Children's Hearings Scotland recruits, trains and supports volunteer Panel Members who make legal decisions in children’s hearings. You may have heard us called the Children’s Panel too. The Children's Panel makes legal decisions on how to support infants, children, and young people who come to children's hearings. There were 3649 children's hearings held in the Lanarkshire, Dumfries and Galloway area (2023-24) At every children’s hearing there are always three volunteer, lay Panel Members and it is their role to: listen to the child or young person’s views, understand their circumstances, and ultimately make legal decisions about how to best protect and care for them. Our volunteers make sure that all Scotland’s infants, children and young people feel safe, loved, valued and respected. It’s an important role that is hugely rewarding, but we need more Panel Members. Panel Members are legally appointed for three years and are appointed for an initial three year period with the possibility of being re-appointed. You need to be 18 years or over to apply to become a Panel Member, there is no upper age limit. If you can show compassion, empathy, trust and are a good listener, could you join them?

PINWHERRY & PINMORE COMMUNITY FUND NEEDS YOU! The Pinwherry & Pinmore Community Fund awards grants to projects that benefit the people of Pinwherry and Pinmore, with decisions on awards being made by a panel of local people. Could you help decide on awards and shape the future of the Fund? You need to be 16 or older to get involved and don't need any specialist skills to join the panel. Anyone who wants the best future for Pinwherry & Pinmore and lives, works or volunteers in the locality can join. The Fund Panel meets up to four times a year in the evening and full support is given by Foundation Scotland, a grant making charity.

DAILLY COMMUNITY FUND NEEDS YOU! The Hadyard Hill Dailly Community Fund awards grants to projects that benefit the people of Dailly, with decisions on awards being made by a panel of local people. Could you help decide on awards and shape the future of the Fund? You need to be 16 or older to get involved and don't need any specialist skills to join the panel. Anyone who wants the best future for Dailly and lives, works or volunteers in Dailly can join. The Fund Panel meet up to four times a year in the evening and full support is given by Foundation Scotland, a grant making charity.

Could you support unpaid carers or people with disabilities to access benefits? Could you help someone find local services? Could you help someone understand the information they have been given about their care and support? Could you support or lead a group of people on a topic of interest? You could help improve the quality of someone’s life. This role is ideal for social work students, an interest in the care sector or retired professionals. Support Session Volunteers help our clients with general advocacy, supporting people with a variety of challenges. This helps us to reduce waitlists and support more individuals by: • Helping clients understand about advocacy • Supporting clients to self-advocate with our tool kits • Signposting clients to other services where required • Supporting the service to deliver “collective” advocacy sessions • Light Touch Advocacy • Supporting advocates with casework • Promotion of services and the organisation • Logging activity onto our systems Volunteer, Ben’s priorities changed after a serious illness. “I wanted to give something back. It’s really rewarding as you get to use your knowledge and skills for a really good purpose.” You’ll develop skills in communication and confidentiality, add experience and knowledge to your CV, and know you’re making a genuine difference to people’s lives.