Are you passionate about making a difference to the lives of young people? Do you want a flexible, varied and meaningful job in a supportive team? Do you value great employee benefits such as 360 Wellbeing membership and an annual training budget? Apply to join us!

Bridges Project is a leading youth work charity that helps young people aged 12-25 in East Lothian and Midlothian overcome challenges and adapt to adulthood. For nearly 40 years, we have helped young people develop their life skills, improve their educational attainment and move into employment or further education.

We have a vacancy for an Educational Support Worker to deliver an effective casework and group work service to young people experiencing a range of challenges such as non-attendance at school, low attainment, poor mental health and family poverty.

The successful candidate will:

• Support young people to gain employability skills, life skills and accreditation; helping them in to work, apprenticeships, further education or vocational training
• Provide vocational/industry specific accreditation and training to groups of young people alongside individual support to address particular barriers
• Take the lead on the service and to provide an effective interface between young people, partners and stakeholders involved in the service.

This is an exciting position in which the successful candidate will take pride in developing a programme of delivery which will provide young people with clear pathways to positive destinations.

It is essential that candidates have a full, clean driving licence and constant use of a car. Membership of the PVG scheme will be an essential requirement of the post. A contributory company pension scheme is offered with a 10% employer contribution.

Midlothian Young Peoples Advice Service (MYPAS) promotes the health and wellbeing of young people across East Lothian and Midlothian and currently focuses on working in the areas of mental health and substance use. MYPAS is a community-based organisation with charitable status and based in Dalkeith.

The postholder will be responsible for providing counselling with children and young people aged 10-18 who reside in Midlothian. The postholder will assist in establishing, developing, delivering, evaluating and reporting on, the School Counselling service.

Qualified to Diploma level in a Counselling therapeutic discipline, a member of a recognised professional body (either BACP or COSCA) and have experience of working with children and young people, you will also be committed to delivering a service according to best practice and within community settings.

The postholder will work within a multi-disciplinary environment and work effectively with other agencies, especially schools, in partnership settings.

MYPAS will deliver a School Counselling service across Midlothian. MYPAS is providing this service on a contract basis for Midlothian Council.

This post may require evening and occasional weekend work.

You must be able to travel across Midlothian.

Responsible to: Service Manager

About us

The Pavillion is a youth organisation that provides a safe and fun environment for children and young people in the Easterhouse area of Glasgow. We provide activities and life skills for the young people including sports, arts and crafts, drama workshops, volunteering opportunities, girls/boys issue based groupwork sessions, drug and alcohol workshops, mental health groupwork sessions, cooking and healthy living. We help reduce social isolation in the community and promote positive friendships and social skills in our young attendees. Our aim is to create, support and inspire the young people by providing them with opportunities, skills and activities.

We are a fast-paced and progressive organisation that aims to support children, young people, their families and the wider local community through the provision of positive activities and opportunities.

The Pavillion supports and serves its community by; continually striving towards an inclusive facility; being a progressive organisation that meets the needs of its community and being a knowledgeable and informed organisation.

We are a key member of Blairtummock & Rogerfield Partnership; a collaboration of local community based organisations schools, nurseries and the college. We work collaboratively to improve the life chances and opportunities for people living in the communities we serve. As a group of partners, we work across all ages which makes this opportunity exciting, innovative and forward thinking.

About the Project

The 'Young Start Progressions' programme at 'The Pavilion' will be a dynamic 2-year programme, led by young people, supported by staff and volunteers and by existing and new partnership opportunities. Our three-pronged approach aims to empower young individuals across various stages of their development:

Primary/Secondary Transitions Programme: We will provide support for P7, S1, and S2 young people as they transition from primary to secondary school, fostering empowerment, confidence, and improved self-esteem in a non-school environment.

Volunteer Mentoring Programme: Expanding on our successful volunteering mentoring initiative, we offer diverse opportunities for young volunteers, connecting them with roles both within Pavilion and through our network of school partnerships and community collaborations.

Attainment Programme: Focused on enhancing pathways for Junior and Senior Club participants, we integrate life skills development seamlessly into existing activities. From goal-setting exercises, certificated activity programmes to accredited learning and further training opportunities.

Purpose of Job

We are seeking a Programme Coordinator to lead the delivery of this project as well as managing the Attainment Worker & Volunteer Development Worker posts attached to this project.

Being creative, innovative and ideas driven, to support delivery of multiple programmes of activity and be able to forge strong positive relationships with partners are key attributes for this post. The postholder will be responsible for taking a coordinated approach to implementing activities with young people that address the key identified issues affecting them, ensuring their needs are addressed and pathways created that help them to succeed.

The postholder should have experience working with a range of age groups and are able to demonstrate experience in taking a youth-led approach to service delivery.

The Emotional Wellbeing Officer will work closely with the Youth Work Lead, senior Youth Workers, and Youth Work Staff to ensure that an emotional wellbeing offering is run effectively and efficiently and in accordance with service guidelines, policies and procedures. The role’s main purpose is prevention and early intervention to aid and improve the mental health of children and young people aged 8 – 25 years by providing emotional and practical support in one-to-one and group settings. Support and supervision of this role will lie with the Youth Work Lead. It is expected that the postholder will hold their own case load with referrals coming from Cheviot Youth, schools, our partners in social work, police and the NHS and the charity’s Insight Youth division. They will be expected to lead on any service development and policy work, assisted where appropriate by the Senior Youth Workers and the Youth Work Lead.

Responsible to: Cheviot Youth, Youth Work Lead

Pre-Employment Checks: PVG and Satisfactory References

Further Information about Stepping Stones:

This post is part of a partnership approach to youth work where young people can have support, advice and make a difference to themselves and in their communities. Stepping Stones is developed and run by the award-winning Scottish Borders Youth Work Partnership. The Youth Work Partnership is made up of seven lead locality based universal youth groups: Beyond Earlston, Cheviot Youth, TD1 Youth Hub, Escape Youth Services, Connect Berwickshire Youth Project, Tweeddale Youth Action and Rowlands Selkirk.

For further information about Stepping Stones and the Scottish Borders Youth Work Partnership please visit YouthBorders website: Stepping Stones - YouthBorders