Project Worker - Upstream

Mission Statement

Our long-term vision is to end youth homelessness. Our more immediate mission is to ensure that every young person in Scotland has access to expert youth specific services to assist them to avoid, resolve and move on from homelessness, making it rare, brief, and non-recurring.

The Upstream Project Worker plays a key role in delivering early intervention and homelessness prevention support to young people within secondary schools. Working directly with young people aged approximately 14–18, the Project Worker provides flexible, relationship-based one-to-one support alongside informal school drop-ins and targeted interventions. The focus is on building trust, creating a safe space to talk and supporting young people to navigate challenges such as family conflict, emotional wellbeing, identity, school engagement and housing instability before situations reach crisis point.

The role also involves working closely with families and school staff to ensure young people are supported in a joined‑up way. This includes contributing to multi‑agency discussions, supporting early identification of need through school surveys and triage processes and linking young people into appropriate services such as counselling, housing support, welfare advice and wider community resources. Practical support is a key part of the role, alongside future planning work such as CV building, employability and preparation for post‑school transitions.