The role involves sharing your own experiences of living with Borderline Personality Disorder with groups of participants and helping to facilitate training workshops. You will need good communication skills, lived experience of BPD , and be willing to share personal experiences with people from a variety of different backgrounds. A strong sense of commitment and willingness to travel throughout the Lothians are also important. CAPS /LEARN will provide training and mentoring for this role.

To promote and lobby for equality acroos all areas of disability, raise awareness of group and increase membership to allow the voice of people with disabilities to inform decision that have an impact on their lives.

As a Polish support work volunteer/ translator you will gain work experience in supporting Polish clients whom have been referred to our service. You will support the client to attend the service during their 4 week trial period, to help them feel more at ease and comfortable. You will be able to meet new people and support clients to engage in the activities within the premises. You will advocate on behalf of Polish speaking service users making sure staff and other clients understand their wishes. This will help the client to integrate into the service and improve their communication and language skills. In this role you may be requested to support English-speaking clients too.

*PLEASE NOTE: WE ARE LOOKING FOR THOSE THAT CAN COMMUTE TO INVERNESS/INVERNESSHIRE ONLY, THANK YOU. * Victim Support Scotland Volunteer How can you support victims and witnesses of crime? Victims of crime often feel a range of emotions in the aftermath of an offence. It is Victim Support Scotland’s role to provide victims and witnesses of crime emotional and practical support in person, online, and in court. Volunteers are supported by VSS staff who manage the service. How would you help? Our volunteers provide emotional support, practical help, information and guidance through the criminal justice system. We aim to empower people who have been impacted by crime, to move on with their lives. Discuss service users’ needs by telephone, webchat, appointments and face-to-face contact, agreeing next steps at the end of each contact Help service users feel more confident by arranging and conducting court familiarisation visits Support service users in the court room and other appropriate locations on the day of the trial, liaising with court officials on behalf of the service users. Feedback and agree follow-up actions with staff members Provide administrative support in completing the service users journey What benefits would I get? Volunteering with Victim Support Scotland can be challenging and also extremely rewarding. As a volunteer you will: Support people when they most need it Learn new skills and knowledge of the criminal justice sector Gain access to a range of specialist training courses that are relevant to your volunteering role Positively contribute to your community as a member of a team actively working to reduce the impact of crime A chance to give something back Receive support in your volunteering role to deliver services effectively All reasonable expenses (e.g. travel) will be reimbursed What skills and experience do I need? We are looking for committed, reliable and empathetic volunteers who can work with people of all ages, backgrounds and life situations. Although we provide full training and support, knowledge of the criminal justice system and experience of supporting people is beneficial. As a Victim Support Scotland Volunteer you will need: Effective communication skills The ability to actively listen to service users and anyone affected by crime An interest in learning about the criminal justice system and understand the service user’s journey An awareness of confidentiality obligations and the responsibilities that come with upholding these obligations Effective time management skills (and working under pressure) Access to a car or ability to use public transport What is the time commitment? We know that our volunteers have busy lives, so we agree the time commitment with each individual volunteer. However, we ask for: a minimum commitment of approximately one day per week, however this may vary depending upon the needs of the service. a minimum commitment of at least 1 year so that they might get the most out of a volunteering role. How can I apply? The people we support come from all communities across Scotland, as do our volunteers. We welcome new volunteers from all backgrounds and languages. To ensure we provide the best possible service to people affected by crime, we ask all volunteers to follow our processes. This will involve: • Joining the Disclosure Scotland PVG scheme • Providing two satisfactory references • Completing our three day ‘Introduction to Victim Support Scotland’ training module Signing and abiding by Victim Support Scotland’s Confidentiality agreement Commitment to Data Protection Volunteer Agreement

An advocate provides a voice for those who may feel they are being ignored, excluded or treated unfairly. They provide a confidential service, representing the views and choices of the people they work with, empowering them to represent their own interests, providing information not advice, and allowing the person to be in control of their own life. Volunteer advocates promote the person's independence and increase their confidence.

The Cab Service is independent and provides free, confidential and impartial advice to everybody regardless of race, sex, disability, sexuality or nationality. It is the largest advice-giving network in the UK, with over 3,000 outlets and 20,000 volunteers. We help people deal with nearly 6 million problems every year, in bureaux, by phone and email, at outreach sessions in places like GP surgeries and courts – even in people’s homes. Purpose of the role • To help provide an effective and efficient advice service to members of the public. • To help influence government and other organisations by informing them of the effect of their actions on the lives of clients. After training - Main duties and responsibilities include: • Interviewing clients, both face to face and on the telephone, letting the client explain their enquiry and helping the client to set priorities. • Finding, interpreting and communicating the relevant information and exploring options and implications in order that the client can come to a decision. • Acting, where necessary, on behalf of the client, negotiating, drafting or writing letters or making appropriate referrals. • Completing clear and accurate case records. • Recognising the root causes of problems and participating in taking appropriate actions. • Keeping up to date on important issues by attending the appropriate training and by essential reading. • Attending bureau meetings.

This role involves using your own lived experiences of Personality Disorder in a positive way to raise awareness and campaign for change. The aim of the project is for people who have been given a diagnosis of a personality disorder or had experiences that they feel fit with a personality disorder diagnosis to come together, have a collective voice and create change.The group decides what it wants to do (it is experience-led) and has a CAPS staff member to enable/facilitate its decisions Individuals can get involved in a way which suits them. Activities and achievements of the group so far have included: developing and delivering experience led training; creating films based around experiences of living with a Personality Disorder; organising various awareness events , creating leaflets and resource packs based on peoples’ lived experience, responding to and creating consultations and attending and delivering presentations at conferences. (Collective advocacy is where a group of people who are all facing a common problem and have had similar experiences get together to work on specific issues and have their voices heard. The group as a whole may campaign on an issue that affects them. A collective voice can be stronger than that of an individual, as groups are more difficult to ignore.)

CAPS are looking for a friendly and approachable individual to provide information on Advocacy Services in the Lothians. You will help others by signposting them to appropraite services and explain how Independent Advocacy might help. You will be offered the opportunity to promote CAPS Independent advocacy at events throughout the Lothians. You will help to set up and man promotional stalls. To monitor leaflets /resources and inform the volunteer coordinator when resources need to be replaced. CAPS also have a stall at the Information station Walpole Hall. The Information Station is a one stop shop acting as a source of support, information and sign posting. CAPS provides an Information Stall at this weekly event and will provide training and guidance for volunteers.

Working as part of a collective advocacy team to raise awareness and speak about own experiences of eating disorders. The role involves working with the Collective advocacy development worker to show a collective advoacy film and facilitate a group discussion in various community settings throughout the Lothians including: schools , universities , health etc. As all of the workshops take place during the day the volunteer would need to be available during the day. The role requires someone who is able to relate to other young people and is willing to share personal lived experience of an eating disorder of any kind , in order to educate and raise awareness around eating disorders amongst other young people ; willingness to talk about and share experiences of eating disorders with other young people in group situations in various community settings including : schools , universities ,public events etc.

WaterAid enables the world's poorest people to gain access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene education. These basic human rights underpin health, education and livelihoods and form the first, essential step in overcoming poverty. We work with local partners who understand local issues and we provide them with skills and support. This empowers them and local communities to set up and manage practical and sustainable projects that meet communities real needs. We also campaign locally and internationally, to change policies and practice, and to ensure water and sanitation's vital role in reducing poverty is recognised. During the current COVID 19 pandemic and for the foreseeable future there will be no face-to-face WaterAid talks. Applicants will be asked to complete the Volunteer Speakers ONLINE training course and will stay at home and comply with COVID19 containment requirements until the crisis is over. However, during the crisis many schools are arranging activities for their students via Microsoft Teams, Skype and other applications to complement students’ home-schooling during COVID19. Our Speaker Network has made our PowerPoint presentations available for teachers to download. If applicants know how to use Microsoft Teams or Skype with slides and would like to deliver webinars to schools and organisations, they should let us know when they apply. Training and excellent support is provided to all volunteers. *People can express interest to volunteer at https://www.wateraid.org/uk/get-involved/volunteering/volunteer-as-a-wateraid-speaker after which they will be sent an application form to complete. *If you have any questions or for more details please email Speakers@wateraid.org .