Events & Communications Officer

About River KidsRiver Kids is a West Lothian children’s charity supporting children and families experiencing poverty and disadvantage.We work closely with schools, health professionals, social work teams, community organisations and local businesses to ensure children have access to essential items, opportunities and support when they need it.We are a small, hands-on team, and we are looking for an enthusiastic and proactive Events & Communications Officer to help us grow our community presence, strengthen relationships and generate support for our work.About the roleThis is a varied role combining events, communications, community engagement and fundraising.You will take responsibility for developing and delivering River Kids' programme of fundraising events, including maintaining successful existing events and identifying opportunities to introduce new ones.You will also manage our day-to-day social media presence. For us, communications are about more than posting content. We want to tell the story of River Kids effectively, demonstrate the difference our work makes and use our platforms to connect with the people, businesses and organisations who can help us achieve more.A significant part of the role will involve building relationships within the local community. This could mean approaching a business about supporting an appeal, encouraging members of the public to fundraise on our behalf, attending a community information event, promoting an upcoming fundraiser or finding a new opportunity to raise River Kids' profile.As part of a small charity team, you will also need to be comfortable getting involved in the practical day-to-day work of the organisation when required.What you'll be doing• Plan, organise and deliver approximately 3–4 River Kids fundraising events each year, taking responsibility from initial planning through to delivery and evaluation.• Develop and maintain our successful existing events while identifying opportunities for new fundraising events and activities.• Manage River Kids' day-to-day social media presence and create engaging, appropriate content across our platforms.• Use our communications to tell the story of River Kids, demonstrate our impact and connect with relevant supporters and stakeholders.• Build and maintain relationships with local businesses, community organisations, supporters and other stakeholders.• Proactively approach businesses to develop donations, sponsorship, fundraising and other forms of support.• Encourage and support individuals, groups and organisations to fundraise on behalf of River Kids.• Identify opportunities for community fundraising and engagement and turn promising opportunities into activity.• Represent River Kids at community events, information days, networking opportunities and other public-facing activities.• Promote River Kids' campaigns, appeals, events and wider work.• Maintain relationships with existing supporters and look for opportunities to deepen their involvement with the charity.• Monitor the performance of events, communications and engagement activity and contribute to relevant KPIs and reporting.• Work closely with the Charity Manager and Project Lead to ensure communications accurately represent our work, values and impact.• Support the wider operational work of River Kids when required, recognising that working within a small charity requires flexibility and a hands-on approach.•About youWe are looking for someone who is proactive, approachable and comfortable building relationships.You don't need to be an expert in every aspect of events, communications and fundraising. More important to us is someone who can take ownership of their work, communicate confidently and spot opportunities rather than waiting for them to arrive.You should be:• A confident communicator who enjoys engaging with different people and organisations.• Comfortable approaching businesses, community groups and members of the public to ask for support.• Organised and able to manage events and activities from planning through to completion.• Able to communicate effectively through social media and adapt content for different audiences.• Creative and willing to develop new ideas for fundraising and engagement.• Able to build and maintain positive relationships with supporters and stakeholders.• Comfortable representing River Kids publicly.• Able to work independently while contributing to a very small, collaborative team.• Practical and willing to get involved when needed.• Able to manage competing priorities and take responsibility for seeing work through.Experience in event