Joining the Board
We are now seeking to recruit to our volunteer board of Directors to ensure our continued growth, future strategy and protect the interest of our stakeholders. We will achieve this by ensuring we have the right skills and expertise to continue to transform and drive the organisation.
As a member of Birthlink Board, you will play a key role in the Governance and Strategy to ensure we can continue to serve our beneficiaries.
We are looking to recruit five board members including a Secretary, Treasurer and Safeguarding Lead with professional subject matter expertise in the following areas:
1. Adoption practice (historic to modern times)
2. Adult and Child Protection
3. Business development, strategy and management
4. Corporate Partnerships
5. Feminist issues impacting our beneficiaries, their children and families and the intergenerational and generational impact of these
6. Fundraising and Philanthropy
7. Human Resources including employee engagement and development
8. Information governance and data protection
9. Membership organisations
10. Risk Management
11. Senior Social Worker with practice teaching experience and experience of working in a psychologically safe and trauma informed organisation
12. Social impact measurement
13. Start-ups, non-profit, non-government, government or charity organisation
14. Volunteer growth and management
All board members do not need to have professional subject matter expertise in all areas. However, an understanding of the impact of adoption, forced adoption, abuse in care and being in care in Scotland and an understanding of trauma and generational trauma is critical.
Birthlink are committed to representing the diversity of our beneficiaries on our Board and welcome applications from people who have family or personal experience of adoption and forced adoption or experience of being in care in Scotland.
Excellent skills in using Microsoft Teams and associated packages critical. Knowledge of information management systems and electronic finance systems needed.
About Birthlink
Birthlink is an Edinburgh based charity, a charitable company governed by the board of trustees. Our services are life changing and are funded through a mix of grants and fund-raising including our two charity shops.
Birthlink holds the Adoption Contact Register (ACR) for Scotland which celebrated its 40th Anniversary in. Birthlink also works in partnership with the Scottish Government including through Future Pathways.
The organisation was first established in as the Eastern Branch of the National Vigilance Association to support vulnerable women and girls. Our mission is to enhance and promote the wellbeing of adults. Birthlink provides life changing support to adults affected by Adoption with a Scottish connection, adults who have experienced abuse in care in Scotland irrespective of where they live in the world today.
Birthlink support those adults by:
15. Supporting people to find and access their information and records
16. Supporting people to make application to Scotland’s Redress Scheme
17. Reuniting people and their families
Birthlink is at a developmental stage, undergoing a comprehensive business change programme to ensure the organisation is equipped to continue to deliver its functions in the future.
Birthlink’s Core Services are:
18. Post Adoption Support Service this includes the after-adoption information phoneline, wrap around practical and emotional support to people on their journey, accessing records, managing the adoption contact register, mediation for people who are matched on the adoption contact register in advance of when they meet for the first time
19. Care Connect Service, supporting adults who have been in care to find information about their past or trace estranged family members
20. Scotland’s Redress Scheme, Redress Support Service, supporting people to access their records in advance of applying to Scotland’s Redress Scheme
21. Edinburgh’s oldest thrift shops
As an aspect of the change programme the following services are being grown:
22. Genealogy Service
23. Counselling Service
24. Heritage programme
You can read more about Birthlink and these services here Home - Birthlink, Services - Birthlink and Heritage - About - Birthlink