Permanent Contract
Job Ref: V537
Hours/Days per week: 21 hours per week – (Flexible days/hours)
Salary: £15,000 (£25,000 FTE) plus attractive employee benefits package
Start date: ASAP
Location: Homebased / with regular work in Perth and Kinross communities (must be locally based)
Closing date: 14th April 2025
Interview date and Location: TBC
About Volunteering Matters
At Volunteering Matters we use volunteering’s unique power to bring people together and build stronger, more resilient communities across the UK.
We bring people together to resolve some of society’s most complex issues. From social isolation and loneliness; improving health and wellbeing; building skills, confidence, and opportunity; to ensuring young people can become change makers in their community, the impact that we make is great. And we won’t stop until everyone in the UK has the opportunity to thrive.
People-led and impact driven, we are a national charity that is deeply embedded in local areas across the UK. We operate in five regions: London and the South East; Wales and the West of England; East of England; the Midlands and North West England; and Scotland and North East England. We also have an Employee Volunteering Team with over 25 years’ experience, acting as a broker to provide tailor-made solutions to employers. We turn local knowledge and energy into action and progress, building stronger communities and a better future for all.
This is an exciting time to be joining the team. We’re changing the way we work to meet new ambitions and make sure our impact continues to grow alongside out business.
An introduction to the role
As our Volunteer Coordinator, you will lead the delivery and development of our highly successful “Grandmentors” programme in Perth and Kinross.
Grandmentors is an innovative, inter-generational mentoring project where older volunteers (normally but not exclusively aged 50+) use their wealth of life experience and skills to mentor young people aged 16-26 who are care experienced, or facing other life challenges.
These young people often benefit from a guiding hand and role model to support them to find work, continue their education, begin training, enhance their wellbeing, or develop their independent living skills – ultimately giving young people the empowerment and self-belief to lead successful lives.
Grandmentors is a national project which has operated for almost 15 years in various locations of the UK. We launched in Perth and Kinross in 2022. Further information on Grandmentors can be found online.
Key Duties & Responsibilities
• Consistently role model and display our organisational values (Being Positive, Inclusive, Empowering, Compassionate, Straightforward)
• Contribute to effective teamwork across the staff team and the wider charity, in line with our “flexible working by default” and “self-managed teams” philosophy
• Develop and deliver the Grandmentors programme in Perth and Kinross, meeting ambitious goals and milestones, ensuring all young people engaged achieve positive outcomes
• Establish and maintain effective working relationships with internal and external stakeholders including colleagues, volunteer mentors, young people, Social Services, Health and Education teams, third sector partners and others
• Effective recruitment, selection, training, and ongoing support of a diverse pool of talented and dedicated volunteer mentors from a wide cross-section of the community
• To maintain Volunteering Matters standards around quality and effective Volunteer Management
• To manage all elements of young people’s experience of Grandmentors, from point of referral to completion of their mentoring journey
• To manage the risk assessment, safeguarding, quality assurance and audit processes as appropriate
• Ensure monitoring, impact and evaluation information and data is collected and that Grandmentors meets it’s agreed goals, reporting format and schedule.
• Administration tasks including maintaining effective and accessible records via a Volunteering Database, the use of Microsoft Office, Teams, Zoom, Canva and other relevant software
• Develop relevant promotional material and information, for Grandmentors, and for our organisation locally
This job description is intended to include the broad range of responsibilities and requirements of the post. It is neither exhaustive nor exclusive but while some variations will be expected, these will be at an appropriate level for the role.
Skills Required
• An excellent knowledge and understanding of the life challenges and barriers that care experienced young people face today in Scotland, including an understanding of “The Promise”
• An understanding of how to assess the needs of an individual, using a person-centered approach
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including being able to have strategic conversations with external partners one minute, and talk to an anxious or unsure young person the next
• Excellent people skills with the ability to build professional, long-term relationships with various stakeholders, to influence and motivate others
• Excellent organisational skills including strong attention to detail, the ability to manage a busy workload and prioritise accordingly
• Excellent IT skills including the use of Office 365, Microsoft Teams and other software packages
• A creative approach to problem solving, an ability to work independently and use own initiative
Experience Required
• Experience working directly with young people (aged 16-26), particularly those who are care experienced or who face other life challenges and barriers
• Experience in all aspects of effective Volunteer Management (recruitment, training, support)
• Experience developing strong working relationships, with a range of internal and external stakeholders
• Experience of project management, achieving goals, managing a busy workload and working to deadlines
• Experience of measuring the impact of mentoring/volunteering, and understanding the results
• Understanding of, and full commitment, to Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion
Qualifications
We are looking for a candidate with relevant knowledge, skills and experience, as well as commitment to our organisational values, rather than any specific qualifications.
Our Values & Way of Working:
In all that we do, we embrace a philosophy of ‘Freedom within a Framework’ and are guided by our values: Empowering, Inclusive, Compassionate, Positive & Straightforward.
This job description is intended to include the broad range of responsibilities and requirements of the post. It is neither exhaustive nor exclusive but while some variations will be expected, these will be at an appropriate level for the role.
Diversity & Inclusion
Volunteering Matters welcomes all applicants and are keen to ensure our team reflects the diversity of the UK and the communities we serve. We encourage applications from disabled, LGBT and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds, along with candidates with any protected characteristics and from disadvantaged groups.
Disability Confident & Reasonable Adjustments:
We guarantee to interview anyone with a disability whose application meets the minimum criteria for the role. Please provide evidence in your application, which demonstrates that you meet the level of competence required in the “Experience/Skills” section of this advert. To be considered for a guaranteed interview or to discuss any reasonable adjustments during the process, please state this in your application or contact join@volunteeringmatters.org.uk for more information.
We have also committed to the following pledges which positively encompass our recruitment and selection processes and methodology: The Promise, Show The Salary, Salary History.
Benefits
Our employee benefits reflect our culture which is built on an approach of full flexibility with accountability, and designed to let you make your most positive contribution; we offer Flexible Working by Default (re hours & place of work), Unlimited Annual Leave, Employee Pension scheme, Life Assurance, Cycle to Work Scheme, Season Ticket Loan, Employee Assistance Programme, enhanced sick and family leave. We are also open to discuss job share applications.
GDPR Statement
If you apply for a role with us, we will retain your contact details including your name, address, email address and phone number to help us manage your application for up to 6 months. We will not use your personal data for any other purpose or share it with any third party. You can contact us at any point to update your personal information or ask us to delete it from our records.
How to Apply
Please send a completed CV and cover letter to join@volunteeringmatters.org.uk clearly state which role you are applying for. In the cover letter please demonstrate how you would fulfil the role requirements and express yourself, what previous relevant achievements you have (both in life and at work), what skills & experience you can offer, and what you believe you can contribute to Volunteering Matters.
If you would like to have a discussion with the Hiring Manager prior to submitting your application, please request this from join@volunteeringmatters.org.u