular, clinical supervision
• Attention to facilitating peer support with the HD Specialist team throughout Scotland

About Shelter Scotland

Shelter Scotland believes home is everything. Our strategic purpose is to defend the right to a safe home. Our enemy is social injustice.

Shelter Scotland provides information and advice online and through our national Helpline, backed up by specialist legal advice and advocacy. We have Community Teams covering each of Scotland’s 4 largest cities, engaging with communities and partners to understand local issues and to work together to take action on the problems that matter the most. We defend housing rights and ensure every story we hear about the housing emergency counts towards our fight for home: the nationwide movement we are building to demand social housing.

We are looking for people who are passionate about challenging social injustice and who understand of charity governance. We would be particularly interested in hearing from you if you have specific insights and experience regarding anti-racism or if you have experience and knowledge of political influencing in a Scottish context.

If you do and want to help Shelter Scotland deliver our strategic purpose and objectives, we would love to hear from you. We are seeking to recruit two co-optees, to replace existing Committee members.

About the role

Shelter Scotland is a Directorate of Shelter and the Shelter Scotland Committee is a sub-committee of Shelter’s Board of Trustees, providing devolved governance for Shelter Scotland. The Committee ensures there is dedicated oversight, support and specialist scrutiny of Shelter’s work in Scotland. Three members of the Committee are also Board Trustees and the remaining members are co-optees.

This is an exciting and dynamic time for Shelter Scotland, with a highly successful first year of delivering our Strategic Plan for 2022 to 2025, but with huge challenges ahead given the record numbers of homeless cases in Scotland. Your role would be to provide support and scrutiny for the work of the Shelter Scotland Executive Team, in their work to deliver the Strategic Plan. Candidates are not required to reside in Scotland, however you must have up-to-date knowledge and insight of the Scottish context in which we operate and Scottish audiences.

At Shelter, we welcome and encourage applications from everyone. We are facing diverse problems, so need diverse people to tackle them.

Safeguarding is everyone's business. Shelter 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 and volunteers will be expected to observe professional standards of behaviour and conduct their work in line with our Safeguarding Policies.

Into Work

Into Work provides a holistic wraparound supported employment service to disabled and neurodivergent people and those with health conditions, across Edinburgh and the surround. Our projects and services are person-centred and our approach follows the social model of disability.

Co-production is at the heart of what we do; we work with people who have lived experience of disability to help design and shape our projects and services. The aim is to remove common barriers to work and support people towards and into fair and financially sustainable jobs. To help achieve our aims, we have a dedicated Financial Inclusion Service (FIS) available on a 1:1 basis to all clients, covering benefits, income maximisation and cost of living. We also deliver workshops and offer benefits awareness training to external and partner frontline staff.

The base for this role is Norton Park, 57 Albion Road. Edinburgh. It involves hybrid working – remotely from home online and in-person in the community and the office.

The Role

2023 sees Into Work reach 30 years of successful operation. As well as those we support, at Into Work we are committed to the well-being and development of our staff. They are the key to our success and have helped us to deliver services and grow into the flexible, specialist provider we are.

At this exciting time, as we expand our Financial Inclusion Service, Into Work is looking for an experienced Welfare Rights Officer to work alongside our Welfare Rights Lead in providing advice on benefits and conducting comprehensive overall household financial assessments on expenditure and maximising income – including discount schemes and grants/funds available to address the cost-of-living crisis.

The aim is to remove financial barriers to employment, such as anxiety and poverty, including in-work poverty and to create opportunity for those we support. The purpose is to help people feel empowered and confident; able to choose to focus on and consider work, including better work.

This service also delivers impactful workshops to people in the community and to others in support roles. It is adaptable, to suit the needs of the attendees. The post holder would be expected to conduct 1:1 client meetings and workshop delivery. This includes travelling within Edinburgh and also the surrounding area.

About You

We are looking for someone who is empathetic and committed to equality, with recent experience of delivering welfare rights advice on both in and out of work benefits, disability benefits, income maximisation and current cost of living funds. Someone confident in completing full benefit assessments, better off in work calculations, appealing decisions and on potentially representing to tribunal level.

You will need to be organised, flexible and articulate, able to provide a high-quality, professional service online, via phone and in person and become comfortable with the delivery of our group workshops. We’d also like you to be adaptable and happy to respond to new opportunities in line with the development of Into Work’s Financial Inclusion Service.

What’s in it for you?

In return you can expect us to support you to enhance your skill and experience through training and development. We believe this role may suit you if you have the above experience and you are looking for something perhaps a bit different. There is team-working and collaboration with other project colleagues as well as autonomy, variety and opportunity for creativity and helping develop the service as it grows. You can also expect a supportive and progressive working environment which reflects our values of openness, flexibility, perseverance and collaboration.

We hold a silver Investor in People award and are committed to the continuous improvement and development of our employees.

We are also a Living Wage accredited employer and a Disability Confident Leader.

As an Into Work employee you will also benefit from:

A generous starting annual leave entitlement of 34 days, increasing to 37 days with length of service (pro-rated for part time employees).

Employer pension contribution of 7.5%.

Access to death in service scheme.

Enhanced company sick pay.

Paid carers leave.

Free and confidential employee assistance program and services for employees.

Access to cycle to work and Techscheme discounts.