About Aberlour Options Lothian

Our Options Lothian service offers an exciting range of short break residential and non-residential services for children and young people who have a significant learning and/or physical disability. The support we offer includes residential short breaks and a support service for the children and young people. The service is a national referral service for children and young people aged 5-23. Currently children and young people access the support service after school on Wednesdays and come for residential short breaks on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. The service not only provides families with a short break and time to ‘recharge’, but it brings together children with significant learning disabilities. It offers them a programme of activities which are fun, stimulating and safe, creating an opportunity for them to make friends and pursue leisure activities out with the school and family environment.

What we are looking for....

As Service Manager you will lead, manage and develop services for children, young people and families in line with service objectives and Aberlour’s strategic planning framework. You will be responsible for the development and delivery of the service, working collaboratively with families, community partners and our Local Authority colleagues. You will have relevant experience of working with children and young people with a disability in a community or residential setting. An understanding of the impact of disability on social inclusion is an essential requirement.

You will have demonstrable experience of empowering, working and engaging with young people and their families to achieve positive outcomes. You will have previous management experience, preferably within a residential childcare setting, with an ability to motivate, support, develop and supervise others. You must possess effective planning and organisational skills.

As part of a small team, you will ensure that the highest level of physical and emotional care is provided to the children and young people. Applicants will have an understanding and commitment to children with a learning disability. You will ensure that all workers understand and meet their obligations to protect and promote the welfare and comfort of the children and young people. You have a key responsibility to secure and maintain safeguarding at all times.

You will have a relevant professional qualification at SCQF level 9 or above, plus a management qualification at SCQF level 8 or above, or equivalent knowledge acquired by other means. You are required to be registered with the SSSC and hold or be willing to work towards relevant professional qualifications to meet SSSC registration requirements.

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. Aberlour has strong values - Respect, Integrity, Innovation and Challenging - which influence our work. If you are applying for this role please tell us about your values in your supporting statement.

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.

If you have any queries please e-mail: jobs@aberlour.org.uk.

Aberlour is committed to the safeguarding and welfare of all our service users and uses a thorough and rigorous recruitment and selection process including PVG Scheme checks to ensure this commitment is not compromised.

This is an exciting opportunity to carry out an important role within an innovative partnership between Children 1st and the Health & Social Care Partnership and Education Department within East Renfrewshire.

You will be joining our Children 1st Care Experienced Attainment team who operate alongside colleagues within Education and Social Work to reduce the attainment gap between those young people who are care experienced and those who are not. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to grow and learn without barriers, allowing them to feel loved, nurtured and supported to realise their dreams. The care experienced community is full of people who inspire us every day and by working alongside them, we can begin to understand their story, listen to what might help and ensure an equality of opportunities.

Working closely in partnership with colleagues from education, health, social work and other parts of the third sector, you will provide a crucial role in supporting the emotional wellbeing of children and young people within the context of their education, their family and their wider world.

What kind of person will make a great Project Worker for Children 1st?

• has experience of keeping children safe in their own families
• is fiercely passionate about children’s rights
• thinks it’s a privilege to work with and on behalf of children and families and,
• is kind and will bring their whole selves to the job: heart and mind

What kind of Project Worker will you be?

Knowing our ambition for children, you will be someone who is:

• resilient, skilled and knowledgeable who wants to transform children’s lives
• determined to support children to stay safely with their own family
• big hearted and courageous
• able to build strong relationships and to manage the tricky conversations
• compassionate and understanding of trauma
• a cool head and clear minded at times of pressure
• inspiring colleagues and teams to be even better
• an amazing ambassador for children and Children 1st

If you have experience of supporting children and young people within an education environment and have a passion for working alongside families, have experience of keeping children safe, are committed to restorative approaches, and have a professional qualification in a relevant area such as Social Work, Teaching or equivalent in Child Care/Social Care or related area, accredited counselling qualification, or other relevant qualification at SCQF level 9 or higher then we want to hear from you. In particular, we are seeking to further enhance our diversity from the perspective of ethnic origin, sexual orientation, gender and disability.

Base

Your base will be shared between connecting in schools, our office in Giffnock, home working and time spent alongside families in their local community.

Salary, Conditions, Pension

We will offer you a competitive salary, generous annual leave entitlement (40 days inclusive of 9 public holidays), flexible working opportunities and a contributory pension scheme.

Further Information

This is fixed term, full time post of 35 hours a week, funded until 31 July 2023. Hours to be worked flexibly to meet the needs of the service. However, Wednesdays are seen as our ‘core day’ and when essential service activities take place such as team meetings.

The Children’s Wood thechildrenswood.co.uk is seeking to strengthen its skill set on the Board. To this end we are seeking new Trustees :

• with an interest in and preferably experience of safeguarding.
• with administrative experience to take on the role of secretary working with the Chair and our members to raise the profile of the organisation
• with HR experience to assist us to provide excellent employment experience for our part-time and sessional staff

About The Children’s Wood

The land between Kelbourne, Sanda and Clouston Streets - G20 8QW became derelict in the 1970s after it ceased to be playing fields for the local Secondary Schools which had closed. Residents fought a long battle to stop developers building on it and to retain it as green space. In 2015 The Children’s Wood was registered as a charity - SC045378. It has been described as a real “secret garden” in the heart of a residential area.

In addition, the charity established a youth- based programme known as G20 Youth Festival led by local young people. With a varied programme at an indoor base, they are encouraged to enjoy being outdoors and cooking for the local community.

Vision

Our vision is for a safe place for small children to play and thrive, young people with challenging life experiences to connect positively with their community and local residents to find a green oasis within a busy city.

Benefits

These are unpaid appointments. However, the return is considerable. You will gain experience in shaping the future of a young charity. You will learn about the considerable support and advice provided by various agencies in Scotland to enable Third Sector organisations to thrive. You will work with like-minded people whose life experiences and values will enrich yours. At present the Board meets 4 times a year but there is a necessity for engagement more frequently. Expenses will be covered but most meetings are on Zoom.

Pregnancy Counselling Care (Scotland) (PCCS) is an Edinburgh based charity that offers material aid and counselling support to families in need struggling with pregnancy or early parenthood.

We are looking for enthusiastic volunteers to drive forward our post-covid recovery and expand our practical and emotional support to families.

As a Director you’ll have the opportunity to use your skills in a leadership role to make a genuine difference to the lives of others.

Our Board of Directors are responsible for:

• Setting strategic direction.
• Providing leadership to staff and volunteers.
• Ensuring effective governance, including financial and risk management, and compliance with relevant legislation and good practice.

Although desired, no previous experience of being a Board Member or experience of the charity sector is required.

You will be inducted into your role by existing Directors and will have the opportunity to meet the staff & volunteer team and visit our Baby Bank in Leith.

We particularly welcome experience in areas of:

• law & legislation
• charity management
• governance
• management
• financial planning and practice
• HR
• health and social care
• accountancy and financial planning (for Treasurer role, see below)

For a board director position, we are looking for someone who:

• Is a good communicator and will share ideas and expertise.
• Is committed to our work and is open and empathetic to the experiences of those who access our services.
• Will input into the development of policies and procedures.
• Will act as an ambassador for PCCS.
• Can attend Board Meetings every 6 weeks (held online via Zoom).

In addition, for the role of treasurer, we are looking for someone who:

• Has an understanding of accounts and financial risk management.
• Will monitor the financial administration of the charity through at least quarterly meetings with senior staff.
• Will report to the Board on financial matters.
• Will support staff with effective financial management.
• Will act as a signatory for bank matters including authorising payments.
• Will present the annual accounts at the Annual General Meeting.