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!