The Times they Are A-Changin’

As the times change, so do the faces. And so it is with the Sheffield Volunteering Strategy, which today I will be handing over to my successor in the post of Strategic Volunteering Manager at VAS: Jack Scott. Many of you will know Jack already as he has been an active public figure in Sheffield for some time now and became Councillor for the Arbourthorne Ward in May 2010.

It seems appropriate then to give a run-down of developments…

Over the summer various promotional activities have been taking place, including the creation and distribution of a new Guide to Employee Volunteering in Sheffield for local businesses and organisations who want to support their staff to volunteer. We hope that this directory will open local employers’ eyes to the possibilities and benefits available to them, and were delighted that it received press coverage in First for Business Magazine and the Sheffield Telegraph.

Our fantastic Volunteering Ambassadors have been busy, going out and about to various summer events across the city, from Sheffield Pride to Handsworth Gala Day, encouraging people from all walks of life to get involved in volunteering. In addition, they took up the challenge of creating a short film about volunteering over just a few weeks! Thank you to Oliver and Luke at A4E for their help with the editing process. The fruits of their efforts, entitled Time Well Spent, can be seen below.

Also shortly to arrive will be Top Dog – an online game we have had created about a Sheffielder who likes nothing better than to be a helping hound to those in need! Intended to be a fun way of spreading the word about the benefits of volunteering, this will soon be emailed out to volunteers and contacts across the city for them to forward to friends and family. It will also hopefully be part of the Sheffield Quality Time Facebook page, so look out for that and send it on to anyone you know!

Soon to launch is the Buddy Scheme with Sheffield City Council’s Employment Service. Working in conjunction with Sheffield’s universities and Sheffield Volunteer Centre, the Employment Service will be training and supporting a social work degree student to buddy volunteers with learning disabilities from September. This will enable those individuals to fulfil their wish to engage in their local communities and offer their help to others.

To continue the work on building a time-bank in the Manor area (or even potentially in other areas too), a time-bank workshop will be running on 27th and 28th September, hosted by Manor & Castle Development Trust and run by Time Banks UK. Anybody interested in setting up a time-bank might like to go along to discover what it’s all about and what running one entails. Contact Jack (j.scott@vas.org.uk) or Diane Cairns at MCDT for more information or to enquire about reserving a place. (Please note however that places are limited so it may not be possible to offer everyone a place).

Finally, it just remains for me to say thank you, to all the Strategy Delivery Partners, to everybody who has been involved in the consultation and development of the Strategy, to the Strategy Steering Group, and of course to the Volunteering Ambassadors for all their help। It has been an honour to work with you all, and I am proud to be leaving behind a Strategy that I hope encompasses your enthusiasm and ideas for how we can grow volunteering in Sheffield. I am also delighted to be leaving it in the very capable hands of Jack Scott, who I am sure will do a fantastic job of seeing the implementation through.

Claire

Time Well Spent

National Citizen Service - Sheffield Tendering Event

The Prime Minister recently announced plans for National Citizen Service (NCS) pilots in summer 2011. If you are interested in delivering an NCS pilot, you can attend an information event in Sheffield on 9th August at the Department for Education. This is the only session taking place outside of London so you are advised to sign up quickly if you want a place.

Time: Sessions are being held at 1pm and 3pm
Place: Department for Education, 2 St Paul's Place, 6th Floor, 125 Norfolk Street, Sheffield
RSVP by Thursday 5 August for security reasons.

If you want to register for a place, email the dedicated email address at mailbox.nationalcitizenservice@education.gsi.gov.uk. Please note that places are limited to one representative per organisation.

Further information and a press release about the launch can be viewed by visiting: http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/newsroom/news_releases/2010/100722-citizenservice/national-citizen-service.aspx

The Volunteering Strategy is moving on... and so is the manager

Following my last post, a couple of developments have taken place which will have an effect on the implementation of the Sheffield Volunteering Srategy.

Firstly, the Volunteering Ambassadors have met up and planned their filming schedule for creating a promotional video about volunteering in Sheffield.  They plan to interview volunteers from 11 different organisations across the city and film some of them in action, to put together a short film which it is hoped will encourage more people to get involved.  Thank you to all those organisations who have come forward to be a part of it, and look out for the finished product at the end of August!

Secondly, I have taken the difficult decision to move on from my post as Strategic Volunteering Manager, and so will no longer be leading the implementation of this work after August.    Voluntary Action Sheffield are now seeking an experienced person to complete the delivery of the Volunteering Strategy, either as a salaried post, self-employed consultancy arrangement or secondment.  Anybody interested in the position needs to ensure their application reaches VAS no later than 12 noon on Monday 9th August.  More information available on the VAS website. 

Finally, I am very grateful to everybody who has given their support for this project along the way - thank you!

Three months into the implementation of the Sheffield Volunteering Strategy and the story is somewhat mixed.  Things have been a little in the air, and to an extent they remain that way, but here is the update on what is going on...

As for much of the voluntary sector, funding some of the projects contained within the Strategy Action Plan is proving to be a tough challenge.  Two applications to the BIG Lottery Reaching Communities fund for the Hub & Spoke project have been turned down, as have our application to the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation for the Time-bank in Manor and the bid to the Humber Learning Consortium's European Social Fund for Pre-Volunteering Training scheme (for people with disabilities and mental health problems).  These set-backs are not however the end of the road!  We are planning a third application to Reaching Communities to address their feedback on our second application, which we feel we are able to tackle through more consultation with local people and services.  For the other projects we had already identified alternative funding streams and so work will progress on approaching them.  A decision from Awards for All is still being awaited on the Buddy Scheme project.

Elsewhere, work on publicity for volunteering has been racing along!  You may have seen Sheffield Quality Time on Facebook and on Twitter, as well as information on plasma screens in the central Bus Interchange and the council's Howden House.  Fliers and posters will also soon appear in shops and cafes around the city, encouraging people to visit the volunteering in Sheffield campaign website.  Further to that, the team of Volunteering Ambassadors (comprising 15 volunteers from a range of organisations including Sheffield Samaritans, SAFE@LAST, Embrace, and Whirlow Hall Farm), have been out and about at events across the city to let people know about the benefits of volunteering and how to get involved - they have so far attended 12 events and given information to in excess of 200 people.

In terms of the numbers, it was disappointing to find that Sheffield City Council's Interim Place Survey showed a 1% decrease in the number of respondents saying that they volunteer regularly.  However there was a 3.2% confidence interval, meaning that any change (up or down) under 3.2% cannot be read as a true result as it may simply be due to methodological error (due to the small number of respondents).  Indeed the most national Citizenship Survey also reported a 1% decrease in regular volunteering across the country, and deemed that to be 'no change'. Furthermore, that survey was taken in the Autumn of 2009, significantly in advance of the implementation of the Volunteering Strategy.  Conversely, the proxy measure used to report progress to the Sheffield First Partnership showed an average 23% increase in volunteer numbers across 15 organisations/groups in Sheffield that report their figures to me.  Of course that does not mean that there has been a 23% increase in people volunteering across the city overall, but it would certainly suggest that progress is moving upwards rather than downwards.  (Those 15 organisations are of varying sizes, from having under 10 volunteers to over 200, and are from both the voluntary and public sector.)

Finally, on a more jolly note: watch out for an online game about volunteering in Sheffield, which will be winging its way out across the city shortly!  And in the meantime, you are welcome to take a look at the interview I gave recently to Action for Employment (feel free to pass the link to anybody who might be interested).

Making the Most of Staff Time

In our efforts to reach out to the general public, many Volunteer Managers forget to tap into a great resource of time and skills: employees of local businesses and organisations.  Despite the economic downturn (and in some cases because of it), employers are looking for ways in which their staff can volunteer (often on company time).  There are a variety of motivations, including using it as an alternative way of gaining or developing staff skills, fulfilling their Corporate Social Responsibility agenda, building staff morale and camerarderie, or simply because their employees themselves have requested the chance to do something positive for a good cause.

Enquiries from private sector businesses and public sector organisations are regularly coming in to myself and the Volunteer Centre staff, and you may well have seen the information about Employee Volunteering on the Volunteer Centre website.  We are now taking that a step further, and compiling a Guide to Employee Volunteering Opportunities in Sheffield, which will enable employers and employees to find their own volunteering opportunities if they can't afford the valuable added services offered by brokers such as Business in the Community. 

And it's worth noting that employers are often prepared to release their staff for either one-off events or more regular ongoing roles, even to the extent of releasing staff for half a day every two weeks!  Some employees will be eager for a change from their day job (and so arrive with added energy and enthusiasm), whereas others may be keen to use their professional skills to the advantage of their volunteering host.  If you are looking for highly skilled people, whether it's in benefits advice, marketing or business planning, Employee Volunteers may well provide the answer.

If you have opportunities you would like to promote to employees and employers in Sheffield, please take a few minutes to fill in this online questionnaire.  That information will then be used to include in the Guide mentioned above, so please give as much detail as possible.  For inspiration, take a look at this month's Quality Time website, which is highlighting Employee Volunteering.  For more information on this work, contact me (c.walsh@vas.org.uk / 0114 253 6638).

The Importance of Volunteer Management

Volunteer Managers the land over know that their work is crucial in underpinning the thousands upon thousands of people who volunteer.  And now it's time for a bit of recognition of that!

Volunteering England’s Value Volunteer Management Campaign aims to increase awareness of the value and importance of investing in volunteer management. Many organisations have already shown support, including the BBC, Microsoft, Barnardo’s, RSPB, National Trust and PDSA. Find out what’s in it for your organisation at http://www.volunteering.org.uk/valuevolunteermanagement

Volunteer managers / coordinators might also be interested in accessing the new Volunteer Management Portal on the Volunteering England website.  This is a new support resource for people managing volunteers, providing over a thousand links training and development opportunities, information on support, best practice guidance and other resources across England. Check it out and see what you think: http://www.volunteering.org.uk/WhatWeDo/Projects+and+initiatives/volunteer-managers/index

Workshop Invitation for Yorkshire & Humber Volunteering Organisations!

Volunteer-involving organisations in Yorkshire & Humber are invited to attend a workshop on how to harness the enthusiasm generated by the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and use it to inspire people to volunteer with your organisation.

This workshop will be delivered by Volunteering England as part of their Inspiration and Legacy from the 2012 Games Project (for which they have teamed up with YouthNet). The project is aimed at enabling all individuals inspired by the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games to quickly and easily access fulfilling, relevant and local Games inspired volunteering opportunities.

The event is particularly relevant to organisations with volunteering opportunities related to sports, arts and the environment, but is open to all volunteer-involving organisations. You will discover how to create new volunteering opportunities and tailor existing ones to make the most of the advertising that will surround the Games.

Event Flyer:  https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0BxotFB1k7Z-wNGM2NjViMzUtNDAwZi00YTlmLWEwZWUtZmE2ZDRiZjQ4NDE3&hl=en_GB

Venue: The Circle, 33 Rockingham Lane, Sheffield S1 4FW
Date: Friday 23rd July 2010
Time: 1.30-4.30 (registration from 1pm)

For more information on this workshop or for a booking form, contact 0114 2536623 / eventmanagement@vas.org.uk

To find out more about the Inspiration and Legacy from the 2012 Games Project see http://www.volunteering.org.uk/WhatWeDo/Projects+and+initiatives/Games+inspired/Create+Games+inspired+volunteering+opportunities

Enabling Employer Supported Volunteering in Sheffield

Since the launch of the lovely new Volunteer Centre website a few months ago (www.sheffieldvolunteercentre.org.uk/employee_volunteering), interest in Employer Supported Volunteering (or Employee Volunteering) seems to be growing.  Over the past few weeks I have personally had several enquiries directed my way, from employers wondering which charities and voluntary groups could use their help (and who aren't going to charge them fees that they can't afford). 

To that end, I am compiling a list of volunteer-involving organisations who could use the help of employer supported volunteers.  Employers offer a wide variety of volunteering potential, with employees who have a range of skills, motivations, and availability to offer. Some will be looking for one-off opportunities that a group of their staff could undertake together, whereas others are open to the idea of individual employees helping charities and voluntary groups on a longer term basis (perhaps utilising their professional skills such as IT or marketing to help, or maybe wanting a complete change from their day job!). Some companies will be looking for specific outcomes for their staff (e.g. skills development, motivation), whereas for others the primary goal is to help their local community.

So if you're a group or organisation in Sheffield that could use the help of some volunteers from local public and private sector organisations, please complete the questionnaire at the following link by 25th June 2010! www.surveymonkey.com/s/esv

And remember: please don't restrict yourself to the stereotypical ideas of painting rooms or building gardens (although those would certainly be welcomed too!) - consider whether employees could help with other things such as getting involved with service users (maybe they could help create scenery for youth theatre productions or help at social events) or whether they could help to shape your work in some way (perhaps people with marketing skills could help plan your communications strategy).

So fill in the questionnaire now and get on the list! (Sheffield-based organisations only): www.surveymonkey.com/s/esv!

Let’s Shout About Volunteering!

Volunteers Week is fast approaching, when volunteering organisations the length and breadth of the land will be celebrating and thanking their volunteers for their hard work and kind deeds.  This is our chance to show our volunteers how much we appreciate them, and also to make people who don't volunteer realise what they're missing out on!

Here in Sheffield, our Volunteer Centre will be out on the streets thanking volunteers in city centre and raising awareness of the benefits and opportunities available to those people yet to start volunteering. Staff and volunteers will be manning a stand in the Moor on 1st June, so if you can why not pop along to say hi?

I am also aware that many of you are planning events yourselves, and am delighted to be attending some of them! If you are doing something, it would be great to hear about it so that I can include it either on press releases or on the Quality Time website (www.qualitytime.wordpress.com). Also, if you would like to give me a quote about volunteering at your organisation (what volunteers do and why they are so important), then drop it in an email to me and I might be able to include that too (c.walsh@vas.org.uk).

Finally, remember that you can download the Volunteers Week logo and get other bits and pieces (balloons etc) to help celebrations go with a swing at the Volunteers Week website: www.volunteersweek.org.uk.  I have a stash of posters and leaflets too - give me a shout if you'd like some!

No time for volunteering? It takes less time than you might think!

Lack of time is one of the reasons many non-volunteers cite for their lack of involvement. What most of them don’t realise is that there are ad-hoc, flexible, short-term volunteering opportunities that don’t require a full-on long-term commitment.

Examples of that in Sheffield are those from SAFE@LAST (e.g. helping with their fundraising events or awareness-raising conferences), Sheffield City Council (helping their rangers and parks’ friends groups with conservations and park clean-ups), and Sheffield-Now (supporting children and young people to create ‘recycled playgrounds’ in a day). All of these opportunities are now listed on the Events page of the Sheffield Quality Time blog (www.sheffieldqualitytime.wordpress.com) which members of the public have been viewing since the site launched at the start of April. At least one volunteer application has already resulted for a one-off event with SAFE@LAST, so it is starting to work!

If you have events that you need volunteers to help at, please let me know so that I can add them to the calendar. If you don't already have any of these events, it may be well worth your while considering how you could go about creating some, as many people who volunteer at one-off events go on to become 'long term' volunteers if they enjoy their initial 'taster'.

Alternatively, if you know people / groups who may be interested in volunteering at the events please pass on the link to them - they can access the calendar via the Events Page at http://www.sheffieldqualitytime.wordpress.com/

Can the 2012 Olympics Increase Sports Volunteering in Sheffield?

Good question!  And it is one being asked by student Jonathan Mirfin, from Sheffield Hallam University.  What's more, he wants to work out how the Games might increase sports volunteering across the city.  As part of his research, he is looking for active volunteers and also people who don't volunteer to complete a questionnaire:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AQZmiNZBeDyJZGNtOTM3bXFfMGNtcHZkNmRx&hl=en_GB

If you could take a couple of minutes to fill out the questionnaire and send it back to Jonathan, it won't only benefit his personal studies but potentially the future of sports volunteering in Sheffield, so please do!  And also please pass it on to all your friends and family who live in the area for them to put their thoughts down as well.  Just click on the link above and it will take you straight to the questionnaire which you can download, fill in and email to Jonathan (his email address is at the top of the form).

Thank you all in advance!

Sheffield Compact: Strengthening the Relationship between the Voluntary and Community Sector & Sheffield City Council & NHS

The Compact Code of Practice for Volunteering has now been approved by the Joint Compact Board for Sheffield – read excerpts below or download the whole thing from the list of documents on the right…

Introduction

The new Volunteering Compact Code of Practice sets out principles and undertakings for public sector organisations and Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) organisations in Sheffield around good practice for volunteering and how to work together to support voluntary action. Each section in this Code outlines a key topic that covers volunteering, and provides undertakings for Public Sector organisations and VCS organisations to help improve volunteering and resolve potential problems. The code has been developed as part of the Sheffield Volunteering Strategy, following consultation with representatives from organisations across Sheffield, including both the Public Sector and the VCS. It is one of four Codes of Practice complementing the Sheffield Compact(s), the others covering Partnership Working, Consultation, and Funding.

Code of Practice Undertakings

Public Sector Undertakings

• Promote the economic and social benefits of volunteering, such as building skills, experience, employability and social cohesion, and support activities that motivate people (including their own staff) to volunteer.
• Consult voluntary and community sector organisations regarding the impact of new policies and procedures on volunteering activities and funding.
• Share information and support initiatives that provide accessible information about local and national volunteering issues across the city.
• Explore possibilities of working with existing volunteering infrastructure organisations locally before setting up new structures.
• Employ fair and transparent procedures on dealing with volunteer involving organisations.
• Consider making available funding to promote, support and recognise volunteering across the city in accordance with all applicable Sheffield City Council policies and procedures.
• Recognise and promote the contribution of volunteering in raising the quality of public life and delivering, in partnership, national agendas for the city.
• Recognise the importance of volunteers on management committees and trustee boards.


Voluntary Sector Undertakings

• Recognise the importance of good volunteer management and allocate resources accordingly. Ensure that all staff who recruit, induct, and manage volunteers receive appropriate training and support.
• Recognise the contribution of volunteers internally and externally in annual reports etc.
• Recognise trustees’ contributions and provide the appropriate training for such roles.
• Ensure that the relationship between paid workers and volunteers is mutually beneficial and that paid workers are fully aware of the areas of work undertaken by volunteers.
• Recognise the individual needs and motivations of volunteers and offer flexibility where possible.
• Ensure that volunteers are protected under the relevant organisational policies and procedures.
• Be willing to share with other organisations relevant work / research which is being / has been undertaken with regards to volunteering.

Mutual Undertakings

• Work together to identify and reduce barriers to volunteering and community involvement.
• Comply with all relevant legislation.
• Work together to develop, implement, and share good practice in volunteering, recognising that effective volunteer management requires investment and commitment.
• Commit to and promote volunteer management best practice with all partners
• Recognise the contributions of volunteers through active promotion and accreditation.
• Undertake external promotion to increase volunteering.
• Comply with all relevant legislation.
• Monitor and report to all parties on the implementation of the Code.
• Encourage communication and positive partnership working between organisations to improve the quality and the variety of volunteering activities offered, and make best use of resources.
• Recognise that organisations should not directly replace previously paid posts with volunteers.
• Recognise where any proposals are put forward that require funding from Sheffield City Council, this would need to be agreed at Cabinet.

Electioneering, Micro-Volunteering and Cheering!

This week there seems to be various little titbits to share with you all, so rather than rambling on about one subject I'm going to quickly let you know about several that you might be interested in looking into further...

Electioneering
Firstly, with just under 4 little weeks to go until the nation goes to the polls to decide who will lead us through the next turbulent 4-5 years, what are the main parties' intentions regarding volunteering and the voluntary sector in general?  Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats have each produced their a 2-page summary on the subject for NAVCA, which you can read here: http://www.navca.org.uk/news/electionarticles.htm

Micro-Volunteering

The concept of 'micro-volunteering' seems to be gaining momemtum.  This is where people give short chunks of time to volunteering, rather than making a regular commitment (which can be difficult for people with busy schedules).  The practice has also been shown to be a good way of people having a 'taste' volunteering and then coming back for more... A couple of examples are Democlub (a group of volunteers across the country who also operate locally and undertake tasks such as gathering information on general election candidates - http://www.democracyclub.org.uk/), and Twestival (a time-limited fundraising effort took place in Plymouth recently - see http://www.i-volunteer.org.uk/paddaniels/lessons-for-volunteer-engagement-plymouth-twestival/).  Also, an idea that I'm interested in potentially replicating in Sheffield is that of conducting an auction (e.g. for works of art) whereby people bid not money but the number of hours they will volunteer for... if you/your organisation might be interested in being involved in something of this nature, check out details of what happened in London (http://ow.ly/1wn8r) and get in touch with me!

Cheering
A couple of Volunteering Awards have come to my attention that some of you may be able to nominate people for...

Aquaforce Volunteer Awards to recognise the invaluable contribution that volunteers make to aquatic sport at all levels. http://www.i-volunteer.org.uk/newshound/nominate-someone-you-know-for-the-aquaforce-volunteer-awards-2010/

Marsh Trust Awards ( for museum volunteers - Any individual or small group of people (maximum of 10 people per group) who worked on a voluntary basis in direct contact with the public in an accredited museum or gallery during 2009 can apply; regional winners receive £500, national winner receives £2000) http://www.britishmuseum.org/the_museum/museum_in_the_uk/marsh_trust_volunteer_award.aspx

Quality Time: Sheffield Volunteering Publicity Goes Live!

1st April 2010 marks the start of a year-long publicity campaign aimed at encouraging more Sheffielders to get involved in volunteering. Residents of the Steel City are being urged to ‘Spend Your Quality Time... Volunteering’.

A different benefit of volunteering will be highlighted in each month, with April highlighting how people can ‘Spend Your Quality Time... Changing Your Life’.  Future months will show how people can 'Spend Your Quality Time... Gaining New Skills... Making Friends... and even... Saving the Planet'!  We are encouraging people to visit a new blog, http://www.sheffieldqualitytime.wordpress.com/ to find out how they could change other people's lives and also their own, perhaps becoming a little happier, healthier, more employable, or wordlier through volunteering.  As well as highlighting a new benefit each month, visitors will be able to follow links directly to volunteer-involving organisations in Sheffield who are particularly relevant to that month's theme, and read volunteers' first-hand accounts of how they themselves have experienced the benefits being highlighted.  The blog is linked to a new Twitter account, which the currently-forming Volunteering Ambassadors Team will be able to update - if you're on Twitter, follow it at @QualityTime247.  If you're not - sign up and start today!

The start of this campaign coincides with the launch of the new Sheffield Volunteer Centre website http://www.sheffieldvolunteercentre.org.uk/.  The lovely new site is clearly divided into three sections, for people who want to volunteer, organisations who involve volunteers, and organisations who want to support their staff to volunteer.  In my opinion it fulfills the original brief of being exciting and engaging, so hopefully will be a real inspiration for people making their first foray into finding out about volunteering here!  In addition there are great resources for volunteer managers, including an online notice board for people with an interest in volunteering to network, share resources and developments in volunteering.  Make sure you take a look, and if you're based in Sheffield why not become a member too?!

Volunteers hit the Campaign Trail

Volunteers in Sheffield quizzed local Prospective Parliamentary Candidates (PPCs) yesterday in a debating session following the Question Time: Meet the Candidates event at Voluntary Action Sheffield.

Conservative candidate Nicola Bates (Sheffield Hallam), Labour candidate Paul Blomfield (Sheffield Central) and Liberal Democrat candidate Simon Clement-Jones (Sheffield Heeley) spent an hour discussing the crucial role volunteering plays in Sheffield with volunteers (and volunteer coordinators) from the Broomhall Centre, Catch 22, Embrace (The Children’s Society), Reading Matters, Sheffield City’s Council’s Community Justice Panels, SAFE@LAST, Sheffield Samaritans, and Sheffield Volunteer Centre.

The ‘Meet the Volunteers’ event was prompted by a batch of letters I sent out to local MPs and PPCs, requesting that they sign up to Volunteering England’s Volunteering Pledge (see previous post). That letter invited recipients to come to meet local volunteers to find out more about what they do, and yesterday’s resulting discussion was a really interesting session. Each candidate sat on a table with 5-6 volunteers and volunteer coordinators, then moved round the other tables to ensure they had a chance to speak to everyone. Whilst they already had knowledge of volunteering (Nicola has volunteered with Crisis Open Christmas and the Special Constables, whilst Paul Blomfield was involved in setting up Sheffield Volunteering at the University of Sheffield), they certainly learnt a lot more thanks to the well-informed and passionate volunteers they spoke to yesterday! Issues raised included concerns for future funding (with the need to understand that volunteering does not come for free and requires financial investment to ensure it is well managed) and a request for high level support for the development of more volunteering opportunities.

Paul Blomfield (who had already signed the Volunteering Pledge) said he had found the event very informative and had been very interested to hear about a range of issues from a variety of perspectives. I am very much hoping that Nicola Bates and Simon Clement-Jones will now sign up to the Pledge - watch this space!

Thank you very much to all the volunteers, PPCs, and volunteer coordinators who took part, for your valued time and input.

Pushing the Political Agenda for Volunteering in Sheffield

What does the future hold for volunteering?  With an election just weeks away and the likelihood of 'deep cuts' in public spending looming, I think anyone could be forgiven for feeling uncertain.  Volunteering has never been higher on the political agenda than it has been over recent years, but as local and national government looks for cost-saving opportunities, we need to make sure that the vital contribution made by volunteers is recognised and understood by all.  

Thankfully, Sheffield City Council is supporting continued funding for the implementation of the Sheffield Volunteering Strategy until the end of March 2011.  Still more work needs to be done however to convince all of our MPs and Prospective Parliamentary Candidates (PPCs) of the value of volunteering.  To that end, Volunteering England have launched a Volunteering Manifesto and Pledge, calling on all MPs and PPCs to sign up to:  "work hard to support volunteers and organisations that involve volunteers, both in my constituency and across the country... by:

• Recognising the value of volunteering in building a strong society
• Promoting positive messages about volunteering
• Encouraging more people to give their time by helping free volunteers from red-tape
• Supporting the organisations who support volunteers.

Already, some influential local MPs have signed up, namely Angela Smith, Nick Clegg, and David Blunkett.  I have also written to all the others encouraging them to do so.  As a result, two PPCs (Nicola Bates for the Conservatives in Sheffield Hallam, and Paul Blomfield for Labour in Sheffield Central) will be meeting local volunteers after the 'Question Time: Meet the Candidates' event at Voluntary Action Sheffield this Tuesday afternoon (30th March), to find out more about what Sheffield volunteers do to help local people and why their work is important.

If any other Sheffield volunteers are interested in coming along to speak to Nicola and Paul, their contributions would be most welcome - please get in touch with me beforehand at 0114 2536638 / c.walsh@vas.org.uk

For more information on the Volunteering Pledge, see http://www.volunteering.org.uk/WhatWeDo/Policy/Volunteering+Manifesto

[Places are still available to come to the Question Time event itself too, free of charge: http://www.vas.org.uk/documents/voluntary-community-sector/election_question_time]

Using 2012 to Inspire Local Volunteering!

Feeling excited about the 2012 Olympic Games coming to the UK?  Lots of people are!  And we in the world of volunteering can make use of that excitement for the good of our own communities and organisations...

Volunteer Centre Sheffield has been elected to work with Volunteering England on their Inspiration and Legacy from the 2012 Games project.  That means that volunteer-involving organisations from across the city and wider area will soon be invited to a workshop (probably taking place in June / July) to look at how we can use the excitement generated by the Olympic Games to direct more people into volunteering with us on a local level.

Of course, many people will be volunteering at the Games themselves - 70,000 of them in fact.  But already more than 300,000 people have registered their interest in helping.  So what are the 230,000 people who don't get a place going to do?  Well, volunteer in their local area instead we hope!  The idea is that organisations and groups in Sheffield can draw attention to the fact that they have volunteering opportunities that could be of interest to those people, by labelling them 'Games Inspired'.  They could fall into one of three categories: Sports, Arts & Culture, or Environment/Conservation.  Those opportunities can then be listed on a government portal (via Volunteer Centre Sheffield), which unsuccessful 2012 Games volunteering applicants (and other interested people) will be directed to.

We'll let you know the date and further details in due course, and if any of your volunteering opportunities (or potential opportunities) are linked to sports, arts/culture or the environment, keep an eye out for that workshop!  In the meantime, check out the Volunteering England 2012 web-pages (http://www.volunteering.org.uk/WhatWeDo/Projects+and+initiatives/2012+Inspiration+and+Legacy+programme/) and the official London 2012 webpages on volunteering (http://www.london2012.com/get-involved/volunteering/index.php)

Bursaries for Volunteer Managers' Training

You may have heard about the new bursary scheme being funded by Capacity Builders and rolled out through 4 organisations across the country, including Voluntary Action Sheffield.  Below is the information from Capacitybuilders on this great opportunity:

Develop the knowledge, skills and confidence you need to better support and inspire your volunteers and enhance the impact of your organisation.

From Monday 22 March, Capacitybuilders is offering volunteer managers across England the opportunity to apply for a skills development bursary up to £1950. Each bursary will fully fund an approved skills development package, delivered regionally by experienced training providers and aligned to the national occupational standards in volunteer management.

There are three levels of access tailored to suit your experience and role, each with the option of nationally recognised accreditation and including distance and online learning opportunities. There are a limited number of bursaries available, so early application is advised.

If you’d like to find out more about the programme, please visit www.capacitybuilders.org.uk/vmpskills

Using T'Internet to Get Volunteers!

A quick thought for a Friday afternoon on how we can use the internet to get new volunteers ...Use Google Alerts to find relevant conversations and then join in.

We know that most volunteers get into volunteering through word of mouth (about two thirds in fact).  But how do we make the most of that?  Well more and more 'conversations' are taking place online now, through places like Sheffield Forum.  Recently I've taken part in various conversations on that esteemed (and very lively) website, some of which started off being about volunteering and others of which were requests for ideas for new hobbies or ways of gaining new skills (so of course I recommended volunteering as being a great means of doing both those things!).  But I, like most people, don't have the time to trawl through forum after forum looking for such conversations to put in my two-pence-worth about volunteering.  So what's the solution?  Well I dare say there are many, but the one I'm quite liking at the moment is Google Alerts.  This allows you to enter in certain key words that you are interested in (e.g. 'volunteering' + 'sheffield') and it will send you a regular email summarising all the times that those words have cropped up online.  That allows you to quickly get to relevant postings and (and useful information) and either simply get a feel for what people are saying about your organisation, or go a step further and join in. 

If you happen to come across conversations which are negative about your organisation, don't shy away!  This is a crucial opportunity for you to redress the balance, and give a more positive view.  Be careful of course not to alienate the person/people who originally made the negative comments (which could escalate problems) and don't be tempted to cut and paste stock responses.  Being open and transparent (and willing to accept criticism) is an important way of gaining people's trust, and when combined with positive action has been shown to successfully convert people into positive advocates. 

So go forth and spread the word about your volunteering opportunities on the wonderful t'interweb!

Volunteering Ambassadors To Fly the Flag for Volunteering

From theory to reality... the Sheffield Volunteering Strategy is now coming to life!  There's a vast amount to do, but at the moment attention is focusing on funding applications for the main projects and on preparing for a year-long volunteering publicity campaign across the city.

An important element of that publicity will be a team of Volunteering Ambassadors.  Those Ambassadors will be people who are currently (or have recently been) volunteers for Sheffield organisations / groups / charities.  They will help to spread the word on how fantastic it is to volunteer, letting people know about the benefits first hand - straight from the horse's mouth.  This will entail attending relevant events, taking part in media interviews, and contributing to social media conversations (e.g. blogging and tweeting etc).

I am therefore now looking for a team of eight people who would be willing to act as Volunteering Ambassadors - if you know somebody suitable, please ask them if they would be interested and let me know.  Input would be spread amongst the group and so time commitment for each individual would be kept to a minimum.  It will be an informal group, where members can choose which sorts of publicity activities they are more comfortable with / interested in.  And of course, for volunteer-involving organisations this is a chance to 'fly the flag' for your own organisation too!

Drop me an email (c.walsh@vas.org.uk) or call me (0114 253 6638) for more information or to suggest somebody who could help.

When is a volunteer not a volunteer?

When s/he can't find anywhere that needs the help!

Rejection is not a word we associate with volunteering, but this is how a lot of 'would-be-volunteers' feel if their application is either deemed unsuitable or not even acknowledged.  The understandable reaction is often that of, "they don't even want me for free??!".  This negative experience can often put those people off volunteering for life - as with anything, first impressions are vital.

Of course, organisations cannot, and should not, simply offer a volunteering place to everybody who applies.  There are many instances when a simple and generous offer of 'lending a hand' is not enough - certain skills, experience and personal attributes are often vital.  However, when a volunteer is not suitable for one opportunity they may be suitable for another - either within the same organisation (albeit in a different department) or in another organisation.  If volunteers were more effectively sign-posted between opportunities, we would see a great deal fewer organisations struggling to attract them.  Furthermore, it would offer Volunteer Managers a much more positive way of 'letting applicants down gently' - by addressing the issue as being that of the opportunity not being right for the volunteer (rather than the volunteer not being right for the opportunity) and recommending other potential opportunities that may suit them better (or at least a source of information on other opportunities, such as the local Volunteer Centre or http://www.do-it.org/).

In Sheffield, as in many other areas, we need to let our 'unsuitable' volunteering applicants know that our being unable to accept them is not the end of the road.  Point them in the direction of Volunteer Centre Sheffield (use the very short re-referral form on the right hand side) or http://www.do-it.org/ so that they can volunteer somewhere else... and you never know, another organisation may do the same for you!

Volunteer Centre Sheffield can be contacted as follows:

The Circle, 33 Rockingham Lane

Sheffield S1 4FW

Tel: 0114 2536649

Email: vc@vas.org.uk

Love Is... Volunteering Together

The key to successful, meaningful and long-lasting relationships? Communication. And that’s exactly what yesterday’s speed-dating event was designed to build... between the Delivery Partners of Sheffield’s Volunteering Strategy!

Many of those involved in delivering the Strategy have not historically worked together, despite the fact that they often have similar or complimentary aims. By taking part in the speed-dating event at Voluntary Action Sheffield, many of those partners were able to engage in one-to-one discussions with each other to find out about each other’s work and how they will be delivering their part of the Volunteering Strategy. The result was an action plan to which every delivery partner contributed several actions that they agreed to implement, from referring clients to other partners’ volunteering opportunities, to supplying colleagues with information on volunteer training, to taking part in strategic meetings to discuss employer-supported volunteering arrangements. There were also many ‘added bonuses’ in the form of different agencies arranging to work more closely together in general, not just regarding volunteering but in promoting their overall services to each other’s clients. And who knows, perhaps love, or at least success, will blossom!

The Action Plan can be viewed by clicking on the link on the right...

Roll up! Roll Up! Be Part of Sheffield Volunteering Advertising Campaign!

If your group / organisation is based in Sheffield and needs volunteers, why not get on board with the new Sheffield Volunteering Advertising Campaign launching soon?  Each month of the year will have its own theme, and the hunt is now on for volunteering opportunities that we can showcase as part of those themes.

If you are an organisation in need of volunteers in Sheffield, please fill out this survey to let me know which of the monthly themes your opportunities could fit into and why: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/sheffieldvolunteeringcampaign

The planned monthly themes (subject to slight wording changes and not necessarily in date order) are:

1. Save the Planet!
2. Making Friends
3. Skills Development
4. Building Your Experience
5. Health Focus
6. Mental Well-Being
7. Strengthen Your CV
8. Thank You (June - Volunteers Week)
9. Making a Difference
10. Time for a Change (E.g. career change)
11. Responsible Business (E.g. Employer Supported Volunteering)
12. Spare Time? Use It! (With a particular focus on retired people.)

Alternatively, if you know of other organisations in need of volunteers in the area, please pass the link to them (or ask them to call me on 0114 2536638 if they can't access the internet).

New Support for Volunteer Managers in Sheffield

If you manage volunteers for a community organisation or group in Sheffield, and you need some help with how to go about it all, you're in luck!  Robbie Cowbury is the latest edition to the Volunteer Centre Sheffield team, and will be working one day a week to provide outreach support for managers of volunteers.

Robbie's work is part of the Sheffield Volunteering Strategy and a SouthYorkshire-wide project between the four Councils for Voluntary Service (CVS) in Doncaster, Barnsley, Rotherham and Sheffield, promoting the value of good volunteer management and supporting its implementation. The project will provide tailored support to a minimum of 100 organisations/groups, with the following approach:

• Focus on those most in need of support (e.g. those not currently accessing services or lacking experience/time, such as those for whom volunteer management is only one part of their role).
• Pro-active and intensive support (through a variety of methods, including workshops and one-to-one advice sessions).
• Production of a high quality, accessible toolbox of resources, that is consistent across the region but which can be tailored to the needs of each district / organisation / group.
• Sharing the varied expertise from each of the four districts across the region (e.g. working with asylum seekers or unemployed people).

So if you could use some help from Robbie, drop him a line!  His email is r.cowbury@vas.org.uk or you may be able to catch him in the office on a Thursday - call the main line at Voluntary Action Sheffield on 0114 253 6600.

Buddies To Break Down Barriers

A key element of the Sheffield Volunteering Strategy's mission to break down barriers to volunteering took a step closer to becoming reality on Wednesday.

Representatives from Sheffield City Council's Employment Services, the University of Sheffield, Sheffield Strategic Health Authority, and VAS came together to discuss how to take forward the planned Buddy Scheme for volunteers with learning disabilities.  Sheffield Hallam University are also involved in the plans, and sent along their contributions too.

The idea is to match up Employment Services clients, who have learning disabilities and have expressed a wish to volunteer for local charities and groups, with undergraduates and post-graduates studying social work and nursing (and focusing on learning disabilities) who will act as buddies to support them through the process.  That will include travelling to and from the volunteering placement as well as staying with them throughout the volunteering sessions, to provide the kind of support that many organisations struggle to offer due to lack of capacity.  Parties around the table agreed that students will benefit from undertaking the scheme as part of their placement programme, giving them the chance to gain vital practical skills in addition to their theoretical studies.  This approach will also offer a more structured and stable approach than may have been the case in recruiting through a general volunteer base.

With agreement from all about the win:win nature of this project, work is now being undertaken to firm up the inclusion of this scheme within the next tranch of student placements.

[Picture from Volunteer Centre Sheffield's Diversity in Volunteering exhibition, June 2009, with photographs by Matt Hastings and  Sabine Dundure]

Sheffield Volunteering Strategy: We Have Lift Off

Over one hundred people from Sheffield and further afield attended yesterday's Volunteering Strategy Launch event, held at The Circle, which gave the whole thing a great feeling of enthusiasm and support.  There was a real buzz in the air, even before the speakers appeared, and afterwards the response was fantastic - thank you to everyone who came up to me afterwards wanting to get more involved! 

Speaking at the event were Nick Warren (Chief Executive of Voluntary Action Sheffield), Cllr Paul Scriven (Leader of the Council, and Chair of Sheffield First Partnership), Kirstie Haines (Interim Director of Sheffield First Partnership), Volunteers and Volunteer Coordinators from Sheffield Alcohol Advisory Service and the Sheffield Health Champions Network, and then finally me.  Justin Davis Smith, Chief Executive of Volunteering England, had been due to speak about how the Sheffield Volunteering Strategy fits into the national picture of volunteering, but unfortunately was ice-bound in his home village somewhere in the deepest darkest (and apparently slippiest) depths of countryside outside of London.  The speakers present were passionate in their support of volunteering in general and about this strategy in particular, and highlighted the difference it already makes to the city and how important it is that we develop it further.  To my mind though the stars of the show were the volunteers (Martin from SAAS, and Health Champions John and Waqas).  Their accounts of how volunteering had changed their lives were very open, moving and inspirational, as they spoke of how it had helped them to recover from mental health problems and find jobs, not to mention the simple sense of satisfaction that they gained.  A fantastic endorsement of the value of volunteering if ever there was one!

The reaction to the unveiling of the strategy was incredibly positive.  Many people expressed a welcome sense of clarity around the whole plan, and a feeling that it was a very practical set of actions that would really make a difference.  You can now download the presentation (shown below) and the Sheffield Volunteering Strategy itself - find links on the right-hand side of this page.  As implementation gets underway with delivery partners that have already signed up, more collaboration will continue to be built up with new partners who have come forward as a result of the launch event.

Thank you to everybody who came along to the event.  Thank you also to everyone who helped make the event happen: all the speakers (especially the volunteers), Carron and Hannah from the VAS events team, John Bates the photographer (pictures will appear here soon!), the VAS reception team, all the delivery partners who exhibited at the event (Business in the Community, http://www.safeatlast.org.uk/, Sheffield Samaritans, and Volunteer Centre Sheffield), and student photographers Matt Hastings and Sabine Dundure (who produced the photographs used in the Volunteer Centre's rolling presentation that was used during the event).

Presentation Volunteering Strategy Launch

View more presentations from Claire Walsh.

The Snow... no Show... Must Go On!

There may be snowy-chaos all around, but the number of people who seem to have managed to ride, walk, cycle or sledge to work has been impressive over the last week!  Despite the chill factor and obvious temptation of staying in a lovely warm bed in the mornings, work has largely gone on as usual at VAS this week.  As have preparations for the Volunteering Strategy Launch event and its impending implementation.

Bookings have continued to come in for the Volunteering Strategy Launch  - that event is now full, but anybody who is interested can still however put their name down on a waiting list just in case.  At the time of writing there were still just a few places left for the Social Media Surgery following the Strategy Launch, so book your place quickly if you want one (see previous post).  Elsewhere, feedback on the Compact Code of Practice for Volunteering will hopefully be winging its way over from both steering groups (Local Authority and Health Compact) to me soon.  A meeting to plan implementation of the Volunteering Buddy Scheme did unfortunately have to be cancelled today however, so plans for that will have to wait until all the necessary parties can come together. 

More meetings are coming up soon to firm up arrangements for other parts of the strategy... all to be revealed next week.  So in the meantime, Happy New Year and I look forward to seeing many of you on the 14th!