Community Fundraising Officer

We are excited to recruit a Community Organiser for our Abbey Parent Power project. This role offers a meaningful, paid professional development opportunity. The Brilliant Club will work in partnership with Cambridge Ahead, Abbey People, Cambridge City Council, Anglia Ruskin University and University of Cambridge to engage with parents in Abbey ward, Cambridge. The parental engagement model used will be based on the successful Parent Power South London and Oldham Parent Power projects.

•  Cambridge Ahead (CA) is a business, research and academic membership organisation dedicated to the successful and sustainable growth of Cambridge and its region in the long-term. We exist to be a catalyst for the success of Cambridge and quality of life across the city region. Our 50 members include major higher education institutions and some of the area’s largest employers, representing a workforce of over 40,000 in the Cambridge city region. We work alongside our members on a range of issues related to making the Cambridge city region economy more inclusive through our Skills Group, with the aim of widening access to the educational and employment opportunities available in the area. This includes working with employers who conduct educational outreach, provide learning materials to schools and offer work placements to local young people.

•  Abbey People aims to develop community cohesion and support the most at-risk in this deprived area through targeted community projects, provision of general support such as a community fridge, supporting access to education and employment and developing a culture of volunteering in the community. Abbey People exists to make Abbey a better place to live. It does this through partnership work, running and facilitating activities and events, networking the key stakeholders in the community and responding to identified needs within the local community.

•  Cambridge City Council is a district council in the county of Cambridgeshire, based in the city of Cambridge.

•   Anglia Ruskin is a vibrant workplace, and our University is gaining prominence both nationally and internationally. We have ambitious plans for the future, and we are determined that our students and staff will realise their full potential. Our main campuses in the cities of Cambridge, Chelmsford and Peterborough have been transformed with major capital investment. With an annual turnover of over £200m, we are a major force for higher education and one of the largest universities in the East of England.

•  The University of Cambridge is one of the world's oldest universities and leading academic centres, and a self-governed community of scholars. Its reputation for outstanding academic achievement is known worldwide and reflects the intellectual achievement of its students, as well as the world-class original research carried out by the staff of the University and the Colleges. 

Parent Power supports parents and carers to develop skills in community organising and expertise in supporting their child to access educational pathways, including university degrees, degree apprenticeships and further education options. The project empowers parents to make change to support their children’s future and ensure their they have a fair chance in education and their future careers.

Person specification

Time and Resource Management:

Essential
  • Able to plan sessions in an organised and efficient manner and adhere to agreed deadlines.
  • Excellent timekeeper, ensuring prompt arrival to meetings and 1-1s; well organised within 1-1s and sessions.
  • Capable of adapting quickly to new systems/ processes.

Desirable
  • Confident in using digital systems for delivery of online sessions in parent meetings.
  • Experience of creating resources.

External Stakeholder Knowledge and Management:

Essential
  • Ability to work in a way that promotes the safety and wellbeing of children and young people.
  • Professional approach to problem solving with a range of stakeholders involved in the project.
  • Awareness of role as a visitor within a school and parent/carer community; understanding of the other commitments held by professionals within a school and by parent/carers.
  • Understanding of The Brilliant Club and Abbey People’s mission and the Widening Participation agenda nationally.

Desirable
  • Prior experience of community-focused work or hold a qualification at Level 4 or above (as listed here).
  • Understanding of and ability to relate to the barriers faced in the Abbey community and some of the ways these might be overcome.
  • Understanding of the current climate in the UK school system and some of the challenges young people and parent/carers might be facing.

Communication:

Essential
  • Awareness of how to engage parents.
  • Able to communicate in a timely and professional way with all project stakeholders.
  • Able to take a relational approach to communication with parent/carers, especially in 1-1s.
  • Able to explain research accessibly to non-expert audiences.

Reflectiveness

Essential
  • Able to identify strengths and areas of development, open to feedback.