Volunteering Development Officer – Children, Young People, and Families

Role Title:              Volunteering Development Officer – Children, Young People, and Families        
Weekly Hours:        35 hours for 12 months or fewer hours for a longer period.
Status/Duration:     Temporary
Remuneration:        £27-30K(with starting point depending on experience and current/previous salary)
Probation:              three months
Location:                blended working between home, VANL office and community venues in North Lanarkshire

Offer letter and contract provide full terms and conditions

  1. Role Purpose and Background

This role is to provide additional capacity to support the volunteering development with children, young people and families across North Lanarkshire as part of the Community Solutions programme.

Community Solutions is an exciting, respected and effective partnership programme which supports community and voluntary sector (CVS) organisations to improve people’s wellbeing, promote equality and provide support to vulnerable people across North Lanarkshire by:

  • funding 6 locality host organisations to facilitate joint working at local level, including sharing information and good practice; identifying priority needs; managing allocation of small grants and more
  • funding nearly 200 services/projects delivered by diverse CVS organisations to provide health and care support to local people
  • supporting wider community engagement in the Community Solutions programme and health and social care
  • promoting the Community Solutions values and approach and share learning from the programme to inform wider improvements in health and social care.

The Community Solutions programme was established in 2012 and now has recurrent annual funding of around £1.2 million from Health and Social Care North Lanarkshire (HSCNL), plus additional fixed-term funding from HSCNL and other sources which varies annually.

VANL hosts and manages the programme on behalf of HSCNL, supported by a Senior Manager post, VANL’s CEO and other VANL staff. The programme is governed through a partnership Governance Sub-Group, with regular reports to HSCNL Strategic Leadership Team and Integrated Joint Board and VANL’s Board.

  • Reports to and supported by:  Senior Officer Children, Young People and Families (line manager); Manager Volunteering and Community Development (support)
  • Direct Reports:  none
  • Key Responsibilities

4.1 Role Specific

  • To work with community and voluntary sector (CVS) organisations, North Lanarkshire Council, NHS Lanarkshire, Police and Fire and Rescue to increase volunteering roles to increase support for children, young people and families to improve their health, wellbeing and inclusion and support for community climate action and green wellbeing.
  • Work with community and voluntary sector organisations, schools and New College Lanarkshire to increase volunteering participation by children, young people and families to increase the number of children, young people and family members who volunteer to provide support to these groups and also to other groups such as older adults.
  • Work with North Lanarkshire businesses to increase employer-supported volunteering that supports children, young people and families.
  • Support matching of children, young people and family members to volunteer roles.
  • Provide support to organisations that involve children, young people and family members in volunteering.  

4.2 Professional and Corporate

  • Fulfil the role to the highest possible standard, acting professionally at all times in line with VANL’s corporate values.
  • Uphold VANL’s reputation at all times.

5. Person Specification

 Essential Desirable  
5.1 Educational Attainment    
5.1.1 Degree in relevant subject (e.g. Community Development)   x
5.1.2 Specialist training/qualification  (e.g. volunteering support)   x
5.2 Values, attitudes and knowledge    
5.2.1 Understanding of volunteering approaches and support and its benefits, especially in relation to children, young people and families.  x 
5.2.2 Understanding of inter-generational support through volunteering.   x
5.2.3 Understanding of community development principles and approaches.   x
5.2.4 Commitment to and understanding of the mission and values of VANL or a willingness to develop these  x 
5.2.5 A genuine interest in and knowledge of the community and voluntary sector and/or a commitment to develop this.  x 
5.2.6 Commitment to making a positive contribution to residents and communities in North Lanarkshire.  x 
5.2.7 A positive and “can do” attitude with a willingness to reflect, learn and improve.  x 
5.3 Skills and Qualities and Experience  
5.3.1 Experience of community development and/or volunteering support practice.     x
5.3.2 Good organisational and administrative skills  x   
5.3.3  Good verbal and written communication skills.x   
5.3.4 Able to capture, analyse and report on data and information.  x 
5.3.5 Able to plan and manage work independently and well to deliver good-quality outputs to schedule.  x 
5.3.6 Able to problem-solve and approach challenges constructively and also know when to ask for support and guidance.    x 
5.3.7 Able to work well with internal and external colleagues.  x 
5.3.8 Able to use ICT effectively to fulfil working responsibilities.  x 

If you wish to apply, please request an application pack from Ryan Young, HR and Operations Manager at HR@VANL.co.uk

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