Inspiring examples
Have you signed up to the Charter? Send us a short case study about your work with volunteers, why you signed up, and how the Charter or Health Check has made a difference to you. We enjoy pictures, too, if you have any!
A Rocha UK
Lizzie Saunders (Ealing Volunteer Centre Manager), Maria Masih (Office Manager, A Rocha UK) and May Macnair (West London Development Worker, GLV)
A Rocha, meaning ‘the rock’ in Portuguese, is a Christian environmental and nature conservation movement. A Rocha’s projects are cross-cultural in character and share a community emphasis, bringing together individuals through conservation. Volunteers can get involved on a local level, and even internationally, and have the opportunity to enjoy communal lunches and home grown produce from the garden.
Maria, the Volunteer Coordinator from A Rocha UK, set up the volunteering programme, and found that being able to start with a blank sheet ensured it was done properly. She sped through the volunteer management foundation Health Check and completed her actions in record time. Most volunteering procedures were in place already, but Maria found that the Health Check was a very useful way of tightening up the system and reassuring her that volunteers are managed well. One area that was particularly beneficial having completed the Health Check was developing a new ‘resolving difficulties’ policy to ensure both volunteer and the organisation know how to deal with any problems that may arise in a consistent manner.
Maria has completed the Lantra Awards in Volunteer Management at Ealing Volunteer Centre, and is keen to continually develop her Volunteer Management skills.
www.arocha.org/gb-en/
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on Supporting their Volunteers
In addition to regular supervision, Hilt periodically reviews volunteer placements (we send a questionnaire to volunteers usually after 1 - 3 months and again after 6 months) and the Volunteer Co-ordinator holds exit interviews with volunteers who are finishing their placement. This gives volunteers a variety of ways to feedback to Hilt.
The written reviews enable those who don’t like to raise issues or prefer to write about, rather than speak about a problem, a chance to tell us what they think.
Exit interviews allow volunteers to reflect on their wider experience of volunteering and to give their views on the organisation/volunteer scheme as a whole, rather than just their individual role. Having the chance to reflect means that volunteers can more clearly understand what skills they have gained and what they have contributed to Hilt, which can be useful for their own personal/career development.
It is also a way of systematically capturing positive feedback and new ideas. Based on what volunteers have told us, we have updated our handbook, made changes to role descriptions, increased the amount of information we give to potential volunteers and been able to deal with problems before they escalate. It also helps us to gather evidence of the impact of the volunteer scheme for the volunteers. Knowing what volunteers enjoy most about their time with us, helps us to recruit and retain volunteers more effectively.
Emma Long Hilt Volunteer Co-ordinator
Peter Meldrum, PRO ACTIVE Central London
'The PRO-ACTIVE partnerships work sub-regionally across Greater London to strategically develop opportunities for more people to participate in sport and physical activity. Managing the volunteer workforce within sport is integral to achieving this target; as a result working in partnership with Volunteer Centres is crucial to all of our work around Sports Volunteering. The work that the Experts in Volunteering Development Officers are carrying out is extremely valuable to ensure external partners like ourselves, Local Authority Sport Development teams and their associated sports clubs are able to work quickly and effectively across a number of different Volunteer Centres'.
Inspiring Example of Reward and Recognition from Hilt Support Ltd.
Since last year Hilt has started to hold an annual volunteer celebration in partnership with another local charity. Although we also nominate volunteers for external awards, we felt that it was vital for us as an organisation to recognise the amazing contribution of volunteers and to thank them for their energy, dedication and enthusiasm. Last year’s event, our first, was a great success and all those who attended enjoyed themselves. It raised the profile of volunteers throughout the organisation, so that even staff who don’t regularly work alongside volunteers had a greater understanding of their role. It also allowed us to show our appreciation in a fun and relaxed way. As volunteers from both Hilt and the partner organisation attended, it was a chance for volunteers to meet new people with a similar interest. It can often happen that staff and managers are busy and don’t necessarily find the time to thank volunteers but this event showcases what they do for Hilt. The Charter reinforced the importance of this kind of recognition event. We plan to hold our next celebration in July.
Emma Long, Hilt Volunteer Co-ordinator
University College London Hospitals: NHS Foundation Trust
Kerry Tweed, Director of GLV, presents Lesley Borzoni with London's Volunteer Management Charter.
UCLH Foundation Trust comprises several well known hospitals in central London. The Voluntary Services Department provides a diverse range of opportunities including working on wards, complementary therapies, guiding patients and visitors, and running the Citybeat hospital radio. The volunteering programme has to comply with the policies and procedures of the Trust, and benefits from the Trust's resources in a way probably unique to hospital volunteering, from analysis of demographic data, to vaccinations and medical screening as standard in recruitment, to excellent training opportunities. Volunteers can tap into the same benefits as staff, for example the counselling service, the occupational health service, in-house magazines and intranet.
In exchange for fantastic support and attractive opportunities, volunteers commit for a minimum of 12 months - but many stay longer because they love it.
Perhaps not surprisingly, UCLH Foundation Trust ticked just about every box on our Foundation and Full Health Check, so congratulations are due to Lesley Borzoni, Head of Voluntary Services, and the team for heading up a quality volunteering programme!
Shaun Delaney, Membership Services Manager
Volunteer Centre Greenwich
"Volunteer Centres provide a crucial service in enabling volunteer involving organisations to include volunteers in their good work. The Experts in Volunteering website is an excellent, accessible way for front line voluntary and community organisation to access details of the knowledge, skills and experience of Volunteer Centres, as well as other support organisations, without the restrictions of borough boundaries. In short, this site helps Volunteer Centres work together in supporting London volunteering.”
Cherry Lodge Cancer Care
Cherry Lodge Cancer Care based in Barnet is the first organisation in London to have completed the Experts in Volunteering Programme.
Congratulations!
CLCC is a small independent charity committed to improving the quality of life for those living with cancer, their carers and families.(www.cherrylodgecancercare.org.uk)
The centre has a long history of involving volunteers and has a great local reputation of providing invaluable services. Not surprisingly many of their policies and procedures for managing volunteers were already in place but going through the Experts in Volunteering Healthcheck has given them the extra motivation to review and update some of them. Sue Rose, the Macmillan Home Visiting Manager with responsibility for volunteering, is very experienced in working with volunteers and ensures she is up to date with current good practice in volunteer management, partly by participating with Network meetings and training sessions run by her local Volunteer Centre in Barnet.
The Healthcheck process was carried out with the involvement of two of Cherry Lodge’s trustees, this was a great benefit for all; it gave the trustees the opportunity to fully understand the roles, professionalism and commitment of the volunteering team.
For Sue completing the Experts in Volunteering Healthcheck was not nearly as daunting as she feared! She felt it was reassuring to know that the policies and procedures that are in place are up to date and effective, and it was very satisfying to be declared an ‘Expert in Volunteering’. It has also inspired her to continue developing the organisations policies and practices further.
Not all organisations participating in Experts in Volunteering will be as well established as Cherry Lodge and the development workers are very willing to work with organisations at any stages of development, in whatever way is helpful to them.
Fanon Resource Centre Merton
David Pinder (pictured above), FRCM manager, signed up to London’s Volunteer Management Charter in December to make sure his organisation is on track with good practice in Volunteer Management. In fact David's approach to his volunteers and his passion and motivation was immediately apparent. He treats his volunteers, who are at the same time the service users, with lots of care and attention. 'Being rewarded and treated as part of the organisation makes my volunteers very involved and happy' said David. Most importantly, he added, ‘ it gives them self esteem and confidence. Volunteers gain valuable life skills and benefit enormously. I discovered that when volunteers are happy they are also more committed and dedicated to the organisation. The atmosphere here is very welcoming and friendly'.
Marzena, the South London development worker, said that David's success lies in the fact that he knows his volunteers and most importantly knows their needs. He has regular support sessions in various formats such as group support and one-to-ones, to allow volunteers to voice their issues regularly. David never leaves any problems to grow - his motto is to tackle it at the base.
The charter that David signed up to will be displayed in the common area where his volunteers will be able to see what the organisation commits to with regards to volunteer management. Although David is doing great job, he is committed to work with Experts in Volunteering team and to further improve his good practice.