Volunteer Managers’ Forum – Wednesday 16th December

Our next Volunteer Managers Forum takes place on Wednesday 16^th December between 10 am and 2pm at Dalbury Lees Village Hall.

As well as finding an excuse to eat the odd mince pie, we will be joined by Emma Dagless of the Volunteer Centres Derbyshire Network, who is developing resources and good practice around involving young people under the age of 16 as volunteers. She will be sharing some of the work that she has being that is being picked up both locally and at national level. Many of us find it very difficult to know how we can involve young people and this forum offers us all a chance to share Emma’s specialist expertise in this complex field. 

In addition, we will be inviting you to test a panel of volunteering experts in a “Question Time” session. But look out, you may well be one of those experts, because the panel will be drawn from Volunteer Managers.

Operation Christmas Dinner

Most of the information on this blog is aimed at Volunteer Managers and Coordinators, but this post is for anyone who wants to give a little of their time over the Christmas period.

For many years, South Derbyshire CVS has mobilised a team of volunteers who are cooking Christmas dinner for their own family and who offer to cook an extra portion and deliver it to a local person who might otherwise not get a dinner.  Many of the recipients of dinners have, in the past, had no other visitor on Christmas Day.

This year, all the other organisations across Derbyshire who have provided this matching service in the past have dropped out. In some cases because they perceive that the need for such a service no longer exists and in others, because they have concerns about the possible risks of this project.

Here in South Derbyshire, we are well aware of potential risks and are taking steps to minimise them, but we cannot accept the view that there is no need for this service. For this reason, and because we have a volunteer who has helped to coordinate this project for years who won’t be at all happy if we didn’t go ahead, we are the only Volunteer Centre in Derbyshire, and maybe in the whole of the East Midlands, who is coordinating a Christmas Dinner project this year.

Again, from past experience, we know that some families have had their conscience pricked when their elderly relative has been referred to this project, and have rallied round to provide the meal themselves. But there will always be a small number of people who have no-one else.

We fully expect to have more offers of volunteers than potential recipients, and we are very grateful to everyone who offers to provide a meal. It’s only by having a big pool of volunteers, right across South Derbyshire, that we can ensure that the people who need a meal are somewhere close to a volunteer. After all, the dinner would go cold during a 20 mile drive across the district.

If you , or some of your own volunteers, would like to be included in Operation Christmas Dinner, please contact Chris Wagstaff or Allan Jeffries at the Volunteer Centre - 01823 550163 or email chrisw@sdcvs.org.uk 

… and if your organisation is in touch with ay elderly, disabled or ill people who would benefit from a Christmas Day dinner and a visit from a friendly face, please let us know.

Another thing, if we may? What can your own organisation offer to the people who want to volunteer over Christmas, but won’t be matched up as part of Operation Christmas Dinner?  It doesn’t have to be volunteering on Christmas Day, but what are you doing over the whole Christmas period that could bring new volunteers into your organisation?

Happy International Volunteer Managers’ Day

The Volunteer Centre South Derbyshire is an International Volunteer Managers' Day Official International Supporters Group Member

Today is International Volunteer Managers’ Day, when managers and coordinators of volunteers across the world are celebrating and being celebrated.

We tend to be very good at celebrating our volunteers, but today’s the one day when we can take a look at ourselves and recognise our own contribution to the incredible things that volunteers achieve.

So let’s grab a cup of tea and raise a toast to everyone in who supports volunteers here in South Derbyshire, across the county, the UK and world. We’re an amazing bunch.

Make A Difference Day – Feedback

Well, we did it! Donate Don’t Dump took place on Friday and Saturday at Swadlincote Town Hall as our local contribution to Make A Difference Day 2009.

Make A Difference Day Volunteers

We asked people to donate good quality, saleable items that were sorted by a great team of volunteers and distributed to three local charity shops. At the end of a busy morning, Queens Hospital League of Friends in Burton had a Land Rover full of items, while the Cancer Research UK and Age Concern Derbyshire shops in Swadlincote shared the huge pile of clothes. Donations came in from staff at South Derbyshire CVS, South Debyshire District council and from members of the public. Donate Don’t Dump was one of the council first Employer Supported Volunteering projects and we are delighted at the excellent response we had from council staff.

Make A Difference Day - Volunteers sorting donated clothes

The Air Training Corps 1211 Squadron were one of our key partners in the success of this event, with their young people helping in every aspect of the sorting, fetching and carrying. The ATC also ran a book  and cake sale in conjunction with the event to raise funds for a number of charities that had been the focus of their fundraising efforts over the past few months. Their band also played in Swadlincote Market Place, which also helped to draw attention to the activities and to Make A Difference Day.

Make A Difference Day - The ATC cake and book stall

We estimate that several thousand pounds worth of clothing, books, toys and household items were donated, sorted and distributed on Saturday.

Volunteering Statistics

South Derbyshire is right on the East Midlands regional average for the perecentage of people who volunteer regularly.

The results of the 2008 Place Survey have just been unveiled and the % of respondents who have given unpaid help at least once per month over the last 12 months are:

South Derbyshire              23.0%

Derbyshire average         22.2%
East Midlands average   23.0%
England average               23.2%

This shows that we are slightly better than the average across Derbyshire, but marginally down on the national average.

However, our northern neighbours in Derbyshire Dales achieved a staggering 35.1%. Congratulations to every single voluntary organisation in Derbyshire Dales on this great result.

International Volunteer Managers’ Day Website

We’re featured on the IVM Day website as a supporter.

http://volunteermanagersday.org/Supporters/England/tabid/129/Default.aspx

… and we’re in the list above Volunteering England!

IVM Day is 5th November – and we’re counting down.

Desperate For Volunteers?

How’s this for a classic quote from a Civil Servant?

“When we started this, volunteer and community groups were desperately seeking volunteers. But because of the recession there are more volunteers, and groups are not desperate for them any more.”

He was talking about the implementation of government’s Borders, Immigration and Citizenship Act, which was passed in July,which allows immigrants who have been in the UK for five years to gain citizenship within one further year, rather than three, if they can prove they have been an “active citizen” by volunteering.

The great and good within the volunteering movement are getting very hot under the collar because the act seems to setting people up for compulsory volunteering.  Obviously this is a total contradiction in terms, but it’s a contradiction that also seems to apply to unemployed people. Another current national news story shows that the government’s grand plan to get 30,000 unemployed people into volunteering is falling short of its targets. Five months into a two year programme (21% of the time) only 7% of the target number of unemployed people are volunteering.

But if the government’s justification for these targets falling short, or for the slowdown in implementation of the Borders, Immigration and Citizenship Act is because volunteer-involving organisations no longer need volunteers because we’re now overwhelmed with them, they are seriously out of touch.

We NEVER encourage volunteer managers to use the phrase “desperate for volunteers”; that would be the biggest turn-off possible to anyone thinking of joining the organisation. We emphasise what great opportunities we offer people, but the fact remains that most of us are not overwhelmed with volunteers, recession or not.

If you want some support in attracting, recruiting, or retaining volunteers, get in touch with the Volunteer Centre. And don’t forget our to book your place on our training / networking session on Making The Most of Volunteers’ Talents

International Volunteer Managers’ Day

 

Thursday 5th November is International Volunteer Managers Day, when South Derbyshire’s Volunteer Managers are invited to join the Volunteer Centre team for a training and networking session at Rickman’s Corner Community Centre between 09:30 and 12:30.

The session will help you to “Make The Most Of Your Volunteers’ Talents”.

Make the best use of your existing resources and create a ‘win-win’ environment for your volunteers, your service users and your organisation by exploring: 

• Issues involved in adapting the levels of responsibility within volunteer roles to give experienced or highly skilled volunteers the opportunity to use their skills and knowledge to their full potential
• Assessment techniques to identify the skills and talents of both existing and new volunteers
• The impact of roles with increased responsibility within your organisation in terms of volunteer motivation, relationship between paid and unpaid staff, relationship between new and existing volunteers

As usual, places will be limited by the capacity of the room, so book your place right now by calling Chris Wagstaff on 01283 550163 or email chrisw@sdcvs.org.uk.

… and it’s free!

Volunteering Featured On Peak Time TV All This Week

I wish I could tell you that the BBC, ITV and other UK television channels had embraced our field, but we’d have to be in the USA to see how mainstream peak-time television treats volunteering. The programmes are on air this week and, I guess, will eventually arrive here in the UK. 

We picked this story up via an American volunteer manager based in Germany who emailed another volunteer manager in Australia.

Volunteering Coming to Your TV Set Next Week!

Television shows on ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox and several cable channels are incorporating themes of service and volunteering into their scripts and story lines that will reach hundreds of millions of viewers during the week of October 19-25. All this primetime focus is expected to generate renewed interest in volunteering in local communities. The Corporation for National and Community Service has teamed up with EIF on this unprecedented effort, and we encourage you to use this opportunity to recruit volunteers and highlight the work your organization is doing.

Are you ready for Desperate Housewives, Ghost Whisperers, Mentalists, and Heroes to call your office looking for a way to volunteer? Those shows are just some of the more than 90 primetime programs that will be highlighting volunteering next week as part of iParticipate, a national initiative of the Entertainment Industry Foundation to shine the spotlight on the ways that everyday Americans help their neighbors.

The American story also gives some very useful tips about how organisations need to be ready to respond to the flood of enquiries that this campiagn should bring. As set of tips that all of us who work with volunteers can use, once translated from American into into English.

Are you and your organization ready? Here are a few tips and links from the Resource Center on ways to welcome, invite, incorporate, support, and celebrate the volunteers who walk through your doors.

• Review or create the phone script that you use when volunteers call <http://nationalserviceresources.org/iparticipate/sample-telephone-script>.
• Set a welcoming tone, and know who is responsible and what the message is.
• Revise and clarify existing job descriptions for volunteers <http://nationalserviceresources.org/iparticipate/volunteer-position-description-and-example>
• and have those applications ready <http://nationalserviceresources.org/iparticipate/sample-application-form>.
• Update your online presence. Post your opportunities on an online volunteer matching database
• Across the country, the local affiliates of the four broadcast networks will be looking for volunteer stories to highlight on their newscasts.
• This is a great time to reach out to your local affiliates  with stories and statistics about your volunteering and service program — talk shows, morning shows, and evening news. Print media may also be more receptive.
• Collect stories about what volunteers have done for your organization <http://www.serve.gov/share.asp>.
• For a media toolkit with tips and sample materials, visit: http://www.serve.gov/spread.asp
• Brainstorm new ideas of ways that volunteers could support your organization <http://nationalserviceresources.org/iparticipate/scoping-new-potential-projects>.
• Engage your board in planning, organizing, and leading a project with visibility <http://nationalserviceresources.org/iparticipate/project-planning-tools>.
• Not all volunteers want to do direct service. Identify internal projects where volunteers could make a big contribution to your organization.
• It’s all about /variety/—virtual jobs, one-day projects, group and family activities, and long-term assignments.
• If your organization is not prepared to accept new volunteers, refer them to other organizations where their interests can be put to good use.
• Contact peer organizations to consider collaborating with them. If you do not regularly engage volunteers, learn from others how best to use them.
• Clarify roles in training, supporting, and supervising volunteers <http://nationalserviceresources.org/iparticipate/train-support-and-supervise-volunteers>. Skilled volunteers can fill this role if appropriate staff is not available < http://nationalserviceresources.org/online-courses/the-nonprofit-readiness-toolkit>.
• Plan a project for a group to undertake; break it into small enough chunks so that several groups or individuals can contribute to its completion.
• Use this increase in visibility to develop a long-range strategy to engage the community in new ways. They want to help you, but they need to know how.
• Celebrate, honor, and thank all the volunteers who have labored on your behalf <http://nationalserviceresources.org/iparticipate/recognition-ideas>.For more information on iParticipate, visit www.iParticipate.org

So That’s What We Do!

Thanks to Rob Jackson of Volunteering England for pointing out that the website of the Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services has just been updated with the details of a Volunteer Coordinator‘ role.

Please note that this is not a job advert as such, but is there to give information to the people who advise university students about possible careers. This should help to raise the profile of what many of us do as a small part of an already busy job.