pesf - disabled parental support fund projects

All in Edinburgh provide one-to-one employability support for disabled parents. They devise action plans based on where the individual is at and support them to progress towards work at their own pace or to sustain work. 

Into Work, part of the All in Edinburgh Consortium, are providing income maximisation workshops and one-to-one support for parents, tailored to each of the organisations within the DPESF programme. 

Find out more about All in Edinburgh here and Into Work here

One Parent Families Scotland is running a new Childcare Connecter Service. As well as holding information about the availability and funding for a wide variety of pre-school and wraparound childcare, one-to-one support is provided to parents to help them navigate the childcare landscape, make decisions that are right for them, and feel confident about the transition. 

Find out more about One Parent Families Scotland here

Home Start will increase capacity for families receiving one-to-one support as well as signposting to local services and resources and access to Home Start group work activities. 

Home Start are also delivering nine additional group initiatives each lasting 6 weeks to parents in the North East, South East, and South West areas of Edinburgh. Group session content will be dependent on the needs of families but may involve PEEP – an early education parenting initiative, baby massage, parent-baby bonding, or peer support group work. 

Home Start will support parents to access the other services funded within the Disabled Parental Employment Support Fund in order to progress toward their employment goals where this is the right thing for them. 

Find out more about Home Start Scotland here

LIFT will extend their offer of family support through their existing model, supporting people with first steps towards reducing barriers to employment. Support will be around topics such as budgeting, better-off benefit calculations, housing and benefit advice, confidence, and self-esteem building. 

A First Steps to Employment workshop will also be delivered with a creche provided alongside for children. The funds provided also allow for a discretionary fund to support parents who are starting work to pay for travel and for their first month of childcare.

Find out more about LIFT here

 Stepping Stones will provide a 16-week course for parents who are impacted by disability including poor mental health. During the lifetime of the course, the parents will be supported to achieve an SQA Employability award. The course will consist of weekly 2-hour sessions plus two full days and support will also be offered to parents to complete 10 hours of volunteering within the community.

Find out more about Stepping Stones North Edinburgh here 

 Passion4Fusion will increase their capacity to support disabled parents from ethnically diverse families to progress towards employment. One-to-one support will offer help with the very early stages of progression, including routine management, motivation, and confidence, as well as language and communication skills. 

More specific employability support will be offered where appropriate. Passion4Fusion will use a peer-mentoring approach to help clients connect to mainstream services where this is necessary or helpful. Support will be culturally appropriate and often be tackling issues of low self-esteem and lack of self-belief. Where appropriate clients will be encouraged to work towards voluntary roles or paid employment.

Find out more about Passion4Fusion here

Circle are working with SHE Scotland and Edinburgh College to run two Ambassador programmes for parents and carers. The programme will be run in two different locations  in North and East Edinburgh. 

Each course will accommodate up to ten parents. The aims of the course are to support life skills to help parents make appropriate and informed choices and become ready, equipped, and confident to enter the world of work and/or volunteering. Participants will be supported to identify a wide range of high-quality employment, training, and further education opportunities.

You can find out more about Circle Scotland here and SHE Scotland here

Project Esperanza will provide ethnically diverse families with an enhanced offer of both one-to-one support and group work provision to women with physical and mental health conditions. The support will increase motivation and confidence and enable first steps to employment, as well as providing a supportive environment for those taking early steps towards communicating in English and building confidence to pursue work or education.

Eighteen tailored sessions will be led by a paid facilitator and designed to suit the needs of the group. For those who are ready, sessions will cover CVs and cover letters, college course applications, job searches, interview, and workplace skills, as well as mentoring to explore business skills and ideas. 

Women will also be supported on a one-to-one basis to explore how to enter education, training or work in a way that is appropriate to life with a chronic health problem or disability; and manageable in terms of caring commitments.

Find out more about Project Esperanza here

Saheliya will offer family support for ethnically diverse women looking to progress.  A First Aid in Mental Health course will be offered to 35 women. It will fill a gap in employability pathways for marginalised women experiencing racial inequality, traumatised by gendered abuse, by demonstrating the effectiveness of culturally-informed, trauma-aware, learning and training pathways for those furthest from the job market. 

A second training course "Access2safety" will be offered to 20 women. Access2safety is a training programme providing the foundation for women in the existing service user group to progress to become language support or case workers at Saheliya or beyond, or/and to become employed sessionally in Saheliya’s Access2safety language support social enterprise. 

FInd out more about Saheliya here