Family Wellbeing Volunteer - East Lothian

Would you like to support children, young people and families in East Lothian?
Are you able to offer a few hours of your time each week?
If so, please get in touch, we would love to hear from you.

Volunteering for Children 1st East Lothian Family Wellbeing Service is a fantastic opportunity to make a real difference to the lives of children and families across East Lothian.

Supporting children and young people is at the heart of what we do. At Children 1st we believe that all children have the right to be cared for and loved in their own families and communities, where they are safe and where it is safe to do so. We believe that the best way to achieve this is to provide early help and support, working together alongside families to ensure that children feel safe, happy, secure and nurtured at home.

We build trusting relationships with families because we believe this is what supports families to be stronger, makes children safer and communities more resilient. We provide both practical and emotional help and all of our support is embedded in children’s rights.  We work with the whole family, we listen and take time to build relationships, we are compassionate, trauma informed, recovery focused, and we are hopeful.

What will I be doing?

Volunteering with the East Lothian Family Wellbeing Service will complement the support, we provide for families who face a number of different barriers. Our volunteers support families in two key ways:

• As a Befriending Volunteer you will build a positive 1 to 1 relationship with with a young person aged between 10-16. You will meet with them regularly and support them to take part in a range of activities within their community and to develop new interests and connections. What you do together will depend on the interests of the child and could include taking them to a local park, taking them to sports clubs, art and craft activities, attending events in the community, and much more. 
• As a Parent Mentor you will be supporting a parent or carer to build in confidence, self-esteem, and resilience. You will meet with them regularly and support them to access wider local community activities and resources to reduce isolation. Activities can include supporting the team with group work sessions with parents as well as whole family activities.

We will explore further what families need and the skills and qualities you could bring to one of these roles at interview and during training and induction We aim to match volunteers with parents and young people based on shared interests wherever possible and we also consider volunteers’ transport requirements.

Please see role description below for more details of the role.

We would love you to be part of the Children 1st team in East Lothian. We provide a comprehensive initial training course that will equip you with the skills and knowledge that you need. 

Our next training will run on the following dates:

• Sun 5th Nov – 10.00am-4.30pm
• Weds 8th Nov – 6.00pm-8.30pm
• Weds 15th Nov - 6.00pm-8.30pm
• Sun 19th Nov - 10.00am-4.30pm

 This training is being run in partnership with our Edinburgh and Midlothian services and will take place at the Children 1st office at 83 Whitehouse Loan, Edinburgh, EH9 1AT. We cover reasonable travel expenses for those attending the training.

We also provide all our volunteers with ongoing support and will reimburse reasonable out-of-pocket expenses for travel and costs incurred as part of the volunteering role.

We ask volunteers to commit to giving a few hours a week for at least a year.

If you would like to find out more about the role or have any questions please get in touch, we would love to hear from you. Contact Arlene Munro – arlene.munro@children1st.org.uk

If you would like to apply for this role please download and complete the application form, criminal convictions self-declaration and equal opportunities monitoring form and email them to volunteer@children1st.org.uk.

We welcome and encourage applications from potential volunteers of all backgrounds, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, belief, disability, who reflect our values.