About us

At Sound Lab, we believe ‘music matters’ and that music and creativity should not just be available for those who can readily access and afford it; it should be available to everyone.

Our vision is that, irrespective of age, gender, race, ethnicity or economic background, everyone should have equal access to the resources and support they need to fulfil their creative potential. We work to overcome barriers that can prevent people accessing opportunities in music by providing expert music-making education and mentoring support. We focus on children and young people who often do not receive the same opportunities as their peers, specifically care experienced young people; children with disabilities; and young people from an unaccompanied, asylum-seeking or refugee background.

In recent years, in a challenging external funding context, we are proud to have carefully maintained a steady growth as a small charity. We have recently recruited a fantastic new staff team who are taking our programmes and operations to the next level, and helping to accommodate the ever-increasing demand for our programmes.

We are recruiting for a new treasurer to help steward and maintain our financial good health at this exciting point in our journey. This is a voluntary role with travel and other subsistence expenses paid.

Role Summary

The Treasurer will help to monitor and steward the financial position of The Sound Lab, maintain processes to ensure financial stability and ensure that the Board of Trustees fulfils its duties in safeguarding the sound financial health of the charity. Detailed responsibilities can be found overleaf.

Who Should Apply?

You do not need to be an accountant, but it would help if you like working with numbers.

You do not need to be a musician, but it helps if you love music!

We would welcome candidates with previous Treasurer experience, however, would be happy to support the development of someone who is earlier in their career and hoping to gain further knowledge and skills. This extends to offering any training and support to develop in the role.

You come to Sound Lab at a point of financial health and with effective financial processes in place, proportionate to a charity of our size; however, we always look for continuous improvement, and an exciting facet of the role is looking proactively to continuously improve our financial infrastructure.

You will form a key part of a small board of trustees who, alongside the staff team, help to maintain and foster a culture of support and care for everyone involved with Sound Lab. We believe in the power music can have in people’s lives. If you share that belief, we’d love to hear from you.

Our current Treasurer is also happy to support your induction and walk-through of our financial systems. This role is expected to take 2-3 hours per week when the Treasurer is fully inducted.

Detailed Responsibilities:

• Oversight and strategic guardianship of Sound Lab’s legal and financial integrity

• Reporting to the Board of Trustees on issues of cash-flow, forecasting and the overall management of Sound Lab’s financial resources

• Preparation and approval of payment runs in conjunction with the Programme & Development Manager

• Lead on ensuring all Sound Lab’s strategic plans are financially appraised and budgets are aligned to both short-term and long-term objectives each year.

• Keeping accurate financial records and invoice management.

• Use of Bank of Scotland online platform for payment runs and updating account signatories as required

• Assisting in the preparation of grant funding applications on an ad-hoc basis.

• Ensure our annual accounts and report are prepared and submitted to OSCR on a timely basis

• Liaise with an external examiner in relation to the annual preparation of our financial accounts

• Develop and maintain reserves policy to safeguard the organisation’s finances, ensuring the board are kept informed of the position regularly and given financial forecasting advice

• Understand Sound Lab’s business plan for and support the Board of Trustees and other volunteers to help achieve its aims

• Attend six Board meetings per annum, or as required.

Next Chapter Scotland exists to help anyone in Scotland who has been involved with the criminal justice system to navigate the stigma and discrimination that they can face throughout their lives.

We established in 2022 and became a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO) in 2023.

We are run by a Board of Trustees made up of at least 50% people with a criminal record or a close family member of someone with a criminal record. We made this commitment because we believe that people who have lived through the experience should be at the heart of any changes that will improve their lives and the lives of their peers.

Our Vision

Our vision is of a society that no longer judges people based on their worst choices but, instead, sees them as they are today.

How will we get there?

Our priorities are to:

• Share clear and accessible information to help people who have been involved with the criminal justice system navigate any discrimination they may face.
• Bring people together to foster hope and amplify the voices of people who have been involved with the criminal justice system.
• Support people who have been involved with the criminal justice system to challenge the discrimination they face.
• Help to breathe life into the ideas that people who have been involved with the criminal justice system have on how best to improve ‘the system’.

Why are we needed?

It’s estimated that 1 in 3 men and 1 in 10 women in Scotland have a criminal record. In their words:

“The punishment only started with prison. 23 years on from release and it hasn’t ended yet”

“You’re not classed as a valuable member of society. You’re tainted”

“I was better off in prison because I at least had people to talk to and didn’t worry about having to sleep on the street”

“I’ll be forever known as someone who’s been to prison. No matter how much time passes or what good I do, I’ll always be judged for my past crime”

“(It's so hard) Having to disclose to a faceless call centre operator every time I need insurance”

The Role

We are recruiting a freelance trainer to develop a single-day training course that will support people who have been involved with the criminal justice system to defend their rights.

The course will support people to identify when their own rights have been, or might be, violated and develop skills to support them to defend themselves and their families.

The course will need to be supported by a comprehensive trainer guide, providing background information on all topics covered in the session.

It is important that the course is designed with enough flexibility to enable it to meet the needs of the particular trainees in any given session.

The training course developed will be the property of Next Chapter Scotland.

Support will be provided by the wider Next Chapter Scotland team and a project Steering Group.

The freelance trainer will need:

• Extensive experience of developing and delivering training courses to a wide range of community groups.
• An understanding of the impact of involvement with the criminal justice system on people’s lives.
• A non-judgmental attitude with the ability to comfortably interact with people from all walks of life in a variety of settings.
• An in-depth understanding of Human Rights legislation and wider legislation covering topics such as housing, employment and access to health services.
• An in-depth understanding of the skills involved in defending one’s own rights, including assertiveness and self-advocacy.
• Experience of co-production alongside community members.
• Experiencing of making training accessible.
• An understanding of training course evaluation methods.

Estimated Project Timeline

• September: Initial meetings to agree the scope of the contract and the charity’s vision for the training course.
• October – December: Our Outreach and Amplifying Voices Project Officer will be busy gathering the experiences of community members, the findings of which will lead directly into the training development.
• January – April: Initial training development.
• May – June: Co-production phase (delivery of 3 co-production sessions).
• July – August: Pilot delivery phase (delivery of 2 full sessions) and any final tweaks required.

Future Involvement

It is our hope that the freelance trainer will be able to continue their involvement with the organisation as a freelance trainer in the delivery of the training following the end of this contract. However, this will be funding dependent.

Applications from people who have been involved with the criminal justice system are particularly welcome.

This role does not require membership of the PVG scheme.

There is a fixed budget available to pay travel expenses.

We would be happy to consider an individual or an organisation for this role.

About the role:

We seek a full-time (35 hours per week) Learning Coordinator to promote and deliver Lead’s East Lothian Multiply Numeracy Skills Project. This is a learning service for disabled people and carers who experience barriers to learning, work, and further education.

The successful applicant will be committed to:

1. Engaging and supporting disabled people and carers to overcome barriers and embark on personalised learning journeys, making positive, sustained transitions into their chosen progression routes and positive destinations.
2. Being an active part of the Lead Scotland team as we develop new, exciting learning opportunities in East Lothian for disabled people and carers.

This post is home-based in or near East Lothian and involves regulated work for which a satisfactory PVG will be required. Lead Scotland has a Recruiting People with Convictions Policy.

About you:

You will be passionate about the transformative power of adult learning, be confident in communicating one to one and with groups and have a flexible and creative approach to problem-solving.

You will have great organisational skills and previous experience of supporting disabled people experiencing a range of barriers, of working one-to-one with learners, and of designing and delivering learning programmes. Access to transport is essential due to the nature of the work in homes and communities across the region. You will hold an Assessors Award or be willing to work towards this.

Applications from disabled people:

Lead has Disability Confident status, and we encourage applications from disabled people. All disabled people meeting the minimum requirements will get a guaranteed interview. Information about our commitment to recruit disabled people is available on our website. If you would like to be considered under this scheme, please indicate this in the online form. This will in no way disadvantage you in the recruitment process. All job application information can be made in alternative formats on request including braille, large print and audio and people can make applications in alternative formats.

Prospectus are excited to be working exclusively with IAM RoadSmart to help them recruit for a Regional Road Safety Manager to join their team covering the Scotland, NI and North of England. As the UK’s largest independent road safety charity, formed in 1956, IAM RoadSmart spent more than 60 years making UK roads safer by improving driver and rider skills through coaching and education. The charity has over 77,000 members, all of whom have taken and passed an advanced test in a car, commercial vehicle or on a motorcycle.

Please note this is a full-time role being offered on a permanent basis. (The role involves overnight stays as well as evening and weekend work)

The Regional Road Safety Manager is responsible for overseeing IAM RoadSmart's operational service in Scotland, NI, and the North of England. This includes managing the field service north team. They ensure that all IAM RoadSmart standards and qualifications are followed and regularly checked for quality.

Additionally, they handle the recruitment and ongoing training of IAM RoadSmart volunteers to support the organisation's business model. They also work on growing IAM’s diverse membership as part of the 3-year strategy. Their responsibilities also include overseeing operational delivery, volunteer engagement, group development and nurturing relationships with PCCs, Safer Road Partnerships and other organisations and partners in their designated regions.

The ideal candidate should possess a Police Class 1 Driving and Riding qualification or an equivalent IAM Masters certification, accompanied by IMI National Observer qualifications and IMI Examiner qualifications, where applicable. They must demonstrate a deep understanding of driving and riding techniques. The right candidate for the role will have great interpersonal skills, experience of delivering strategy and managing change. They will have experience of managing volunteers and groups and will be able to work independently as well as a part of a team. This role will oversee a team of 3 full time employees.