Are you interested in joining an award-winning Scottish charity whose aim is to provide support to people whose lives are affected by mental health problems or illness? Change Mental Health have an exciting opportunity in the Highland area for someone with a passion for improving the lives of people who care for family members or others affected by mental health issues, making use of their skills and experience in support work to make an impact on mental health and welfare and to help us improve services for carers.

In this varied and exciting, new role, you will lead a Carers Support Service with the aim of supporting Mental Health Carers and contribute to research on the provision of Carers support. Working alongside our Highland Area team, the role offers you an opportunity to make a positive difference to the lives of Carers and people affected by mental health issues.

Who are we looking for?

The ideal candidate will have experience of supporting carers, mental health support and managing staff, and will have a basic understanding of research work.

We are committed to exploring flexible working opportunities, which benefit the individual, and the charity and we are a “Happy to Talk Flexible” employer. For an informal discussion, please contact Rosita Novak (Locality Manager) on rnovak@supportinmindscotland.org.uk

If you are passionate about enabling Support in Mind Scotland to deliver a valuable service to the Scottish community and feel your profile matches this role’s criteria, then we want to hear from you!

Why work with us:

Change Mental Health is a leading national mental health charity providing unique support to people with severe and enduring mental ill health. With 50 years’ experience across Scotland, we believe people affected by poor mental health and illness deserve the highest quality of support in the community and that every person has the right to be valued and to share in the opportunities, challenges, and joys of everyday life.

Our person-centred approach puts the people we work with at the heart of what we do ensuring they have greater opportunity, can build confidence and social skills, and become more integrated into their communities. By building connections and support around individual needs, our team of nearly 200 staff and 800 members value the lived experience which informs the services we deliver. We look beyond illness by taking a holistic approach that ensures no one has to face mental ill health alone.

Benefits

• Professional development including funded opportunities.
• A generous 37 days’ holiday.
• Access to travel season ticket loan.
• A great work life balance with flexible and blended working environment.
• 24/7 access to an award-winning Employee Assistance Programme providing free legal, financial and medical advice as well as support with life’s challenges.
• Enhanced sick pay and leave entitlements
• Paid Mental Wellbeing Days
• Cycle to Work Scheme
• Blue Light Discount Card

Relationships Scotland–Counselling Highland (RS-CH) is based in Inverness and covers the whole of Highland. We offer relationship support for everyone in Highland over 16 experiencing relationship difficulties, whether married, single, living together, in civil partnerships, divorced or separated.

Relationships counselling is aimed at improving communication within relationships and dealing with issues around relationships. Counselling gives couples and individuals the opportunity to understand and explore the relationship issues they are facing – communication problems, mental health problems, major life events such as bereavement and divorce and other issues causing unhappiness.

Our service provides a safe, confidential space where our clients can talk and feel listened to. Our Relationship Counsellors are trained to diploma level, work to agreed professional standards and are accredited by various external bodies including Counselling and Psychotherapy in Scotland (COSCA). Our policy is that our service should be accessible to all, irrespective of ability to pay so we do not charge a fee but ask for earnings related donations for counselling sessions.

The pandemic caused us to increase our use of online platforms to engage with clients and this has had the positive effect of making us more geographically inclusive. We now reach clients in the most remote places where communities are fragile and family relationships are crucial to their resilience. We still offer face to face sessions at our premises in Inverness for those who prefer this method.

RS-CH are delighted to be recruiting for a new Manager. This role offers a fantastic opportunity to continue to grow our organisation.

Role

The Manager will provide leadership to the organisation, develop its organisational strategy and will have responsibility for a small admin team of 4, a counselling team of 13 and a volunteer team of 4. The Manager will work with the Board of Directors to ensure the charity’s continued long-term sustainability.

With demonstrable experience of working in a similar role, you will have a pragmatic and highly organised approach. Strong written and verbal communication skills are essential. The ideal candidate will have a good understanding of the third sector and may well have a track record in a leadership role. You will be someone who thrives in a busy position and is enthusiastic about working in the charity sector. Please see our Job Description for more details.

If you would love to use your skills, talents and experience to be part of a diverse and dynamic organisation, we would love to hear from you.

About Us:

Change Mental Health provides support for people whose lives are affected by mental health problems or illness. We do this throughout Scotland by offering a range of services to people directly affected by a mental health issue and to those who care for them, whether family, friend or supporter. We are committed to delivering services shaped by the lived experienced of people affected by mental health. We believe in a holistic approach to providing support and aim to empower our service user to make the best use of what help and support is available to them.

About the DBI Project:

Change Mental Health is the lead partner in Dumfries & Galloway for the Scottish Government’s Distress Brief Intervention project (DBI). The DBI is a Scotland-wide project, testing a ground-breaking approach to addressing the emotional and psychological pain experienced by people in distress.

Working in partnership with frontline services, including Police, Ambulance service, Primary Care and mental health teams, the project provides rapid referral to focussed, short-term support, with the option of onward referral to longer-term support if required. As a DBI Coordinator, you will join this major, high profile Scottish Government project in a key role.

For further information about DBI and our involvement in the project, head to our website and visit DBI.scot.

About the Role:

We are seeking to appoint 2 highly motivated individuals to join our DBI team. DBI Coordinators provide support, advice and personal support planning for people referred from front-line services, carrying out short-term work with people in distress to review the reasons for their distress, develop immediate coping strategies and link them into a range of appropriate community services and facilities.

The purpose of this role is to work with people in distress who are referred by front line services (including Police Scotland, Scottish Ambulance Service, NHS24 and Primary Care) to the Level 2 Distress Brief Intervention team. The work includes: reviewing the reasons for distress, working with individuals to develop their Distress Brief Intervention Management Plan and using supported referral to link individuals into a range of appropriate community services and facilities as appropriate.

Training in Level 2 Distress Brief Intervention, specific to the post, will be provided.

The post holders will be required to join the PVG Scheme, or update their membership record for regulated work with protected adults. (The costs are met by the employer)

These posts are part time, working 28 hours per week, office hours of 9am – 5pm with some weekend working on a rota basis (approx. every 8wks)

If you are interested in this opportunity but are unsure that you have all of the qualifications and experience necessary, please do not hesitate to get in touch for an informal discussion with Lisa Anderson, the Distress Brief Intervention National Project Manager on 07739 216 453 or email Lisa.Anderson@changemh.org

Why join us?

This is a great opportunity to join a thriving award winning charity, and help shape its future. In return for your work and dedication, we offer scope for development, a benefit package including 37 days’ holiday, enhanced sick pay, family friendly policies and access to our Employee Assistance Programme.

Find out more about what we do and who we are at changemh.org

We are looking for a Community Activity Organiser in Perth and Kinross.

This post is funded by a grant from the National Lottery Community Fund’s Improving Lives Fund.

The post holder will work in partnership with colleagues, people with dementia and their families to:

• Plan, develop and facilitate a wide range of therapeutic and social activities.
• Promote activities through social media and other platforms.
• Review and evaluate activities providing regular reports of outcomes.

Proficiency and confidence in using and supporting use of digital platforms and social media are essential for this role.

Successful candidates will have a positive approach to dementia supported by excellent communication and networking skills and an empathic, positive attitude. Having a creative flair and being a self-starter would also be an advantage as well as having experience of working with people with dementia. A willingness to develop through ongoing learning is essential.

Occasional evening and weekend work may be required and a driving licence and access to a vehicle is essential to the role.