Volunteering Newsletter January 2005

Let’s make it clear. I do not have “skelfs in my bum” from sitting in the fence, as one colleague suggested in the past! I prefer to think of it as seeing both sides of the argument.

We exist to get people involved in volunteering. We want them and society to benefit from their involvement. For the past 30 odd years we have been helping people knock down barriers and get involved. We’ve worked hard to help those who might have otherwise found it difficult to find voluntary work, those with mental health problems, who are on benefits, have criminal records, excluded young people or people who just cant give good references.

Simultaneously we work with agencies to help them make sense of the legislative framework impacting on volunteering. We provide training and information that encourages organisations to put in place formal systems of vetting, screening, Disclosures, policies – all for the protection of them and the volunteers.

POCSA (Protection of Children Scotland Act) comes into force on 10th January 2005 and introduces new hoops agencies and volunteers will have to go through.

At it’s heart is the “list” which is literally a list of people unsuitable to work with Children. The Act makes it mandatory for organisations to check that someone, paid or unpaid, involved in “childcare” is not on that list. You can only check by carrying out a Disclosure. Add to this the fact that the definition of “childcare” is deliberately wide and we could find that POCSA brings the joys of Disclosures to organisations that haven’t been impacted by it before.

I want a society where we do not have to suspect every volunteer of being a paedophile. I yearn with nostalgia for a time when people just turned up and helped out. I know that there are a few people determined to cause harm, and that some of these will try to use volunteering as a means to do this. But I also believe that the drive to legislate for everything in society is in danger of creating as many problems as it solves.

Despite the skelfs there are some advantages to being on the fence. From the top of it you get a much better view in all directions.

On a different note – in January we’ll welcome to the Volunteer Centre Sam Tock and Kade Moncrieff. Sam will be working with Sports organisations to help them put in place best practice in working with Volunteers and Kade will be developing volunteering by young people. Don’t expect to see them around straight away though. We will be keeping them safely behind closed doors until their Disclosures are cleared.

Nailing Volunteer Recruitment: The Follow-Up

It’s a Recruitment Fair, a festival stall, an on-street recruitment drive. You and your colleagues/fellow volunteers have committed a full day to doing this and many more hours besides just to get it organised.

And it’s a glorious, resounding success. You’ve gone out to recruit volunteers, spoken to more than fifty people. Thirty of these potential volunteers have signed up to get more information on volunteering with you, and look likely to join the organisation.

When you switch off an old fashioned TV three points of light glow dimly before combining into a single point, and finally wink out with a faint static crackle. This minor death-throw is the scenario from which your organisation can now joyously turn believing that the TV set of success is now well and truly on, fully illuminated, cranked up and pumping out light like a miniature sun.

And that is the problem. Because in our relief and excitement, we forget that this is just the first step in securing the energy of somebody’s commitment.

Ruth – Victim Support

Victim Support provides a thorough training programme for their volunteers, but at a cost of around £200 a head, this doesn’t come cheap. To ensure that the recruitment and training process is cost effective, they have a biannual recruitment cycle. This means that a volunteer applying in, say, October can have a significant wait until the next round of induction training in January. The reason that this is not a problem for Victim Support volunteers is that they know what they are getting into. They are told from the very first contact what the recruitment schedule is, and what they will need to do, when.

These volunteers have been clearly informed, and won’t drift off because information has been vague, or promises left open ended.

Around half of Edinburgh’s organisations take more than two weeks to respond to people who have expressed an interest in volunteering with them. Whatever the reasons for not getting in touch more quickly, the reality is that competition for people’s time is fierce. There are literally hundreds of other agencies looking for volunteers, the temptation of foreign travel is strong, the pressures of work are great, the need to embark on DIY projects crushing, depressing, but difficult to excuse oneself from.
In short, if you don’t strike while the iron is hot, and get in touch with people who have shown an interest within days, you’ve almost certainly lost their services as a volunteer.

And even if you get in touch promptly, you still haven’t succeeded in securing their commitment.
It is wise to regard the volunteer recruitment process as a courtship, in which the other party has the attention span of a goldfish and the loyalty of a Casanova. If you want them to walk down the aisle they must be diligently wooed.

How do we do this? Other pressures at work may make delays seem unavoidable. Recruitment might take place on a biannual cycle. Police checks and screening procedures cause delays in the recruitment process. Sometimes, despite the fact that we have identified the need for a volunteer we feel we don’t have the time to get everything necessary for them in place.

If we know there may be delays before someone can begin their voluntary work, there are a number of measures we can take to try and keep them onboard.

Jamie - Volunteer

Jamie was at our Recruitment Fair last year. He had a great deal of voluntary experience working with homeless people, and wanted to resume this kind of work after some time away from it. After talking with workers from two or three organisations that work with homeless people, he left his name with one that seemed up his street. They promised to get in touch with him soon. On his way out he got chatting to staff from a healthcare organisation. This wasn’t his main area of interest, but he left his name with them anyway.

Jamie now volunteers with the healthcare organisation, but only because they got back in touch with him the next week. Six months later he has still not heard from the homelessness organisation.

Cards on the table

You’re up-front about how busy you are, and what delays are involved in the recruitment process. You immediately give the potential volunteer a recruitment schedule so that they know what is going to happen and when.

The Social

So the work can’t start until the forms, references, checks and other procedures have taken place, or the next training opportunity comes up. Fortunately, there is more to the life of an organisation than the work. From the moment someone makes an enquiry they are a possible member of the family, and you can be doing the organisational equivalent of inviting them round for tea: invite them to any social events you are running for volunteers, give them an opportunity to meet with different members of staff and other volunteers to get background on the organisation. Just be clear that they have not been formally accepted as a volunteer until they have successfully passed all the stages in the recruitment process.

Correspondence

Write or email your volunteer with feedback on how the recruitment process is going, at every opportunity. If your organisation has a newsletter, email bulletin or other communication, get them on the list so they have evidence of their link with the organisation.

With the aid of a clear timetable for the recruitment process, opportunities for involvement in the life of the organisation before volunteering starts and clarity about what volunteers will be doing when and why, you can secure the commitment of people whose fleeting interest has singled out your organisation, and nail it into life-long service (or at least a good 6 months!).

Striking The Balance

November saw the Support and Advice Team host two events on “Volunteering and Ex-Offenders”. The first was for staff working with ex-offenders, mainly social workers and occupational therapists, who regularly consider volunteering as a realistic step forward for their clients. The second was for placement agencies who have involved, or wanted to consider involving, ex-offenders as volunteers.

Both sessions looked at a variety of complex and sensitive issues. For referrers, voluntary work can provide their clients with purposeful occupation, self-development and hopefully prevent re-offending. For agencies, however, the availability of much-needed hands can be accompanied by a sense of risk and venturing into the unknown.

The importance of accurate risk assessment for individuals with a serious or complex criminal record was highlighted. Referrers reported they are willing to give anonymous profiles of clients to Volunteer Centre staff for discussion with potential placements. In recent months we have found this to be a useful way of exploring opportunities for an individual without breaching his or her confidentiality. The opportunity for direct contact with referrers has also been appreciated by potential placements. On several occasions, when pursuing a placement for an individual, Volunteer Centre staff have arranged for the referrer to visit a placement, meet the staff and discuss issues about the potential volunteer in more detail. This has allowed a frank exploration of whether or not the placement is appropriate, what volunteer tasks would be suitable for the person to undertake and what methods of support and supervision should be in place.
During the sessions it was apparent that considering individuals with criminal records is a regular part of many volunteer managers’ day-to-day work. The seminars focussed on people with serious or complex convictions, but with one in four of the male population having a criminal record, it is more than likely that many people who wish to volunteer will have been convicted at some point in their past. Many offences will, however, be irrelevant to the volunteering they wish to undertake. Numerous people approach the Volunteer Centre each year concerned that offences in their past precipitated by mental illness, addictions, marital breakdown or teenage rebellion, will prevent them from volunteering. In most cases, with things now settled and the person a stable law-abiding member of the public, they go onto become an excellent volunteer!

Yoof's the Word

Youth volunteering is definitely going to be smacking us all square in the face throughout 2005. Both at Westminster (The Russell Commission’s ongoing consultation and development of a national youth volunteering strategy) and at Holyrood (the Executive’s 2004 launch of a Volunteering Strategy for Scotland with youth volunteering firmly at its heart) the benefits of youth volunteering are sharply in focus. It’s not all plain sailing however. Continuing issues with volunteer engagers having minimum age restrictions of 18 and the impending potential impact of the Protection of Children Scotland Act will provide us all with challenges in our drive to promote volunteering to and by young people.

Linda McNeill, now of Volunteer Development Scotland has been able to provide us with the following over view on youth volunteering from a national perspective. Here at Volunteer Centre Edinburgh, by the time you read this we will have a new Youth Volunteering Development Worker, Kade Moncrieff who many of you will get to know as he plies his wears promoting the benefits to you as a volunteer engager of recruiting younger volunteers.

From Linda McNeill, at VDS

2005 will see the introduction of an innovative new approach to youth volunteering as well as the rebirth of Millennium Volunteers. With Scottish Executive backing, these initiatives are designed to encourage more young people from a diverse range of backgrounds to make a commitment to volunteering. The national network of Volunteer Centres will play a key role in making these initiatives happen.

The vision is that Volunteer Centres will become a portal to youth volunteering, offering a range of volunteering options to suit every individual. Each local authority area in Scotland will have a dedicated youth volunteering specialist based in its Volunteer Centre. The role of these local experts (Youth Volunteering Development Workers) will be to make volunteering more accessible to young people and in particular to develop approaches to engage with the most underrepresented groups.

Meanwhile, after an extensive review, Millennium Volunteers is about to be relaunched in Scotland. The good news is that all the comments and criticisms of the old programme have been taken on board and MV has been undergoing an extensive revamp. It will reappear in 2005 as a nationwide recognition process for young volunteers and will be more widely available and easier to access.

These are not the only new initiatives aimed at attracting more young people into volunteering. Project Scotland, an integral part of the strategy launched last year by Jack McConnell, will also be rolled out across Scotland in 2005. The staff team have been recruited and more information on the programme will be available shortly.

So it comes as no surprise that as youth volunteering features prominently in the political agenda suddenly the private sector starts to sit up and take notice. High powered executives and managers are now “volunteering” their services by contributing to the consultation process as well as sitting on steering groups and committees. Their input into management, marketing and financial planning is welcomed but it is vitally important that they listen to the organisations, workers and volunteers who are involved in volunteering on a day to day basis. The main lesson learned from the old Millennium Volunteers, was that one size definitely does not fit all, the decision makers need to recognise the need for unique approaches to youth volunteering. There are hundreds of fantastic local organisations across Scotland working with young volunteers all facing the same major issue – how to access long term funding. We can only hope that the recent interest shown by the private sector in youth volunteering will result in tangible sustainability at grass roots level.

Introducing...

Lynne Norris joined the Support and Advice Team in August 2004. Here at last she has a chance to introduce herself:

I have become increasingly in awe of young children who know from the tender age of 3 how their career will pan out. Only the other day in Tesco’s I heard the voice of a child declare “Mummy, when I grow up I want to be an airline pilot” – I turned round to find them still in their romper suit!

Needless to say my career path hasn’t been so smooth or channelled. On the guidance of my staid School Careers Adviser I joined the 16+ masses for a mind-numbing stint in an insurance office. I eagerly escaped 3 years later to take up a Music Management qualification and spent 7 enjoyable years in the Big Smoke, working in media and training organisations.

At the tender age of 30-something I now feel my feet are firmly on the right career path. Since returning from London my career has focussed on the voluntary sector and in particular disability. I worked with the RNIB for a number of years and had the enlightening experience of mentoring a young woman with a visual impairment who was on a 6 month placement from Canada. We tried, without success, to locate a French class which provided materials in Braille. This acted like a catalyst, spurring me on to focus on client centred work with people with extra support needs.

Before joining the Volunteer Centre in August I worked for 4 years with Nisus, running an IT and employability course for students and volunteers with a range of support needs. The experience I gained was fantastic, but with an increasing focus on fundraising rather than client centred work I jumped at the chance of applying for the post of Development Worker for the Support and Advice Team at the Volunteer Centre.

I now heave a sigh of relief that I am working in a role which is both rewarding and challenging, and with a fantastic team of staff & volunteers. Only problem so far is the city centre location – I’m far too tempted by the vast array of retail outlets on the doorstep!

Outreach Outcome

November 17th 2004 saw the first birthday of Volunteer Centre Edinburgh’s first venture into a permanent outreach office. Volunteer Centre South Edinburgh (VCSE) is a pilot project, funded in the first instance for 18 months. Hardly had the icing set on the celebratory first anniversary carrot cake when it was announced that VCSE is to receive a further year’s funding from the South Edinburgh Social Inclusion Partnership.

So it would seem to be a good time to take stock and assess where we’ve come from and where we’re going. To what extent has VCSE managed to raise the profile of volunteering, support people into volunteering and work with organisations on volunteering matters?

There is no doubt more organisations are aware of the Volunteer Centre and feel more appreciated than was the case a year ago. In many cases the presence of VCSE has inspired people to look at their volunteer policies and procedures. Organisers are now far more aware of the need to support volunteers and give them a positive experience as well as the need to protect volunteers, clients and themselves. And such awareness is the first step towards taking action.

By working on a local basis it has been possible to identify many more volunteer involving organisations, approach them individually and address their needs in the most appropriate way. VCSE has been in a position to approach organisations rather than reacting to an approach.

VCSE has demonstrated one approach to reaching local communities within Edinburgh. Volunteer Centre Edinburgh is also working with communities in Broomhouse, Craigmillar and West Edinburgh by providing training and follow up support for volunteer organisers there. The coming 15 months will show which is the most effective (and cost effective) model or how different elements of support can be combined.
VCSE is striving to reach those groups who have not traditionally volunteered and the point about the “hard to reach” elements of society is that they are hard to reach! Once people are involved in volunteering and appreciate the benefits, they tell me they would have got involved years ago “if they had known about it”.

The challenge for VCSE is to make sure that everyone living in the area is aware of the possibility of volunteering and we have to recognise that the methods employed across the city may not necessarily be the most effective here.

For many people who have discovered volunteering through VCSE it has meant a change in their lives. It has offered a reason to get up in the morning, a reason to switch off daytime tv and get out and do something. It has provided a feeling of self worth and a new start which could lead who knows where.
It is early days but volunteering is on the agenda of organisations, agencies and individuals in South Edinburgh. A strong foundation has been laid and there is every indication that come the second anniversary the benefits will be plain for all to see.

Case Notes

Graham was a police officer with Lothian and Borders Police, when about fifteen years ago he discovered how much he enjoyed working with disabled people when taking a group of disabled Scouts round the police stables and kennels.

It was an experience that led to a personal epiphany for Graham, he was humbled and inspired by the individuals in the group and enjoyed his opportunity to spend time with them. He decided to contact ENABLE and has been volunteering as a dancer and helper at their weekly ceilidh and disco ever since.
This was the first step in his volunteering career and, since retiring from full-time employment three years ago, he has also taken the opportunity to train as a literacy and numeracy tutor.

After completing a training course Graham started volunteering at weekly workshops for people with learning difficulties and special needs. In his role as a tutor he spends his time with one or two adult service users as part of a larger group. They have various levels of requirements and he helps them to develop their numeracy and learning skills.

Graham particularly enjoys the opportunity to help people cope with everyday life and to work as part of a team of volunteers.

Graham ponders that he could easily need help or support himself at some point and hopes that there would be understanding volunteers available to assist him with life’s challenges.

Resources go online

The Resource Library at Volunteer Centre Edinburgh is an excellent starting point for anyone wishing to set-up a volunteering framework, refresh current policies and practice or plug any gaps. It is home to the answers to many questions on volunteer management; useful contacts; good ideas and a wealth of information on every aspect of volunteer management - such as sample policy documents, factsheets, briefing papers, and research.

For example, log on today and download “An Introductory Guide to Managing and Involving Volunteers” – just what you need to get started!

Previously accessing the Resource Library involved a trip to the Volunteer Centre, now a newly launched online database makes accessing information from the comfort of your place of work a reality!
Just log onto www.volunteeredinburgh.org.uk and hit ‘info and resources’.

The idea behind the Resource Library is to share information on good practice, so we would like to encourage volunteer involving organisations to use it to locate information that they may find useful and also to let us know if they have information, or policy documents that they are willing to share with others.

Library browsers are also very welcome to visit us at the Centre – just call to make an appointment and we’ll have a desk waiting for you, then you can peruse the library to your heart’s content!

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


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Newsletter January 2005
Volunteering find opportunities about volunteering support + advice young people new deal mentoring volunteer overseas Services your organisation register opportunities info + resources training + events help with CCI/CSR team volunteering young persons support + advice team referrals About intro / contact aims people thanks annual reports membership this website Other vol. centre network imagebank links news search vacancies	This issue: Editorial Nailing Volunteer Recruitment: The Follow-Up Striking the Balance Yoofs the Word Introducing... Outreach Outcome - South Edinburgh Case Notes Resources go Online Editorial Let’s make it clear. I do not have “skelfs in my bum” from sitting in the fence, as one colleague suggested in the past! I prefer to think of it as seeing both sides of the argument. We exist to get people involved in volunteering. We want them and society to benefit from their involvement. For the past 30 odd years we have been helping people knock down barriers and get involved. We’ve worked hard to help those who might have otherwise found it difficult to find voluntary work, those with mental health problems, who are on benefits, have criminal records, excluded young people or people who just cant give good references. Simultaneously we work with agencies to help them make sense of the legislative framework impacting on volunteering. We provide training and information that encourages organisations to put in place formal systems of vetting, screening, Disclosures, policies – all for the protection of them and the volunteers. POCSA (Protection of Children Scotland Act) comes into force on 10th January 2005 and introduces new hoops agencies and volunteers will have to go through. At it’s heart is the “list” which is literally a list of people unsuitable to work with Children. The Act makes it mandatory for organisations to check that someone, paid or unpaid, involved in “childcare” is not on that list. You can only check by carrying out a Disclosure. Add to this the fact that the definition of “childcare” is deliberately wide and we could find that POCSA brings the joys of Disclosures to organisations that haven’t been impacted by it before. I want a society where we do not have to suspect every volunteer of being a paedophile. I yearn with nostalgia for a time when people just turned up and helped out. I know that there are a few people determined to cause harm, and that some of these will try to use volunteering as a means to do this. But I also believe that the drive to legislate for everything in society is in danger of creating as many problems as it solves. Despite the skelfs there are some advantages to being on the fence. From the top of it you get a much better view in all directions. On a different note – in January we’ll welcome to the Volunteer Centre Sam Tock and Kade Moncrieff. Sam will be working with Sports organisations to help them put in place best practice in working with Volunteers and Kade will be developing volunteering by young people. Don’t expect to see them around straight away though. We will be keeping them safely behind closed doors until their Disclosures are cleared. Harriet Eadie, Director Nailing Volunteer Recruitment: The Follow-Up It’s a Recruitment Fair, a festival stall, an on-street recruitment drive. You and your colleagues/fellow volunteers have committed a full day to doing this and many more hours besides just to get it organised. And it’s a glorious, resounding success. You’ve gone out to recruit volunteers, spoken to more than fifty people. Thirty of these potential volunteers have signed up to get more information on volunteering with you, and look likely to join the organisation. When you switch off an old fashioned TV three points of light glow dimly before combining into a single point, and finally wink out with a faint static crackle. This minor death-throw is the scenario from which your organisation can now joyously turn believing that the TV set of success is now well and truly on, fully illuminated, cranked up and pumping out light like a miniature sun. And that is the problem. Because in our relief and excitement, we forget that this is just the first step in securing the energy of somebody’s commitment. Ruth – Victim Support Victim Support provides a thorough training programme for their volunteers, but at a cost of around £200 a head, this doesn’t come cheap. To ensure that the recruitment and training process is cost effective, they have a biannual recruitment cycle. This means that a volunteer applying in, say, October can have a significant wait until the next round of induction training in January. The reason that this is not a problem for Victim Support volunteers is that they know what they are getting into. They are told from the very first contact what the recruitment schedule is, and what they will need to do, when. These volunteers have been clearly informed, and won’t drift off because information has been vague, or promises left open ended. Around half of Edinburgh’s organisations take more than two weeks to respond to people who have expressed an interest in volunteering with them. Whatever the reasons for not getting in touch more quickly, the reality is that competition for people’s time is fierce. There are literally hundreds of other agencies looking for volunteers, the temptation of foreign travel is strong, the pressures of work are great, the need to embark on DIY projects crushing, depressing, but difficult to excuse oneself from. In short, if you don’t strike while the iron is hot, and get in touch with people who have shown an interest within days, you’ve almost certainly lost their services as a volunteer. And even if you get in touch promptly, you still haven’t succeeded in securing their commitment. It is wise to regard the volunteer recruitment process as a courtship, in which the other party has the attention span of a goldfish and the loyalty of a Casanova. If you want them to walk down the aisle they must be diligently wooed. How do we do this? Other pressures at work may make delays seem unavoidable. Recruitment might take place on a biannual cycle. Police checks and screening procedures cause delays in the recruitment process. Sometimes, despite the fact that we have identified the need for a volunteer we feel we don’t have the time to get everything necessary for them in place. If we know there may be delays before someone can begin their voluntary work, there are a number of measures we can take to try and keep them onboard. Jamie - Volunteer Jamie was at our Recruitment Fair last year. He had a great deal of voluntary experience working with homeless people, and wanted to resume this kind of work after some time away from it. After talking with workers from two or three organisations that work with homeless people, he left his name with one that seemed up his street. They promised to get in touch with him soon. On his way out he got chatting to staff from a healthcare organisation. This wasn’t his main area of interest, but he left his name with them anyway. Jamie now volunteers with the healthcare organisation, but only because they got back in touch with him the next week. Six months later he has still not heard from the homelessness organisation. Cards on the table You’re up-front about how busy you are, and what delays are involved in the recruitment process. You immediately give the potential volunteer a recruitment schedule so that they know what is going to happen and when. The Social So the work can’t start until the forms, references, checks and other procedures have taken place, or the next training opportunity comes up. Fortunately, there is more to the life of an organisation than the work. From the moment someone makes an enquiry they are a possible member of the family, and you can be doing the organisational equivalent of inviting them round for tea: invite them to any social events you are running for volunteers, give them an opportunity to meet with different members of staff and other volunteers to get background on the organisation. Just be clear that they have not been formally accepted as a volunteer until they have successfully passed all the stages in the recruitment process. Correspondence Write or email your volunteer with feedback on how the recruitment process is going, at every opportunity. If your organisation has a newsletter, email bulletin or other communication, get them on the list so they have evidence of their link with the organisation. With the aid of a clear timetable for the recruitment process, opportunities for involvement in the life of the organisation before volunteering starts and clarity about what volunteers will be doing when and why, you can secure the commitment of people whose fleeting interest has singled out your organisation, and nail it into life-long service (or at least a good 6 months!). Mark Steven Striking The Balance November saw the Support and Advice Team host two events on “Volunteering and Ex-Offenders”. The first was for staff working with ex-offenders, mainly social workers and occupational therapists, who regularly consider volunteering as a realistic step forward for their clients. The second was for placement agencies who have involved, or wanted to consider involving, ex-offenders as volunteers. Both sessions looked at a variety of complex and sensitive issues. For referrers, voluntary work can provide their clients with purposeful occupation, self-development and hopefully prevent re-offending. For agencies, however, the availability of much-needed hands can be accompanied by a sense of risk and venturing into the unknown. The importance of accurate risk assessment for individuals with a serious or complex criminal record was highlighted. Referrers reported they are willing to give anonymous profiles of clients to Volunteer Centre staff for discussion with potential placements. In recent months we have found this to be a useful way of exploring opportunities for an individual without breaching his or her confidentiality. The opportunity for direct contact with referrers has also been appreciated by potential placements. On several occasions, when pursuing a placement for an individual, Volunteer Centre staff have arranged for the referrer to visit a placement, meet the staff and discuss issues about the potential volunteer in more detail. This has allowed a frank exploration of whether or not the placement is appropriate, what volunteer tasks would be suitable for the person to undertake and what methods of support and supervision should be in place. During the sessions it was apparent that considering individuals with criminal records is a regular part of many volunteer managers’ day-to-day work. The seminars focussed on people with serious or complex convictions, but with one in four of the male population having a criminal record, it is more than likely that many people who wish to volunteer will have been convicted at some point in their past. Many offences will, however, be irrelevant to the volunteering they wish to undertake. Numerous people approach the Volunteer Centre each year concerned that offences in their past precipitated by mental illness, addictions, marital breakdown or teenage rebellion, will prevent them from volunteering. In most cases, with things now settled and the person a stable law-abiding member of the public, they go onto become an excellent volunteer! Marion Findlay Yoof's the Word Youth volunteering is definitely going to be smacking us all square in the face throughout 2005. Both at Westminster (The Russell Commission’s ongoing consultation and development of a national youth volunteering strategy) and at Holyrood (the Executive’s 2004 launch of a Volunteering Strategy for Scotland with youth volunteering firmly at its heart) the benefits of youth volunteering are sharply in focus. It’s not all plain sailing however. Continuing issues with volunteer engagers having minimum age restrictions of 18 and the impending potential impact of the Protection of Children Scotland Act will provide us all with challenges in our drive to promote volunteering to and by young people. Linda McNeill, now of Volunteer Development Scotland has been able to provide us with the following over view on youth volunteering from a national perspective. Here at Volunteer Centre Edinburgh, by the time you read this we will have a new Youth Volunteering Development Worker, Kade Moncrieff who many of you will get to know as he plies his wears promoting the benefits to you as a volunteer engager of recruiting younger volunteers. From Linda McNeill, at VDS 2005 will see the introduction of an innovative new approach to youth volunteering as well as the rebirth of Millennium Volunteers. With Scottish Executive backing, these initiatives are designed to encourage more young people from a diverse range of backgrounds to make a commitment to volunteering. The national network of Volunteer Centres will play a key role in making these initiatives happen. The vision is that Volunteer Centres will become a portal to youth volunteering, offering a range of volunteering options to suit every individual. Each local authority area in Scotland will have a dedicated youth volunteering specialist based in its Volunteer Centre. The role of these local experts (Youth Volunteering Development Workers) will be to make volunteering more accessible to young people and in particular to develop approaches to engage with the most underrepresented groups. Meanwhile, after an extensive review, Millennium Volunteers is about to be relaunched in Scotland. The good news is that all the comments and criticisms of the old programme have been taken on board and MV has been undergoing an extensive revamp. It will reappear in 2005 as a nationwide recognition process for young volunteers and will be more widely available and easier to access. These are not the only new initiatives aimed at attracting more young people into volunteering. Project Scotland, an integral part of the strategy launched last year by Jack McConnell, will also be rolled out across Scotland in 2005. The staff team have been recruited and more information on the programme will be available shortly. So it comes as no surprise that as youth volunteering features prominently in the political agenda suddenly the private sector starts to sit up and take notice. High powered executives and managers are now “volunteering” their services by contributing to the consultation process as well as sitting on steering groups and committees. Their input into management, marketing and financial planning is welcomed but it is vitally important that they listen to the organisations, workers and volunteers who are involved in volunteering on a day to day basis. The main lesson learned from the old Millennium Volunteers, was that one size definitely does not fit all, the decision makers need to recognise the need for unique approaches to youth volunteering. There are hundreds of fantastic local organisations across Scotland working with young volunteers all facing the same major issue – how to access long term funding. We can only hope that the recent interest shown by the private sector in youth volunteering will result in tangible sustainability at grass roots level. Linda McNeill Introducing... Lynne Norris joined the Support and Advice Team in August 2004. Here at last she has a chance to introduce herself: I have become increasingly in awe of young children who know from the tender age of 3 how their career will pan out. Only the other day in Tesco’s I heard the voice of a child declare “Mummy, when I grow up I want to be an airline pilot” – I turned round to find them still in their romper suit! Needless to say my career path hasn’t been so smooth or channelled. On the guidance of my staid School Careers Adviser I joined the 16+ masses for a mind-numbing stint in an insurance office. I eagerly escaped 3 years later to take up a Music Management qualification and spent 7 enjoyable years in the Big Smoke, working in media and training organisations. At the tender age of 30-something I now feel my feet are firmly on the right career path. Since returning from London my career has focussed on the voluntary sector and in particular disability. I worked with the RNIB for a number of years and had the enlightening experience of mentoring a young woman with a visual impairment who was on a 6 month placement from Canada. We tried, without success, to locate a French class which provided materials in Braille. This acted like a catalyst, spurring me on to focus on client centred work with people with extra support needs. Before joining the Volunteer Centre in August I worked for 4 years with Nisus, running an IT and employability course for students and volunteers with a range of support needs. The experience I gained was fantastic, but with an increasing focus on fundraising rather than client centred work I jumped at the chance of applying for the post of Development Worker for the Support and Advice Team at the Volunteer Centre. I now heave a sigh of relief that I am working in a role which is both rewarding and challenging, and with a fantastic team of staff & volunteers. Only problem so far is the city centre location – I’m far too tempted by the vast array of retail outlets on the doorstep! Lynne Norris Outreach Outcome November 17th 2004 saw the first birthday of Volunteer Centre Edinburgh’s first venture into a permanent outreach office. Volunteer Centre South Edinburgh (VCSE) is a pilot project, funded in the first instance for 18 months. Hardly had the icing set on the celebratory first anniversary carrot cake when it was announced that VCSE is to receive a further year’s funding from the South Edinburgh Social Inclusion Partnership. So it would seem to be a good time to take stock and assess where we’ve come from and where we’re going. To what extent has VCSE managed to raise the profile of volunteering, support people into volunteering and work with organisations on volunteering matters? There is no doubt more organisations are aware of the Volunteer Centre and feel more appreciated than was the case a year ago. In many cases the presence of VCSE has inspired people to look at their volunteer policies and procedures. Organisers are now far more aware of the need to support volunteers and give them a positive experience as well as the need to protect volunteers, clients and themselves. And such awareness is the first step towards taking action. By working on a local basis it has been possible to identify many more volunteer involving organisations, approach them individually and address their needs in the most appropriate way. VCSE has been in a position to approach organisations rather than reacting to an approach. VCSE has demonstrated one approach to reaching local communities within Edinburgh. Volunteer Centre Edinburgh is also working with communities in Broomhouse, Craigmillar and West Edinburgh by providing training and follow up support for volunteer organisers there. The coming 15 months will show which is the most effective (and cost effective) model or how different elements of support can be combined. VCSE is striving to reach those groups who have not traditionally volunteered and the point about the “hard to reach” elements of society is that they are hard to reach! Once people are involved in volunteering and appreciate the benefits, they tell me they would have got involved years ago “if they had known about it”. The challenge for VCSE is to make sure that everyone living in the area is aware of the possibility of volunteering and we have to recognise that the methods employed across the city may not necessarily be the most effective here. For many people who have discovered volunteering through VCSE it has meant a change in their lives. It has offered a reason to get up in the morning, a reason to switch off daytime tv and get out and do something. It has provided a feeling of self worth and a new start which could lead who knows where. It is early days but volunteering is on the agenda of organisations, agencies and individuals in South Edinburgh. A strong foundation has been laid and there is every indication that come the second anniversary the benefits will be plain for all to see. Nick Woodhead Case Notes Graham Brown Age: 59 Volunteeers at City Learning and Numeracy (CLAN) Graham was a police officer with Lothian and Borders Police, when about fifteen years ago he discovered how much he enjoyed working with disabled people when taking a group of disabled Scouts round the police stables and kennels. It was an experience that led to a personal epiphany for Graham, he was humbled and inspired by the individuals in the group and enjoyed his opportunity to spend time with them. He decided to contact ENABLE and has been volunteering as a dancer and helper at their weekly ceilidh and disco ever since. This was the first step in his volunteering career and, since retiring from full-time employment three years ago, he has also taken the opportunity to train as a literacy and numeracy tutor. After completing a training course Graham started volunteering at weekly workshops for people with learning difficulties and special needs. In his role as a tutor he spends his time with one or two adult service users as part of a larger group. They have various levels of requirements and he helps them to develop their numeracy and learning skills. Graham particularly enjoys the opportunity to help people cope with everyday life and to work as part of a team of volunteers. Graham ponders that he could easily need help or support himself at some point and hopes that there would be understanding volunteers available to assist him with life’s challenges. Resources go online The Resource Library at Volunteer Centre Edinburgh is an excellent starting point for anyone wishing to set-up a volunteering framework, refresh current policies and practice or plug any gaps. It is home to the answers to many questions on volunteer management; useful contacts; good ideas and a wealth of information on every aspect of volunteer management - such as sample policy documents, factsheets, briefing papers, and research. For example, log on today and download “An Introductory Guide to Managing and Involving Volunteers” – just what you need to get started! Previously accessing the Resource Library involved a trip to the Volunteer Centre, now a newly launched online database makes accessing information from the comfort of your place of work a reality! Just log onto www.volunteeredinburgh.org.uk and hit ‘info and resources’. The idea behind the Resource Library is to share information on good practice, so we would like to encourage volunteer involving organisations to use it to locate information that they may find useful and also to let us know if they have information, or policy documents that they are willing to share with others. Library browsers are also very welcome to visit us at the Centre – just call to make an appointment and we’ll have a desk waiting for you, then you can peruse the library to your heart’s content! The views expressed in this newsletter are not necessarily those of Volunteer Centre Edinburgh. Please send all contributions to mark.steven@volunteeredinburgh.org.uk.
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Newsletter January 2005

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