Background

This role offers a unique opportunity to be part of a brand new project to improve the lives of people who street beg in Edinburgh. What we have learned from our annual street begging census is that people are looking for support with benefits and maximising incomes but also accessing social opportunities, harm reduction services, access to employment/volunteering opportunities and health/mental health services including street pharmacy. You will work closely with the Begging Strategy Coordinator and Development Worker to provide tailored support for people who beg to regain a sense of control over their lives and improve health, social and psychological outcomes.

Role Purpose

By implementing an effective Edinburgh Begging Strategy collectively we can make huge strides towards reducing and ending the need for people to beg and in doing so we can significantly improve people's life chances and opportunities. We want to achieve a future where agencies and communities unite in addressing the causes and consequences of begging and where people who are experiencing challenges are supported to access and receive the help they need.

The five key actions of the strategy:

• Change public perception and understanding of begging in the city
• Provide accessible and responsive support to people who beg, and prevent      people from having to beg.
• Work collaboratively with retailers, businesses and residents in responding positively and effectively to begging concerns in their communities.
• No one is forced to beg and the city collectively adopts a zero tolerance approach to human trafficking and exploitation.
• The implementation plan is co-produced with people on the streets; their experiences, choices, needs and wants.

Specific Tasks

• Focused outreach to people at their begging pitches to undertake needs assessments
• Developing tailored, person centred and trauma informed support plans for people who beg
• Providing 2:1 support for people who street beg e.g. supporting to appointments, applying for benefits, with applications for employment or volunteering opportunities
• Creating pathways for people into other services e.g. We See You (our harm reduction service), Street Pharmacy or our Creating Safer Communities programme as well as other external programmes
• Supporting people to attend the above services

Skills and Qualities Required

Successful Begging Strategy Volunteers will:

•  Have the ability to work with people in a way that takes into consideration their

individual and cultural beliefs without expressing personal opinion

•  Be able to approach your volunteering role and tasks with a flexible and non

judgemental attitude

• Be empathetic towards our client group

•  Have good communication and people skills

•  Enjoy meeting and interacting with people from diverse backgrounds

•  Have resilience and tolerance with people who have faced multiple exclusions

•  Be very welcome to bring their own skills and talents into the space and be

willing to share them.
 

Commitment

We welcome volunteers to stay with us and continue to help us make a difference in people’s lives. 12 months would be the ideal minimum but we respect your time and commitment’s elsewhere.

For this role we ask for a minimum of 4 hrs per fortnight, the hours will generally be between 10am and 4pm on Monday, Thursday or Fridays.

Our recruitment follows the Safer Recruitment process, which means giving consideration to safeguarding arrangements at every step. We will ask you to attend an informal interview, provide us with two references and attend our Mini IMPACT training – a shortened version of our dynamic 5-day staff programme.

Support and Training

A full and comprehensive induction is provided for this role

In-role training is available – we value our volunteers and want to ensure you are equipped with the skills you need to fulfil your role

Simon Community Scotland together with Volunteer Scotland and Disclosure Scotland will support you with the required PVG process

You will be fully supported in your role and will always work in a pair with a Development Worker or Support Worker embedded in our Street Team.

What’s in it for me?

For as little as four hours a week you have the chance to meet new people and be part of an amazing team who are passionate about what they do.

Everything we do is about and for people: the people we support, our staff, our partners and everyone affected by homelessness. Each person involved brings their individual skills and creativity to the work we do. This is a chance for you to make a real difference to the most vulnerable people within your community and pick up essential skills that are valuable to employers.
 

Our expectations

We are looking for people who care about people we support and who are
enthusiastic and able to respond flexibly to a role that can sometimes be
challenging, but brings great rewards and satisfaction.
We need you to be fully committed to Simon Community Scotland’s Mission and
Core Values and adhere to our policies/procedures and Code of Practice.

If you need any help completing this form please contact us: volunteering@simonscotland.