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.

Scottish Book Trust is recruiting up to three Trustees to the Board to aid our ongoing development as one of Scotland's best loved charities.

Have you got what it takes?

Scottish Book Trust believes that reading and writing for pleasure has the power to transform lives, from supporting mental health and wellbeing to breaking the poverty cycle, improving employability, and inspiring creativity.

As Scotland’s only national reading charity, our mission is to ensure people living in Scotland have equal access to books and, every year, we deliver our world-class programmes and annual awards to well over two million people. From introducing books and storytelling to pre-school children to inspiring and empowering adult readers and writers, we believe it's never too early – or too late – to begin a magical journey with words.

We believe that Trustees with different backgrounds and experience are more likely to encourage debate and to make better decisions. We are looking for people who will be passionate supporters of our mission, whose lived experience can help shape the impact of our programmes and improve how we engage with our beneficiaries.

We are particularly interested in candidates who have experience of:

• working for or in partnership with local authorities
• the social and educational effects of poverty
• fundraising and building a donor base
• financial planning and oversight
• working for or in partnership with the Scottish Government.

Are you passionate about promoting equality and human rights in Scotland? Do you have experience operating at a senior level, with a commitment to good governance? If so, we have a unique opportunity for you to make a difference as a Scotland Committee Member for the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

Our Scotland Committee is responsible for overseeing and guiding the Commission's work in Scotland, advising on policies and programs affecting people living in Scotland, contributing a Scottish perspective to the Commission's strategic and business plans, and advising on matters relating to equality and human rights.

As a Committee Member, you will work closely with the Scotland Commissioner, Dr Lesley Sawers, and support the Commission's important work of promoting equality and human rights for the people of Scotland. You will have the opportunity to shape the development of policy and strategic priorities in Scotland, represent the Commission in Scotland, and engage with other Committees to learn and contribute.

But being a Committee Member isn't just about the work you'll be doing. It's about the impact you'll be making. Our current Committee Members have shared how being a part of the Committee has given them a unique opportunity to make a difference, to influence the equality and human rights agenda in Scotland, and to develop their personal skills through interesting and thought-provoking debate on current equality issues.

To be considered for this unique opportunity, we are looking for individuals with significant experience operating at a senior level, ideally within the business or private sector, with a proven knowledge of the context of the equality and human rights agenda in Scotland, a practical understanding of the social, economic, cultural, legal and political context in Scotland, and a commitment to good governance. We particularly welcome applications from people who belong to disadvantaged groups.

If you have a passion for promoting equality and human rights, along with the necessary skills and experience, we invite you to apply. You will have the chance to work with dedicated and expert colleagues, shape policy and strategic priorities, and make a real difference in the lives of people in Scotland.

Can you help us achieve our vision: ‘a Scotland where all parents and families are valued and supported to give children the best possible start in life’?

This an exciting opportunity to join a small yet powerful charity dedicated to influencing policy and practice for parents, children, and families.

Background

Parenting Across Scotland (PAS) is a membership organisation that supports parents and families. We find out what matters to parents and families and what they need, and we raise this with policymakers including politicians. We also share research, policy and good practice with people who work with families. We support the development of innovative national test solutions such as the recent Open Kindergarten model of support to parents and caregivers. The charity has made a significant difference since setting up in 2008, and has contributed to important changes in public policy for parents and caregivers.

Our members are major charities that work with children and families: Aberlour, Children in Scotland, Contact Scotland, Families Affected by Drugs and Alcohol, Families Outside, Home-Start, One Parent Families Scotland, Relationships Scotland, and Scottish Adoption. Their diversity allows us to bring depth and resonance when we advocate on behalf of parents.

We are entering a new phase.

We have refined our strategy in recent months and are recruiting a new chief executive to put it into action. Elements of our strategy include diversifying our sources of income and bringing sharper focus to our work programme. We want PAS to contribute significantly to improving families’ lives and the longer-term outcomes for children and young people.

What we are looking for

We are recruiting new members to our board of trustees to help us achieve our vision and strategy. This an exciting opportunity to join a small yet powerful charity dedicated to influencing policy and practice for parents, children and families. New trustees will have the chance to develop their own skills and interests while working with fellow trustees to guide and support the new chief executive. You will receive any training you need to carry out this valued role.

We are looking for new members with a variety of experience and skills, and from all walks of life. We would particularly welcome individuals with a background in:

· generating income

· developing policy

· business development

· finance

· research around parenting/parents/children and families