Community Connector

Community Connector (Stevenston Hayocks)

Location:

Based at The Hub, 2 Vernon Street, Saltcoats with regular delivery at Hayocks Community Centre and throughout Hayocks area.

28hrs per week. Work flexibly across daytime, evening and occasional weekend activity to ensure the programme is accessible to families around work, school and caring commitments.

Fixed term for 12 months, funded through North Ayrshire Council Fairer Futures Partnership (Child Poverty Strategy Team)

PVG disclosure, full UK licence, access to own transport and flexibility to work some evenings and weekends.

KO-NEKT is a Social Enterprise providing group and community support to children and young people throughout Ayrshire and Lanarkshire.

KO-NEKT has been funded by North Ayrshire Council, through the Fairer Futures Partnership with the Scottish Government, to deliver a 12-month test of change in Stevenston Hayocks.

The programme will be delivered by KO-NEKT, actively engaging with Hayocks Community Association (HCA) and in partnership with the Community Learning and Development (CLD) team, and will provide a community-based, person-centred, wraparound model of support, rather than a service-led one, to help local families meet their own needs through relational scaffolding.

The Community Connector is the key relationship-based role at the heart of this delivery, bringing local knowledge, lived experience, trust and a confident, approachable manner to engaging families and connecting them to the wider support available.

To act as a trusted, visible point of contact for families in Stevenston Hayocks, with a particular focus on engaging families who are more likely to experience poverty or face additional barriers to employment, income, childcare and accessing support.

The aim is not to provide support during the funding period, but to help build something that lasts. The Community Connector will spend time getting to know the community, building trust, encouraging people to get involved and helping local connections and opportunities grow. Working alongside residents, HCA, CLD and community partners, the role will create the relationships, confidence and foundations needed for the community to continue to connect and thrive beyond the life of the project.

• Build trusted, respectful relationships with families in Stevenston Hayocks using a strengths-based, non-judgemental approach.
• Establish and run a welcoming, safe and nurturing community space, with opening times shaped around identified and evolving community needs, and supported by a published weekly programme of activities
• Act as a familiar, confident and approachable presence in the local community, drawing on strong local knowledge and connections.

• Build positive, trusting relationships with families across Stevenston Hayocks, using a strengths-based, non-judgemental and person-centred approach.
• Engage families in a range of welcoming activities and opportunities that promote connection, wellbeing, confidence, skills development and community participation.
• Deliver or co-deliver parent and family sessions focused on connection, wellbeing, practical skills and personal development, responding to the needs and interests identified within the community.
• Create and support opportunities for families to learn, volunteer and take part in skills-based community projects, supporting individuals to develop confidence, skills and pathways towards further learning, training or employment.
• Work alongside volunteers and, where relevant, people with lived experience, recognising the valuable contribution they bring to building trust, encouraging participation and strengthening community connections.

• Act as a connector for families to key services, including benefits, employability, housing and early years support, tracking referrals on a monthly basis.
• Refer families to other agencies and help bring agencies into the community through partner outreach sessions on topics identified as relevant by local families, such as debt, benefits, housing, employability and crisis support.
• Help establish and maintain a referral network with key local agencies providing advice on benefits, housing, employability, health and early years.
• Support families to access practical cost-of-living support and opportunities that can help reduce household costs,…