Volunteering round-up: September 2017
Volunteering guidance for NHS providers
NHS England has released new guidance that provides support for NHS providers to grow and develop volunteering in the NHS. NCVO was commissioned to develop the guidance and Kristen Stephenson, volunteering development manager, led on the work.
The guidance helps providers develop the right framework to support quality volunteering, based on Investing in Volunteers. It also helps to ensure approaches to volunteering are accessible, inclusive, open to a diverse range of people and that volunteers reflect the communities that the NHS serves.
As a member of the Health and Wellbeing Alliance, NCVO will be working to promote and support this guidance, as well as other ways to develop volunteering across health and care.
Full-time social action review: call for evidence
The consultation is now open for the full-time social action review. The consultation is seeking views on the benefits and barriers of full-time social action for young people. We will be submitting a response and urge others to contribute too. They are particularly keen to hear from young people.
DCMS first announced the independent review last December and appointed Steve Holliday (former CEO of National Grid) to chair in March 2017. They expect to make recommendations by the end of the year.
Research Conference
Last week, 140 academics and practitioners attended the 23rd Voluntary Sector and Volunteering Research Conference. See #vsvr2017 for highlights.
Presentations were held across a number of topics including volunteering, participation and social action. There were also sessions for new researchers, aimed at providing support for those in the early stages of their research careers.
The Campbell Adamson Prize for best paper at the conference was awarded to Alasdair Rutherford and Diarmuid McDonnell, University of Stirling, for their paper Promoting Charity Accountability: Understanding disclosure of serious incidents.
NCVO Campaigning Conference 2017
We also held our Campaigning Conference on 7 September and volunteering featured prominently. At a workshop chaired by our own Jarina Choudhury, we heard from Gingerbread, Endometriosis UK and British Red Cross on how volunteers give campaigns authenticity, legitimacy and honesty. The brilliant 17-year old Jude Anane-Agyei, chair of the Model Westminster youth board, also shared his insights of how to get the best out of volunteers.
You can find all slides from the conference on SlideShare. Check #ncvocc on Twitter too.
Lord Ferrers Awards: nominations now open
Nominations for the Lord Ferrers Awards are now open. These awards recognise special constables, volunteer police cadets and police support volunteers, who give their time to make communities safer and improve policing across England and Wales. An estimated 500,000 people are said to volunteer in the police.
Read about last year’s winners
Shopping for Good: volunteers and charity shops
A new report on Shopping for Good, produced by Demos and the Charity Retail Association, has found that 220,000 people currently volunteer in charity shops. Volunteers benefit, with a large majority recording new skills, increased confidence and improved physical and mental health.
Need support with developing a volunteering strategy?
We will be holding a focus group for six to eight volunteer managers in October, with a view to developing affordable facilitated learning seminars. Register your interest for the focus group by emailing: jarina.choudhury@ncvo.org.uk. We can’t cover travel expenses for the focus group, but we will provide lunch.
Investing in Volunteers: achievers share their experience
See what Investing in Volunteers (IiV) achievers are saying about the value of IiV to them. Reading Museum, Kent Union and Norfolk and Norwich University NHS Trust share how IiV helps them to improve recruitment, support and management of volunteers, and in turn, achieve greater impact.
IiV is the UK quality standard for good practice in volunteer management. Register now
Training and events
NCVO offer a range of training courses, including e-learning, one-day events and annual conferences. Here’s what’s coming up:
- Good practice in volunteer management – 13 October, London
- Essential mentoring and befriending skills – 31 October, London
- Assessing the impact of your volunteers – 1 November, London
- Volunteering and the law – 24 November, London
- Data protection reform – a course to help you navigate the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) reforms: