As Dobbies’ Edinburgh store launches its Best Ever Christmas, the garden centre retailer is on the lookout for a jolly team of Santas and Elves to help create unforgettable festive experiences for families visiting this season.
As one of the UK’s largest employers of Santas and Elves, Dobbies is recruiting enthusiastic seasonal colleagues to play a starring role in its popular Christmas events programme.
From welcoming families and even four-legged visitors to Santa’s Grotto, to hosting the much-loved Santa’s Breakfast in the restaurant, successful applicants will help bring the magic of Christmas to life in Dobbies’ Edinburgh store.
Whether candidates have previous experience in festive roles or simply enjoy spreading Christmas cheer, Dobbies’ Edinburgh store is encouraging people from across the UK to apply.
Every successful applicant will complete Dobbies’ immersive North Pole Academy programme, designed to set seasonal colleagues up for success. The programme provides skills, confidence and support, as well as the opportunity to connect with other seasonal colleagues as they prepare to deliver memorable experiences for customers.
Preparations for the festive season will begin in mid-November, ahead of Santa’s Arrival on November 22, which marks the beginning of Dobbies Christmas events programme at the Edinburgh store.
Dobbies People Experience Manager, Victoria Craig, said: “We’re thrilled to welcome back many of our much-loved Santas and Elves, who bring festive magic to families across our stores year after year.
“This Christmas, we’re also inviting new recruits to join the team and become part of something truly special.
“With enhanced onboarding to help colleagues immerse themselves in the Grotto experience, there’s never been a better time to step into the role. Whether you’re a seasoned Santa or discovering your Elf persona for the first time, we can’t wait to help create magical memories together this Christmas at Dobbies.”
A range of flexible seasonal positions is available, offering hours to suit different lifestyles and commitments.
Applications are now open. To find out more about Christmas recruitment at Dobbies’ Edinburgh store and to apply, visit https://careers.dobbies.com/.
LifeCare are proactively recruiting 4 new trustees, as members of our existing board reach the end of their term. This year more than ever is an exciting time to join our board as we celebrate our 85th year.
“After a long career in the NHS, becoming a LifeCare Trustee felt like a natural way to continue supporting peoples’ health, wellbeing and independence.
I feel I bring experience in strategy and governance, whilst helping to support LifeCare to turn good ideas into practical action for older people, their families and carers” – Lorna Jackson-Hall, current Chair
The Accounts Commission plays a significant role in Scottish public life, providing independent assurance to citizens about how their local council is using public money.
It reports on how well councils and other local government bodies manage and report on their finances and performance, and on their arrangements to secure Best Value. It also reports on the issues that are important to people’s quality of life and the services they use and rely on every day.
Becoming a member of the Accounts Commission is an exciting and varied role, drawing on a wide range of skills and experience.
New members are currently being recruited. If you’re interested in applying but would like to know more, we’re holding information sessions, both hybrid.
Event registration and application details can be found here:
An acute shortage of foster carers in Scotland is pointing to a care emergency
Children as young as three years old are being placed in residential homes
TACT Fostering, the UK’s largest dedicated fostering charity, is calling on the government and all fostering providers to take urgent action
A recent statement issued by Scotland’s thirty-two Chief Social Work Officers has highlighted an acute shortage of available fostering homes in Scotland, with children as young as three being placed in residential homes.
Whilst a shortage of foster carers across the UK has been a long-standing issue, children under five years of age being placed in residential homes alongside much older young people is alarming. Local authority foster carers are historically approached first for very young children. Therefore children being housed in residential homes is less about a change of approach for local authorities, and more about a decrease in foster carers generally.
This should be triggering an urgent ‘call to action’ for the government and fostering providers to increase carer recruitment efforts.
Andy Elvin, TACT Fostering CEO and Chair of The Fairer Fostering Partnership, an umbrella group of charitable fostering providers, said: “With the recent statement issued by Scotland’s thirty-two Chief Social Work Officers with regards to the acute shortage of available fostering homes, it is clear that this is a care emergency. Children as young as three being placed in residential homes isn’t acceptable or in the best interests of children.
“Here at TACT Fostering, we’ve introduced a number of financial wellbeing initiatives to help make fostering viable for more people. We’ve also introduced our ‘making spaces’ program centred around increasing our carers’ spare bedroom capacity to provide additional care, particularly to help bring siblings together.
“However, we do need more action at a governmental level as a matter of urgency to bring more people to fostering across Scotland. We would happily work with our Scottish local authority colleagues and the Scottish government in a national foster carer recruitment effort.
“It is clear that we need to work together in concert to address this emergency. The new legislation requiring that all Independent Fostering Providers are charities is an excellent opportunity to promote fostering across Scotland.”
Whilst the initial response needs to be finding suitable foster homes for under fives that are being placed in residential environments, local authorities and independent fostering providers need to prioritise carer recruitment strategies.
Organisations should also be looking to nurture and upskill their current foster carers, where possible.
Moving forward, it does seem that there needs to be a general change in the way local authorities approach the foster carer/family finding process for under fives and, in fact, all young people. Most independent fostering providers prepare and nurture their foster carers to match the care need in each region, and usually this does not include very young children.
If all requests for care were to call on both in-house local authority and external agency carers simultaneously, with the ‘best match’ being the goal in every scenario, all fostering providers would be in a better position to respond to care emergencies such as this.
Ultimately it would help to create a wider pool of foster carers able to care for children of all ages and with differing needs.
Joanne Smith, NSPCC Scotland policy and public affairs manager, said: “It is deeply concerning to hear from social work professionals that Scotland’s care system is in a state of emergency. The situations they describe highlight how overstretched the system has become.
“Every child who cannot live safely at home must have access to safe, consistent, nurturing and responsive care as early as possible. We have overwhelming evidence that failing to provide timely, high-quality care for children who have experienced early adversity can have devastating and lifelong consequences.
“The acute shortage of suitable homes and carers means that babies and children are left in unsafe, unstable, or inappropriate situations that harm their wellbeing immediately and can have lasting effects on their mental health, relationships and life chances.
“This must be a turning point. We need urgent action to increase the number of suitable foster placements, ensure better support for professionals and carers, and invest in early help so that fewer families reach crisis point in the first place.
“The Scottish Government has committed to keeping The Promise. To deliver its ambitions we must see much greater recognition that how we treat children at the start of their care journey could massively impact their life chances. Without immediate and sustained investment, we risk failing those children who are most vulnerable and need our protection the most.”
ELREC are working on a school volunteering scheme together with the City of Edinburgh to increase diversity in the Education workforce. Volunteers will join a placement school and will receive guidance and support from their mentor in order to get the most out of the experience.
So, if you want become a parent helper, see how schools work and build out your CV to apply for education jobs, apply for this opportunity here:
Want to use your skills, insight and experience to support those moving on from homelessness in Edinburgh?
Join the Fresh Start Board of Trustees!
Over the past 25 years, we’ve been supporting those who have experienced homelessness to move on to the next chapter of their lives with the dignity and stability that everyone deserves. With rising demand for our services and a strong reputation built over years of delivery and community partnership, we’re recruiting new Trustees to help strengthen governance and support the sustainable, values-led expansion of Fresh Start
As a Trustee, you’ll be responsible for the charity’s governance and strategy, and for making sure that the organisation is administered effectively. You’ll work closely with the other Trustees and our CEO, Biddy Kelly, to ensure that Fresh Start is able to continue our essential work as successfully as possible.
Interested? Visit the link below to learn more and download the info pack for the position. Applications close on 20th of March, 2026 – we look forward to hearing from you!
Lovell has opened its South Queensferry development to local young people, recently welcoming 51 pupils from Echline Primary School to the site and supporting work experience opportunities. The education project gives young people a hands-on introduction to construction and the wide range of careers involved in building new homes.
The Crossings is a major mixed-tenure development that will deliver 398 homes, including 100 for social rent in partnership with Sanctuary Scotland, 185 homes for private rent through Sigma Simple Life, 113 private homes for sale by Lovell Homes and 14 commercial units. The development will also support more than 300 local jobs.
The education activity forms part of the ongoing commitment by Lovell to deliver social value in communities where it builds, helping to create opportunities for young people and strengthen pathways into employment.
It comes at a time when attracting new talent to the construction sector is increasingly important, with the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) estimating that Scotland will need to recruit 26,100 additional construction workers by 2028 to meet future demand.
Tony Rankin, Regional Managing Director at Lovell, said: “Construction offers a huge range of opportunities, but too often young people only know about a few job roles in the industry. Opening up our sites like this is about showing them the bigger picture and helping them understand the many different career routes available.
“With Scotland needing to attract thousands of additional workers to the construction sector over the coming years, it’s vital we support the next generation to see the possibilities and feel confident that there is a place for them in the industry.”
As part of the programme, P7 pupils from Echline Primary School were guided through a series of live demonstrations by Site Manager Kevin Kelly from Lovell, including broadband installation, underground pipework and the various stages involved in completing new homes.
The groups also visited a nearly completed home, where they learned about painting and had the chance to try it for themselves.
The tour concluded with a discussion about the wide range of roles involved in delivering new homes, from trades and engineering through to design, planning and project management.
Laura Marshall, P7 teacher at Echline Primary School, said: “This was a fantastic experience for our pupils. Seeing a live site and speaking directly with the team helped them understand how homes are built and how many different roles are involved.
“It’s important that young people are given opportunities like this to explore career paths they might not have considered and it was very inspiring for the children.”
The visit is part of a wider programme of activity by Lovell that engages local schools and young people in South Queensferry. Lovell teams have interacted with hundreds of pupils from Echline Primary School and Queensferry High School through site visits, workshops and career sessions. Additionally, 15 surveying graduates from Hardies, the employer’s agent on the development, visited to learn more about construction operations and live-site working.
Lovell has also supported work experience opportunities at The Crossings, offering real-world experience and helping participants build confidence for future employment.
The experience was delivered in collaboration with Positive Qualities and its Construction Skills Academy, which supports young people in developing essential workplace skills. Through the Academy, participants successfully completed three SQA units ahead of their placement, including the Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) Health and Safety certificate.
Lovell site teams worked alongside supply chain partners R&M Contractors and Ramsey Electrical to support placements and provide young people with meaningful experiences across various trades.
Conor Watt, Development Manager at Sanctuary, said: “Creating great places to live is about more than building new homes. It’s also about supporting the communities around them and investing in opportunities for local people to ensure the benefits are shared and long-lasting.
!We’re proud to work alongside Lovell on initiatives that inspire young people and help them imagine a future career in construction.”
Post work placement surveys highlighted the real value of the live-site experience and showed measurable impact, including increased workplace confidence and improved understanding of the range of opportunities available within construction. Both work experience participants have since progressed to further education, moving on to college courses following their time at the South Queensferry development.
Sean Siala, work experience student, said: “It was great working on-site, especially gaining practical, hands-on knowledge.
“I really enjoyed the camaraderie. I loved chatting with the electricians and learning from their experience.”
Hear from current Board Members
£16,224 per annum
Closing date: 31 August 2026, 12 noon
Apply here: 
Want to use your skills, insight and experience to support those moving on from homelessness in Edinburgh?
