Newsletter July 2003

Image » Olivia Giles and Jack McConnell present certificates to Tony Shek of the Chinese Elderly Support Association during the Volunteers’ Week certificate ceremony

Volunteers Honoured

Eighty Edinburgh Volunteers were delighted when First Minister Jack McConnell joined Olivia Giles in presenting certificates at Volunteer Centre Edinburgh’s Volunteers Week Award Ceremony.

Lawyer Olivia Giles, who lost both hands and feet to Meningitis, put the real heart into the First Minister’s support for more volunteering by describing her own move from high flying city lawyer driven by commercial success to a much more fulfilled and rewarding life as a volunteer with the Meningitis Research Trust and CAB.

“ I used to attend charity functions but gave nothing of myself apart from money. I now know there is a world of difference.”

“ I think that needing help myself in the physical sense has made me much more aware of the need of others whether physically or in other ways. It has also made me realise that I want to, and that I still can, use the skills that I still have to good – and possibly better effect than before.”

Young & old unite to open Centre 

June saw the official opening of Volunteer Centre Edinburgh’s new improved premises in the heart of Edinburgh’s West End. The sun shone at the short, but colourful opening ceremony – and balloons and banners marked the entrance to the world of volunteering. Officially opened by two of Edinburgh’s “youngest” and “oldest” volunteers; Samantha Barker (aged 13) a regular volunteer at Gorgie City Farm and Charlie Grierson (now in his eighties) a long-term volunteer at Portobello Community Centre, demonstrating that volunteering really is for everyone. There was a good crowd and a few choice words celebrating the new centre, from Volunteer Centre Edinburgh Director, Harriet Eadie and Mark Ballard, MSP who talked about his own experience of volunteering and how it led him into politics! The opening coincided with an Open Day for the public which was well attended, and we were delighted to see so much interest and enthusiasm for volunteering. Added to over 70,000 hits on our website in the last month that’s a lot of traffic!

If you haven’t already visited our new premises, please feel welcome to pop in and see us. We’ve worked hard to make our services as accessible as possible, and those of you who remember our Easter Road premises should notice a difference!

Thanks

We would particularly like to thank Tom at President Furniture, whose generous deal has given us one of the smartest offices in the West End!

Scotland’s New Model Army

Jack McConnell recently announced a new, national volunteering scheme ‘Scotscorp’.

Speaking at Volunteer Centre Edinburgh’s certificate ceremony, the First Minister introduced the scheme as Scotland’s answer to ‘Americorps’.

The proposals include two elements under the overall Scotscorp brand: a national accreditation scheme to give young volunteers recognition for their efforts and a scheme to encourage gap year volunteering by people from less well off backgrounds. Under the Americorps scheme gap-year volunteers are offered the incentive of a £3000 education award, primarily to enable disadvantaged young people to get into higher education. There is as yet no talk of this financial incentive in Scotland, but it raises a host of questions.

Is the scheme a mandate for the creation of a new, national service? For the creation of an army of young volunteers who, unpaid, will deliver a host of public services? Will it be truly voluntary?

Julia Ogilvy, aristocratic former Scottish Business Woman of the Year as chief executive of Hamilton and Inches Jewellers, has been appointed to chair a working group which will develop the ideas. George Thomson, Director of Volunteer Development Scotland, has been invited onto the group to represent the interests of volunteering. I hope that young people will also be represented.

I warmly welcome Jack McConnell’s personal commitment to recognising the huge contribution thousands of young people make to their communities through volunteering. I welcome the concept of rewarding and recognising this contribution through some sort of award or accreditation scheme. And I welcome the encouragement of more young people developing personal strengths through a sustained volunteering commitment after leaving school.

This scheme is politically expedient. There has been much recent talk in parliament of cracking down on ‘neds’ and anti-social behaviour. A new volunteering scheme can counter-balance this by looking at how young people are providing solutions rather than causing problems. Statistics indicate that 1 in 3 young people have had some involvement in crime or antisocial behaviour. However 1 in 5 young people are regularly involved in Volunteering. This positive aspect of young people is given much less press. Scotscorp must be about celebrating the contribution of young people rather than knocking them. It must be about increasing the numbers of young people from all backgrounds in volunteering.

There are many other current parallel schemes in Scotland – Princes Trust Volunteers, CSV residential volunteering, even the New Deal Voluntary Sector Option. These schemes are not all what I would call volunteering but they all share the First Minister’s objective of getting young people involved in a meaningful way in positive community activity. I think it may be useful for the working group to look at the experiences and achievements of all of these before developing this new volunteering programme. Perhaps building on what is already there would be a more effective way of engaging more new young people than re-inventing the wheel.

But a note of caution. Beware the language and beware the image. Scotscorp. Young people, as all volunteers, give their time freely to make a positive difference to things they believe in to change their own lives and the lives of others. They are not waiting to be press-ganged into an army. They are not waiting for well heeled and well connected worthies to decide what is right for them. They must be able to choose when, how and whether they volunteer with no coercion.

I hope that what is developed is creative, inspirational and achievable. I hope that it reverses the statistics relating to young people and volunteering and young people and anti-social behaviour.

Harriet Eadie

Volunteer for life 

Helen Walker describes why she volunteers, and how it dramatically changed her life.

I found that it doesn't matter what type of talent or experience, or indeed interests you have - the world of volunteering will find you useful. In addition you will find it possible to learn new skills; as I did; and enjoy taking a new direction with your life. One of the ways I help these days is by giving talks to pre-retirement groups promoting volunteering.

My introduction to volunteering started in 1995 due to a bereavement. This left me with a void in my life. My way of coping was to fill that void by volunteering.

My first step was to visit the Volunteer Centre in Edinburgh - where I learnt of the amazing range of opportunities. I chose to work on Saturdays at Edinburgh Castle. It gave me the chance to thoroughly explore this famous tourist attraction, as well as meeting the many interesting people from all over the world who visit it.

At the same time I chose to volunteer at the History of Education centre (Desktop Museum). This entails going once or twice a week to take classes of primary school children for Victorian lessons. For this, we all dress in Victorian style clothes, and use a special classroom and equipment to demonstrate what school life was like. Without exception the children and their teachers all enjoy the experience very much.

In addition I help with various one-off projects which have included a garden for those with sensory impairements, and helping to paint a house.

I also volunteer with Breast Cancer Care because, as a survivor of ten years I can give hope and support to those who need it.

I mentioned the talks I regularly give - during which I recommend the Retired Senior Volunteer Programme (RSVP). I particularly like the new name of their magazine - TATTLER: this stands for "Take Action & Time To Liberate & Energise Retiremant. I always emphasise that retirement is what you make of it - it is a blank page which you can fill with all manner of interesting and exciting things - hopefully including volunteering.

I can say that all this has filled my life with new friends and experiences; and most recently, whilst on a conservation project, met my new husband.

Psycho Babble? 

Nick Woodhead from the Volunteer Centre attended the Steps to Excellence for Personal Success (STEPS) course and despite initial cynicism found it a valuable experience which even had a few “wow” moments….

Iam as cynical as the next person when it comes to the whole self-help popular psychology industry. American supposed gurus exploiting people’s inability to cope with their lives. So when a note came round the office asking if anyone was interested in attending a course which claimed it would give me the opportunity to take a fresh look at my life and help me to see how much I am truly capable of achieving, it was more a case of “Why not give it a go?” rather than overwhelming enthusiasm. A colleague had been on it; I’m generally up for new experiences. I registered my interest along with half a dozen colleagues.

It was nice to be chosen ahead of the others but my pride soon turned to suspicion and a touch of paranoia when I noticed that as a result of the course I could expect to have my confidence and self esteem raised; see an improvement in my personal relationships; take greater accountability for my life. Why should a well balanced individual like me need this stuff any more than my colleagues? Was someone trying to tell me something?

So I blanked out 3 days of my diary and went off to Stirling not really knowing what to expect. Would we be involved in group therapy, sharing personal details with complete strangers? I tried to approach it with an open mind.

The first couple of days didn’t convince me either way. Much of the course consisted of watching videos of Lou Tice, founder of the Pacific Institute and possessing a poor taste in jumpers, delivering the material to a group. Although I warmed to him as time went on, I initially found his evangelical, lecturing style irritating and patronising.
People who asked me about the course at the end of each of the first two days were told it was “fine” “interesting” “good stuff”. The facilitators were well organised and enthusiastic. The ideas were interesting enough. We did some eye opening activities to demonstrate how we limit our thinking. The other participants were nice. The atmosphere was friendly and supportive. The lunches were high quality. But I have to say I wondered whether it was going to go any further than the popular self-help books that pack Waterstone’s shelves.

But around 11 o’clock on Day 3 things suddenly started fitting into place. Concepts that had appeared outrageous on Day 1, began to make perfect sense. And on more than one occasion I found myself sitting back uttering the words “Wow! That it so true”.

So what was it all about? Difficult to express in a nutshell but the argument goes that we are all the product of our upbringing. As a result of what influential people have told us during our lives we establish “the truth” about ourselves. There is a “correct” way to do things. We label ourselves as being good at some things and bad at others. If we see ourselves as shy, we will act shyly. If we think we are useless at interviews, we will perform at that level.

We confirm that self-image by how we talk to ourselves and the result is that we ignore opportunities because they don’t fit in with the picture of ourselves we have built up.

And when we find ourselves in a situation that doesn’t fit in with our self image, outside our comfort zone, our reaction is to panic and get back to the comfort zone as soon as possible. But the only way to “grow” is to extend the comfort zone so that we change the person we are.

And how do we do that? By picturing ourselves as a person who is tidy. By picturing ourselves as a person who is good at computers. By picturing ourselves as a person who is successful at interviews. And, says Lou Tice, once we have managed to do that, the mind will take care of the rest.

A month ago I too would have rejected such ideas as incomprehensible nonsense. Having built up the concepts over three days it now makes a lot of sense.

So now having reaped the benefits of convincing myself I am the kind of person who knows about power point presentations, keeps his work space tidy and has no fear of climbing steep cliffs, I am working on “I am the kind of person who is not cynical about self-help gurus”
Or is that just a little too unrealistic?

Nick Woodhead

Pollute to Protect?

A large petrochemical company financially supports a project which aims to conserve stocks of lesser spotted blue jelly fish. A cynical marketing exercise by an unfeeling purveyor of environmental destruction? A company recognising that while on one hand its business has an almost inevitable negative impact, it can help redress the balance by positive action?

Corporate Community Involvement can be a contentious subject. There are those who believe that companies get involved in the community only when they want something, that their motives are usually dubious and that those lost souls who shack up with the devil betray the purity of the third sector. Another opinion is that private companies have all the answers and should be courted, encouraged to dig deep at all times. I have been working in the voluntary sector for 5 years and have spent most of that time working in partnership with the private sector, helping them engage with the voluntary sector. Before that I played on the other team, as a drone within a large corporate hive. I am a bit of a corporate whore but I am also a pragmatist. I know that companies tend to do things when they can see an advantage for them in it. Companies, who do the whole corporate community involvement (CCI) thing right, can reap the rewards of better public awareness, better staff relations and PR that you just can’t pay for. And why not? I’m not about to suggest that I’d like to see British American Tobacco sponsoring sports equipment for the under 12’s but I also think that if we accept that an individual volunteer can benefit personally by getting involved in their local community then why can’t a company benefit from getting involved in their community?

But how do we in the voluntary sector engage with the private sector in a positive way and ensure that it is a two-way street?

View it like a relationship. Don’t think “what can I get out of them” think “what can we do for each other”. I was once told “that these big companies owe it to us to let us use their facilities”. Perhaps not the most helpful attitude and certainly not one that would encourage me to hand over our goodie bag.

The starting point for any voluntary sector organisation should be – what do we need help with and why would someone want to help? It shouldn’t just be about asking for cash, in fact in some ways you are far more likely these days to get support in kind than donations of cash.

Companies like clarity. Be clear in what you are asking for. Be clear about why you are asking for it and be clear about any timescales and most important be clear about whom you are asking.

Before you approach any company find out, if possible, what their CCI policy is. What areas are they interested in working in? How do they support organisations? Many companies will make reference to their CCI policy on their web sites – check out what it says. There is little point in putting effort into approaching a company if a quick search on their website will divulge that they don’t support organisations operating in your field. Draw a line and move on to someone who does.

How do you approach them? If possible, get the name of the best person to contact. It is best to avoid letters simply addressed to the managing director. If you are looking for support from a company to “sponsor” your annual report, they will probably want to know….how many pages the report is and is it colour, how many copies are required, who is the readership, what positive impact will their help have on your organisation and what will you give them in return – if they have any sense they will want at least their logo on the report and often a “production supported by” legend. I would if I were them.
Try and think laterally about how you can use the support of a private company. It doesn’t have to always be about cash. Volunteering opportunities, both for teams and individuals, printing, use of meeting rooms, photocopying, unwanted furniture and computers, staff secondments, borrowing a vehicle, getting expert help all can and do come under the CCI banner. These in-kind methods of help are often much more desirable to companies than simply writing cheques.

And crucially don’t just think that it’s the big boys that can help. A personal approach to your local small or medium sized company might well yield valuable support and open up new opportunities for mutually beneficial partnership.

European Year of Disabled People

By the time you read this, the campaign bus of the European Year of Disabled People 2003 will have passed through Edinburgh as part of its grand journey across the continent. The bus set off from Greece in January and is travelling through all member states during the Year, finishing its journey in Italy in December. At each location the bus will help raise awareness of the contribution of disabled people in society, and will have information about what is happening during EYDP.

Volunteer Centre Edinburgh received a EYDP grant to develop its work with disabled volunteers and was therefore pleased to be one of the local organisations mounting a display in the bus during its stay in Edinburgh. If you missed the bus, don’t worry – detailed information on EYDP is available on www.disability.gov.uk

Editorial 

Mark Steven delivers the latest news from Volunteer Centre Edinburgh.

How often is it that people claim to have been going through a period of ‘frenetic activity’? That there is so much on right now, what with moving premises, major events and all, that they’ve not had time to draw breath?

If, for the most part, you are leaving work on time and getting a lunch break, you are not ‘really busy’ but just doing your job. What you are really saying is that occassionally at least, you would like to down tools on a work day and go to the pub / go for a walk / have a siesta (etc).

According to this theory, there has been an unprecedented interest in pubs, walking and sleeping (etc) among my colleagues recently.

The excuses for their implied thirst / need for exercise / tiredness (etc) are many: We have moved premises into the swishly refurbished basement of St George’s West Church in the West End; we have coped admirably with the circus of Volunteers’ Week, been involved in a whole heap of promotional work, developed a new training programme.. and so on.

A ‘busy time’? Let’s call it something more accurate: a ‘concentrated unusual non-routine time-period’.

This however, is easy for me to say, because in another major change at the Volunteer Centre, I will be reducing my hours by half. I will retain the communication aspects of my job - involving the email bulletins, this newsletter, the website etc, while the almost supernaturally efficient Lara Celini will take on the information side of things - the resource library, factsheets and contact with the media. Both of us will be available to answer enquiries on best practice issues in volunteering.

The idea behind the move is to enable me to dally in a spot of web-design, some writing, and a business project or two (which I can’t tell you about here because that would be advertising.)

mark.steven@volunteeredinburgh.org.uk.

The views expressed in this newsletter are not necessarily those of Volunteer Centre Edinburgh.

Please send all contributions to mark.steven@volunteeredinburgh.org.uk.