VOCAL - Voice of Carers Across Lothian - seeks two enthusiastic and experienced Carer Brokerage Practitioners to join its busy and expanding team to provide brokerage support to carers across Edinburgh and Midlothian.

VOCAL is a carer-led organisation and provides a wide range of services to support unpaid carers in their caring role. Postholders will be expected to work as part of a team, improve outcomes for carers and maximise uptake of VOCAL and community services.

Postholders will be part of a SDS focused project, VOCAL about Independent Living funded by Support in the Right Direction, Inspiring Scotland. They will liaise with staff, relevant organisations and the funder whilst running the project, including Lothian Centre for Inclusive Living (LCiL) who will also have a funded post as part of this project . SDS carer support is already well established at VOCAL, and postholders will be able to benefit from the expertise of the practitioners who have been involved with SDS support to date.

Applicants will evidence excellent people, and communication skills, brokerage and person-centred support work. Applicants will also demonstrate awareness of the diverse range of caring situations, the impact of caring on peoples’ lives and barriers carers face at different points of the caring journey. Good working knowledge of health and social care will be expected, with preference given to candidates with applied knowledge of self-directed support. Applicants will be digitally competent and effective communicators with individuals, carer groups and partner agencies.

Carers of West Lothian is looking for a Self-Directed Support Worker to join their team. This is a new post funded by Inspiring Scotland for 3 years. The post holder will; identify and support carers and people with a learning and/ or physical disability to understand Self-Directed Support (SDS) and social care support; provide information, advice and support to those considering or in receipt of SDS and provide individual and group support.

Fife Carers Centre seeks a Carer Support Worker (Localities) to join their team.

Fife Carers Centre is a well-regarded and well-established organisation that has supported thousands of families and unpaid carers throughout Fife since 1995. The vision of Fife Carers Centre is to ensure that unpaid carers throughout Fife are valued, recognised, and supported to have equal access to a good quality of life that is not prejudiced by their caring role.

You will be based at the Fife Carers Centre in Kirkcaldy, but you will also be working from home and in the community, as part of normal work you will be expected to travel throughout Fife, particularly in the City of Dunfermline area.

Your work will include providing a sensitive, person-centred support service for unpaid and family carers. You’ll be assisting carers to maintain their physical and mental wellbeing by providing carers with a comprehensive information service to enable them to make informed choices about their own emotional, physical, and economic wellbeing. This will include giving one-to-one support to carers in order that they know how to access services helping them to develop self-advocacy and, where necessary, advocate on the carer’s behalf.

You’ll be supporting carers to identify and achieve their own outcomes using the Carer Support Planning process and providing carers with a benefit check, assisting with benefit applications, and very importantly providing a listening ear for carers.