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!
Friday, 30 July 2010
Thursday, 22 July 2010
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).
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).
Friday, 2 July 2010
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).
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).
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