4 Wellbeing peer practitioner jobs in Edinburgh

NCT is the national charity for pregnancy, birth, infant feeding and early parenthood. Our vision is simple: a society where everyone who becomes a parent feels confident, connected and safe.

Through our For Every Parent strategy, we're working to make that vision a reality. We support parents with trusted information, practical help, local communities and a stronger voice in the issues that matter to families.

For 70 years, we've been by parents' sides through the excitement, uncertainty, wonder and challenges of becoming a parent. Today, our volunteers contribute more than 70,000 hours of community service each year, helping parents build friendships, find support and feel less alone.

We educate and empower parents with evidence-based information and support. We advocate and act by listening to parents' experiences, raising their voices and campaigning for change. No judgement. No exceptions.

About the role 

As Perinatal Peer Support Service Lead, you will take responsibility for the effective day-to-day delivery of our local perinatal peer support service. Working closely with peer supporters, volunteers, health and social care professionals and community partners, you will help ensure families receive safe, inclusive and high-quality support when they need it. 

Join our passionate team and contribute to the meaningful work that transforms the loves of parents and families. Your role will include: 

• Leading and supporting the local peer support team, providing line management, supervision and operational oversight to ensure a consistent and high-quality service. 

• Overseeing the day-to-day delivery of peer support groups, including volunteer recruitment and support, rotas, venues, resources and training coordination. 

• Managing referrals into the service, assessing individual needs and suitability, providing appropriate signposting and coordinating onward or alternative support where needed. 

• Building strong relationships with health and social care professionals, Family Hubs and other community partners to develop effective referral pathways and increase awareness of the service, particularly within disadvantaged communities. 

• Monitoring the impact and quality of the service through accurate data, service user and volunteer feedback, outcome measures and evaluation, using insights to support continuous improvement. 

Safeguarding and the wellbeing of the families we support are central to this role. You will help maintain robust safeguarding and health and safety practices and ensure concerns are identified and escalated appropriately. 

About you 

You will be an organised, compassionate and confident people leader with a strong understanding of the challenges families may experience during the perinatal period. 

You will have experience supporting vulnerable families or people with complex needs, together with strong judgement when assessing individual needs and identifying appropriate support, referrals or signposting. 

You will also bring: 

• Experience supervising and supporting others, including volunteers. 

• Project management experience and the ability to coordinate multiple areas of service delivery. 

• Excellent organisational skills and the ability to work flexibly while managing competing priorities. 

• Strong interpersonal and communication skills, including active listening and the ability to build rapport with people from a wide range of backgrounds. 

• Strong relationship-building and stakeholder engagement skills. 

• Experience collecting data and contributing to professional reporting. 

• An understanding of the barriers parents can face when accessing services and the importance of providing inclusive and equitable support. 

• Good judgement when managing workloads, people and safeguarding concerns. 

• Confidence using Microsoft Office and internet-based systems. 

Knowledge of safeguarding, including child and vulnerable adult protection, and awareness of local emotional and practical support services would be beneficial. 

Training as an NCT Parents in Mind Peer Supporter would also be welcomed, although we are happy to consider candidates willing and eligible to undertake this training. 

An Enhanced DBS check and driving licence are required for this role. You will also need to be willing and able to travel across Kent, including providing occasional cover for peer support sessions when required. 

Our Benefits – What we offer you 

We value our team and offer fantastic benefits to support your well-being and professional growth: 

• 30 days annual leave (excluding Bank Holidays) 

• Pension matched up to 5% 

• Flexible working options to suite your lifestyle 

• Employee Assistance Programme, including 24/7 GP access, personalised counselling, legal advice and more 

• Life Assurance for peace of mind 

• Free eye test for all staff, with further discounts

• Blue Light discount card 

At NCT,we’recommitted to fostering an inclusive and diverse workforce. If you need reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process or within your role, please let us know—we’rehere to support you.Ready to make a difference? Apply now and be part of something truly special. 

NCT is the national charity for pregnancy, birth, infant feeding and early parenthood. Our vision is simple: a society where everyone who becomes a parent feels confident, connected and safe.

Through our For Every Parent strategy, we're working to make that vision a reality. We support parents with trusted information, practical help, local communities and a stronger voice in the issues that matter to families.

For 70 years, we've been by parents' sides through the excitement, uncertainty, wonder and challenges of becoming a parent. Today, our volunteers contribute more than 70,000 hours of community service each year, helping parents build friendships, find support and feel less alone.

We educate and empower parents with evidence-based information and support. We advocate and act by listening to parents' experiences, raising their voices and campaigning for change. No judgement. No exceptions.

About the role  

As Kent Project Support Coordinator, you will help coordinate and deliver our local perinatal mental health peer support service across Kent. Working closely with our Perinatal Peer Support Service Lead, peer supporters, volunteers, health professionals and community partners, you will help ensure families receive safe, inclusive and accessible support within their local communities. 

Join our passionate team and contribute to the meaningful work that transforms the loves of parents and families. Your role will include:  

Coordinating the day-to-day delivery of local peer support groups, including venues, rotas, local promotion, resources and providing occasional facilitation cover where required. 

Recruiting, coordinating and supporting volunteers and peer supporters, including regular communication and debriefing following sessions to identify safeguarding, signposting or additional support needs. 

Supporting referrals into the service, helping assess individual needs and ensuring parents and families are connected with appropriate peer support, signposting or onward referrals. 

Building and maintaining positive relationships with local health and social care professionals, Family Hubs and community organisations to strengthen referral pathways and increase awareness of the service. 

Supporting monitoring and evaluation through accurate record keeping, data collection, case studies, service feedback and contributions to commissioner reporting and continuous service improvement. 

You will also help promote the service within local communities, particularly among families who may experience additional barriers to accessing support, and contribute to social media content, promotional activities and local events.

About you  

You will be compassionate, organised and confident working with parents, families, volunteers and professionals from a wide range of backgrounds. 

You will have an understanding of the challenges associated with the perinatal mental health period and be comfortable supporting people sensitively and without judgement. 

You will also bring: 

• Excellent organisational skills and the ability to manage your time and priorities effectively. 
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills, including active listening and the ability to build rapport with people from different backgrounds. 
• Strong relationship-building and stakeholder engagement skills. 
• Confidence working independently while remaining part of a supportive wider team. 
• Good judgement when responding to individual needs, safeguarding concerns and situations requiring signposting or referral. 
• Good IT skills, including Microsoft Office and internet-based systems. 
• A commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion and to ensuring services are welcoming and accessible to all families. 

Experience of community engagement, working with vulnerable families or people with complex needs, supporting volunteers, or working successfully with diverse cultural communities would be particularly valuable. 

Knowledge of safeguarding and awareness of emotional and practical support services available within local communities would also be beneficial. 

Training as an NCT Parents in Mind Peer Supporter is desirable. We also welcome applications from candidates who are willing and eligible to undertake this training. 

An Enhanced DBS check and driving licence are required for this role. You will also need to be willing and able to travel across the commissioned area, including at short notice when required.

Our Benefits – What we offer you  

• We value our team and offer fantastic benefits to support your well-being and professional growth:  
• 30 days annual leave pro rata (excluding Bank Holidays)  
• Pension matched up to 5%  
• Flexible working options to suite your lifestyle  
• Employee Assistance Programme, including 24/7 GP access, personalised counselling, legal advice and more  
• Life Assurance for peace of mind  
• Free eye test for all staff, with further discounts  
• Blue Light discount card  

At NCT, we’re committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse workforce. If you need reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process or within your role, please let us know—we’re here to support you. Ready to make a difference? Apply now and be part of something truly special.  

This is a unique opportunity to lead fundraising for a charity at the cusp of substantial growth, with an exceptional track record of recent fundraising success, an engaged base of supporters and significant untapped potential across multiple channels.

Overview
As Director of Fundraising and Development for Plum Village UK, you will provide strategic leadership of the charity’s fundraising at this critical juncture. Building on the successful campaigns that brought our new Being Peace Practice Centre into being, you will lead the development of a sustainable, diversified fundraising operation across donor stewardship, trusts and foundations, regular giving, legacies, and partnerships, to deepen relationships of trust and gratitude with our supporters.

This role is ideal for a fundraising leader, whether from a career fundraising background or another field, who brings strategic capability alongside deep alignment with the Plum Village tradition, where fundraising itself becomes a form of engaged practice in service of mindfulness and community transformation.

Fundraising in the Plum Village tradition is fundamentally relational. It is not a matter of extracting income from a base of supporters, but of deepening the relationships of trust, gratitude and shared purpose with those who make our work possible, in ways that embody the values of the tradition. Done well, fundraising is itself a form of engaged practice. The Director will be expected to lead the function in this spirit.

The role comes with a high level of strategic ownership. An initial fundraising strategy has been developed and shared with trustees, providing a framework of priority channels, governance arrangements and resourcing for the next phase. The new Director will inherit this as a starting frame, and will then be empowered and expected to develop, refine and bring forward a fundraising strategy on their own authority, working closely with the Lead Trustee for Fundraising and presenting proposals to the board as appropriate. The role also carries operational ownership of the fundraising mechanics, including the choice and management of supporting systems, databases and tools.
 

Key Responsibilities

Strategic leadership of fundraising

• Lead PVUK's fundraising strategy, developing and refining the strategic direction, and presenting proposals to the Board for approval and resourcing.

• Set, monitor, and report on fundraising targets across all income channels, in agreement with the Lead Trustee for Fundraising and the Board.

• Provide regular substantive updates on fundraising at quarterly board meetings, working with the Lead Trustee on the preparation of board-level reporting.

• Bring forward analysis and proposals to support the Board in setting wider strategic priorities, including realistic income potential by channel and the investment required to secure it.

• Identify and manage risk in the fundraising portfolio, including channel concentration, donor over-reliance, and the sustainability of resourcing.

Donor stewardship and relationship development

• Lead the stewardship of PVUK’s existing donors, lenders, and supporters with the depth of care that this base deserves, recognising it as the most precious resource of the fundraising function.

• Cultivate and deepen relationships with major donors, including through personal contact, site visits, and tailored communication of impact.

• Work with the Chair of Trustees, the Centre Director, and other senior figures on key relationships that require their involvement.

• Steward the friendly lender base throughout the lifetime of their loans, maintaining trust and keeping them informed of the charity’s progress.

• Build and maintain a culture of gratitude and recognition that appropriately honours the contributions of all supporters.

Income channel development

• Lead delivery and growth across PVUK’s priority fundraising channels: donor stewardship, trust and foundation fundraising, regular giving, legacies and Gifts in Wills, and partnerships with values-aligned organisations and networks.

• Develop trust and foundation fundraising as a substantial new income stream, including scoping aligned funders, building peer-to-peer introductions, constructing tailored funding propositions, and overseeing high-quality application writing and reporting.

• Design and grow a regular giving programme that converts members, retreatants and supporters into ongoing monthly donors.

• Develop a structured legacy and Gifts in Wills programme that normalises legacy giving across PVUK’s communications and supports those who wish to leave a Gift in their Will.

• Develop partnerships with values-aligned organisations and networks where these support both income generation and the wider reach of PVUK’s work, in close consultation with monastics and trustees.

Operations, systems and budget ownership

• Own the operational mechanics of fundraising for PVUK, including the choice, configuration and ongoing management of databases, donor management systems, online giving platforms, and integration with communications tools.

• Manage the fundraising budget, including a discretionary supplementary budget for consultancy, training, materials creation, contracted support and light administrative resource, deployed at the Director’s judgement to develop the function effectively.

• Maintain accurate, GDPR-compliant supporter records and ensure sound data practices throughout the fundraising operation.

• Provide accurate financial reporting on fundraising performance, working with PVUK’s finance function and external accountants as required.

• Make the case for additional resourcing where evidence of need supports it, including the possible recruitment of a Fundraising Officer in due course.

Communications and storytelling

• Lead the development of compelling fundraising narratives that authentically convey the work of PVUK and the Being Peace Centre to multiple audiences, including major donors, institutional funders, individual supporters and the wider public.

• Work closely with the PVUK Communications team on the integration of fundraising communications with the wider communications strategy.

• Commission and oversee the production of fundraising materials, including written content, graphic design, video and digital assets, drawing on contracted specialists where appropriate.

• Ensure that all fundraising messaging about the Being Peace Practice Centre is agreed with the Centre Director before publication.

Working partnerships across PVUK

• Work in close partnership with the Centre Director on all matters relating to Being Peace, with agreed ways of working on messaging, external representation, and any programming commitments made to funders.

• Work with the Lead Trustee for Fundraising as primary day-to-day point of contact at board level, supporting the Lead Trustee to hold strategic oversight of fundraising on behalf of the Board.

• Work with colleagues across PVUK’s communications, dharma programming, sangha-building and partnership functions, with these working relationships developing naturally in the first months of the role.

• Draw on external advisors and specialists as needed for support and assurance, both in technical fundraising disciplines and in sector-specific knowledge.

• Engage volunteer capacity from within the community where this can valuably supplement the fundraising operation.