Job Description

? Join the Fun! Action-Packed Holiday Hub Across 2026 School Holidays! ?

At The Action Group, we are committed to fostering a community where relationships are built on trust, respect, and a shared commitment to competency. Our core values--Community Presence, Relationships, Competency, Respect, and Choice--guide everything we do

Post

: Support Playworker (Edinburgh)

Base

: Edinburgh

Line Managed by:

Playscheme Manager

Salary:

12.60 per hour

Details of the role

: This is ongoing seasonal work, with the opportunity to work with children and young adults during school holidays only throughout the year.

Hours

: To be agreed with Playscheme Manager

Playscheme Dates & Shifts - 2026

Join us for a fun-filled year of Playschemes across all school holidays in 2026!

Dates:

?? February Half Term:

Monday 16th - Thursday 19th February

Easter:

Monday 6th - Thursday 9th April & Monday 13th - Thursday 16th April +

? Summer:

Monday 29th June - Thursday 6th August

October Half Term:

Monday 12th - Thursday 15th October

Shifts:

Monday to Thursday, typically 8:30am - 3:30pm, with some flexibility depending on activities.

Training:

Mandatory training will take place before each Playscheme. Full details will be provided in advance to help you prepare.


Come join us for a rewarding and energetic week supporting children during the school holidays!

Purpose of the Post:

To look after children and young people at a playscheme and provide them with opportunities


for fun, play and social interaction.

Playscheme Aims:

To increase confidence among parents, children and playscheme workers/volunteers, so children with widely differing abilities can benefit from meeting and playing together. To offer good play experiences to children with learning disabilities and other special needs in a safe environment. To offer a worry-free break to parents.

To learn more about our recruitment process please click the link -

Our Recruitment Process

To support our commitment to a fair and inclusive recruitment process, we invite all candidates to optionally complete our -

Equal Opportunities Form for Applicants

Equality Statement | The Action Group

The Action Group values diversity in our workforce and welcomes applications from all sections of the community. As a Disability Confident Leader organisation, we particularly encourage applications from people with disabilities, and offer a guaranteed interview for anyone who meets the essential criteria for the role. We also strongly encourage and welcome applications from people from minority ethnic backgrounds and other underrepresented groups. If you require any adjustments to take part in the recruitment process, please let us know, and we will do our best to support you.

Since this is a registered service with the Care Inspectorate, all applicants for the role of Playworker must be at least 16 years old

This is a regulated role and requires PVG Disclosure Scotland membership for children.


As part of our recruitment process, candidates who have lived outside the UK for more than 12 months in the last 10 years will be required to provide a Criminal Convictions Certificate (or equivalent) from the relevant country or countries. Please note that the cost of obtaining this certificate will be the responsibility of the candidate.


Please note: Due to visa restrictions and our shift requirements, candidates on restricted visas may be offered a maximum of 15 hours per week.

About The Role

Our holiday hub enables children and young people aged between 5-18 years old with support needs and learning disabilities to have a stimulating, inclusive play with an emphasis on young people having fun and developing their confidence.



Our service provides families & carers with a short break in the school holidays and gives children the opportunity to interact and engage with others in an active, creative and sensory environment.



Paid training is provided

Responsibilities/Tasks: General - Holiday Hub

You should arrive at the venue by a given time. This provides an opportunity for you to organise your groups matching for the day and reassure the volunteers about their children. Children's


profiles will be available for all to check out the specific needs of their child. Other Play Workers


may be bus escorts so ensure you deal with anything from the other groups necessary.
This time also provides an opportunity to get the equipment ready or activities organised before the children arrive and it also means that you are available to welcome the children and to show


them where to put their belongings.
Get to know the children, there will be information sheets available for you to look through, but do not forget to ask the children what they would like to do!
Make sure the children are comfortable, that they are reminded and supported with toileting. Change pads regularly and when needed.
Help children with eating and drinking where help is needed. Help children to clean up after activities. At the end of the day, share responsibility with other volunteers for cleaning and tidying up the playscheme premises!
Please respect confidentiality. Do not discuss any of the children or their families' outwith the playscheme.
Report any breakages or damage to the playscheme manager. It can be difficult for a parent to entrust their child to our care. Earn their trust by making sure you follow any reasonable instructions they give you, but always bearing in mind the playscheme's


good practice guidelines for the supervision of children. If you have any concerns these should be


discussed with the play leader as soon as possible.
Keep parents informed. If you have any contact with them (e.g. Bus Escorts), tell them about what has happened during the day - things that have gone well and also any difficulties. Ensure


you fill in the daily note for parents of the child you have worked with on that day and put it in the


child's bag.

General - Leisure Schemes

The leisure schemes operate in a more flexible manner to the playscheme and may or may not have activities arranged in advance.
You may be working 1:1 with a young person, or looking after a small group. In cases where there is no pre-arranged activity, each young person will have a small budget to spend as they choose during the day. Play Workers will help them to do this


and choose appropriate activities.
Typical activities might include going to bowling, swimming or playing sports. Play Workers are responsible for ensuring the young peoples' safety during the day and for making sure they arrive home at the correct time.
Play Workers will need to assist young people with personal care as and when required.

Support/organisation

You are responsible for the health, safety and wellbeing of volunteers and children/young people allocated to you.
You should ensure that you find the time each day to check out that your volunteers are okay. You should be modelling good practice in your own work with the children and ensure


that you are challenging any poor practice in the volunteers.
You will support the volunteers in training and at the end of day meetings. Talk to the Manager of your group if you are experiencing any difficulties with your work or if you have any worries. Do not keep problems to yourself!
If you have any concerns about the physical, emotional or sexual abuse of children or young people please tell the Manager immediately.
Support each other! We welcome and value differences in sexuality, age, health, disability, race and religion.

Outings

You may be the responsible person on outings/trips. If this is the case you are responsible for the health and safety of everyone on the trip. You will be required to complete


trip/outing checklist and risk assessment confirming whom you have on the trip,


medication accidents incidents etc.

Patterns of Work

Usual play/leisure scheme hours are between 08:30 and 16:00. These may differ on occasion.

Other Duties

This job description is not intended to be exhaustive and the post holder may be required to perform other duties on occasion.

Confidentiality

High standards of confidentiality are required in relation to the roles, tasks and responsibilities described above.

Required Criteria

This post requires PVG scheme membership Applicants who are not members of the PVG scheme should be prepared to join before commencing employment. Continuous Professionalism: This means fulfilling commitments, acting in a very professional manner, and believing in values of choice and opportunity for all. Developing Self: This means having the desire to learn new things and constantly improve your own working practice Empowering People: This means being able support others in a practical way whilst respecting their needs, choices and dignity Building and Maintaining Relationships: This means demonstrating the ability to develop trusting relationships with others using fun and play Analysis & Decision Making: This means making sensible decisions using all information available to you at the time Working in Partnership: This means working effectively as a team and sharing information with outside parties (e.g. parents) as required Must match the availability required: most or all of the dates and times specified in the advert

Skills Needed

About The Company

Our History

The Action Group was set up in 1976 by a group of parents and carers of people who had learning disabilities and other support needs. They began by campaigning for better services for the people they cared about in the local area of Leith and Restalrig. This group, who all lived in the north east of Edinburgh, took the name Area 5 Action Group from the Social Work Department's area in which they lived.

Providing and Improving Learning Disability Care for Over 45 Years

The Action Group was, and continues to be, a membership organisation with the twin aims of campaigning for, and providing, good community care services. In 1976, services and supports in the community were few and far between and large institutions and hospitals, like Gogarburn in Edinburgh, were the main service for children and adults.


Locally, The Area 5 Action Group ran a high profile political and media campaign to get learning disability and support needs on the agenda. It also explored ways to develop service-provision


By 1985, now called The North Edinburgh Action Group, membership had grown and service users came from all over Edinburgh, East Lothian, West Lothian and Midlothian.


By 1992, with development plans focussing across an even wider area, a further name change to The Action Group was made.


Over the years the Action Group has been at the forefront of campaigning for and providing high quality community services.

Company Culture

The Vision

That Families caring for a person and individuals who have support needs and/or Learning Disability encounter no barriers to their chosen lifestyle, are able to follow a path of choice and can enrich their opportunities.

The Mission

To Value, listen and involve people so that our every action is judged to be the best.

The Values

An ordinary life includes the 5 accomplishments which derives from the work of John O'Brien.


These values are at the heart of the organisation.


People accessing our services should have:

Community presence - Relationships

Competency - Respect - Choice

Company Benefits

Looking to make a difference?

Make a difference in your community and in people's lives by becoming a support worker with us!


Your goal will be to help people with additional support needs to gain or maintain their independence, and going about their lives in general, to support with work, health and wellbeing, or attending and participating in activities.

HSF Health Plans for The Action Group Full-time & Part-time employees

HSF Perkbox - HSF Assist

Accredited Living Wage Employer

Good annual leave entitlements

Travel time payable where applicable

Ongoing support, training and development opportunities

Pension

Blue Light Card

Blue Light Card, On the job learning

Salary

12.60 per hour