news: spring 2001
Contents:
1. Volunteering Exercises New Muscles: Edinburgh conference
on volunteering
2. Throwing Down the Challenges: 'A society predicated on
volunteering...'
3. The Certificate in Interpersonal
Skills for Volunteers
4. United Nations International Year of Volunteering 2001
5. Volunteer Centre Edinburgh Update: The latest news from Volunteer Centre Edinburgh
6. Training
Volunteers to Become Listening Skills Trainers
7. Small World, Big Voices: views from the World Conference
on Volunteering
8. Lottery Changes
9. Millenium Volunteers
10. Websites
Volunteering Exercises New Muscles
Volunteer Centre Edinburgh's Conference on 6th March, entitled `Volunteers _ the Unseen Force', endorsed the important social and economic contribution of volunteering to the City of Edinburgh. In his introduction, the Chair, Bishop Richard Holloway, told 120 participants: "Volunteering is at the heart of life in Edinburgh and the essential means by which citizens can participate in the life of the city".
The strongest voices at conference were from two volunteers, Gordon Mason and Jimmy Donnelly who spoke of their personal experiences of volunteering and the difference it has made to their lives. Gordon spoke of volunteering helping him to break free from the closed box of his depression and Jimmy summed up his experience beautifully when he said; "Volunteering started me using muscles I hadn't used for years!"
Councillor Ian Perry, Deputy Leader of City of Edinburgh Council, spoke of the important role volunteering plays in helping the Council achieve the Social Justice Milestones in Edinburgh and of the value of Volunteer Centre Edinburgh and the Council working in partnership. Lesley Boyd, Health Inequalities Manager, Lothian Primary Care NHS Trust, described the long history of volunteering across the Trust and the valuable contribution that volunteers make in enhancing the work of the Trust. In talking about the economic contribution which volunteering makes in Edinburgh, Harriet Eadie, on behalf of Margaret Barbier of the City of Edinburgh Council, surprised the Conference with a disclosure that the average Edinburgh hourly rate of pay is £10.50. Based on this figure, volunteer time given to four voluntary organisations alone is estimated to contribute an astonishing £765,000 annually to the Edinburgh economy, and there are several thousand volunteer involving organisations in the city. But the real value of volunteers is the gap they would leave behind. As the organisation Bfriends put it "Without a volunteer these children would have no one to talk to or go out with and no informal opportunities to develop their skills and abilities. They would remain isolated, unhappy and underachieving."
A keynote speech from Liz Burns, Director of Volunteer Development Scotland, gave an overview of the wider social and political context of volunteering and challenged complacency.
Speakers themselves were challenged by a lively panel question time raising issues such as high support costs for volunteers, involving black and ethnic minority volunteers, danger of over formalising volunteering and concerns that increasing focus on the infrastructure of volunteering at a strategy level may not deliver practical help to volunteering at the grass roots.
A fitting end to an excellent, thought-provoking morning, was the launch of Volunteer Centre Edinburgh's specially commissioned video `Volunteering in Edinburgh ..what a difference a day makes'. The video outlines the widespread nature of volunteering that takes place in Edinburgh every day and is evidence, and an acknowledgement, of its importance in our City.
Key issues from Liz Burns' presentation to conference
We live in a society which is predicated upon volunteering:
There is a common assumption that people will give their time without payment. Volunteering is hugely important in personal and social terms and, on a grander scale, represents freedom of association, freedom to collaborate, to co-operate, to look for change or to try to prevent change _ to make things better. It is about democracy.
Volunteering is central to the delivery of key Government policies including Lifelong Learning; Social Inclusion and the Active Communities Initiative.
The challenges:
- Heightened government interest in volunteering reflects a level of anxiety _ anxiety about voting patterns and a decline of interest in the electoral process particularly at local levels and particularly by young people; and a connection being made between that and more generic things like active citizenship. There is a fear that the numbers of people volunteering may have peaked or may even be declining.
- Barriers to volunteering still exist; barriers such as stereotypes, resistance to being inclusive, inertia and a resistance to changing structures and language which are still in place and appropriate only to white led organisations
- New demographics; the biggest single growth area in volunteering at the moment is older people - but how long will this last as pressure is put on people to stay in paid work longer?
- Weakness of local Government in Scotland. "70% of volunteering happens locally and depends on a relationship with local government, and the weakness in local government which includes financial, fiscal, weakness is leading to a great drain on the resources of local organisations. If the threat is at local level then the threat is striking at the heart of volunteering and is striking at the heart of the basic assumption and is striking at the heart of any confidence we can have that society can continue to be predicated upon volunteering."
Moving in the right direction:
- Volunteering organisations are getting better at dialogue with Government at both central and local levels.
- We now have a broader approach to good practice especially in the less formal dimensions of volunteering
- We are beginning to look at underpinning theories, philosophy and value base; and getting better at making connections and networking.
Spring is a time for trying out new things, taking a new direction or just enjoying the warmer days and the lighter evenings! If you are a volunteer or a paid worker in the Voluntary Sector looking for a qualification you might be interested in The Certificate in Interpersonal Skills for Volunteers. Available by distance learning from the University of Wales, Lampeter it is free to all students thanks to fee waivers or bursaries.
This award winning course covers areas such as confidentiality, working with groups, communication skills, listening skills, stress management, negotiation, dealing with aggression, problem solving, working with professionals, equal opportunities ... and much more.
As well as boosting the volunteer's confidence, the course provides a comprehensive introduction to distance learning and study skills.
Hannah Ashwell, a volunteer from Ratho, says of the course: "By achieving a qualification my self-esteem has risen, and I feel confident in my role as a volunteer. By far the most important thing is that the course gives so much to volunteers who will in turn benefit their organisation even more."
Though Hannah found the prospect of studying daunting at first, the course proved to be accessible: "I could work at my own pace, I didn't need to video programmes from the TV in the early hours of the morning, nor spend the time or money attending compulsory lectures, workshops and classes that so many distance learning courses have."
Entry on to the course is a simple affair. Volunteers are simply required to have a minimum of 6 months experience working with people in a caring / supportive environment. The Certificate is worth 40 credits at University Level 1, and there are options for further study at the end of it, including Managing Volunteers, Introduction to Psychology, Research Methods and Experiencing Disability.
The Certificate in Interpersonal Skills for Volunteers may not appeal to every volunteer, but for many it could mean the opportunity to engage with their voluntary activity in a more rewarding and fruitful way.
If you're interested in finding out more contact Centre for Educational Development, University of Wales, Lampeter, SA48 7ED. Tel: 01570 424785 Email: c.fisher@lamp.ac.uk
United Nations International Year of Volunteering 2001
The Scottish Committee have just announced details of a small grants scheme to help fund events that will promote volunteering during IYV. The Scottish Executive have dedicated £100k to fund 200 grants of £500 each which will be available to voluntary sector organisations. To encourage imaginative applications, the grant application form will be very open but some of the kinds of things which might receive funding would be: Town Twinning events (eg through the Internet), recruitment fairs, travel funds, exchange visits etc.
There are two application deadlines for this funding, one at the end of April and the other at the end of September. The scheme will be administered by UVAF (Unemployed Voluntary Action Fund). Application forms can be obtained from UVAF or online at www.scotland.gov.uk/society/volunteer. Please note that free pens, badges, stickers etc. which can be used to promote IYV at your events can also be ordered through the website.
Volunteer Centre Edinburgh
UPDATE
Paul Wilson ESV and Mentoring Project Officer gives us the latest.
This edition, in an excellent example of leadership and fairness, Nan McKenna, our lovely, wise and kind Director has vacated her spot on the balcony of the Casa Rosada to allow a more junior member of staff to get a few words in. It's my turn this issue, although Nan insisted in retaining editorial control.
Before I start telling you all the exciting news at Volunteer Centre Edinburgh, can I just point out that the new video on volunteering in Edinburgh is so cool. It has it all…. glamour, pathos, drama, sex, humour and best of all lots of lovely volunteers showing exactly how much this city depends on the work that people like you, I and them do. It should prove an excellent tool for recruitment events. Thanks to all the organisations that took part. To borrow a copy contact Volunteer Centre Edinburgh.
In other parts of the Newsletter, you'll find out about our recent conference and our Volunteer Recruitment Fair.
In a real coup de gras, our Community Care team have been short-listed to take part in a research project run by the National Development Team called Able Volunteers. We are the only Scottish volunteer centre who have been selected and hopefully we'll be included in the final three projects. The aim of the research is to establish what is best practise in projects that work with volunteers who have higher support needs and to compare UK practise with similar projects in Germany and Spain.
I'm pleased to report that our Employment Mentoring programme is going from success to success. Not only have we exceeded our targets for the year to April 2001, but our contract with Employment Service has been extended to April 2002. More importantly our volunteers continue to provide essential support to our unemployed clients and feed back from clients would indicate that having a mentor really makes the difference when trying to get a job.
Congratulations to Marion Findlay of our Community Care Project, who has just given birth to a baby girl. Sarah Cleary and Irene Whittaker will be covering for her in her absence. Marion is due back in October.
Training Volunteers to Become Listening Skills Trainers
Developed by the Shelter Families Project and the Edinburgh Carer's Counselling and Advocacy Service; the course aims to enable volunteer befrienders to devise and run a listening skills training session for volunteers within their own organisation. It is targeted at experienced volunteers who are already involved in activities such as befriending and are now looking to further develop their skills and knowledge. The training takes place over four days in April and May. Participants are expected to attend all four days. For further information contact Claire Wheeler, Shelter Families Project, on 0131 229 1621, or you can e-mail: clairew@shelter.org.uk
Small
World, Big Voices
Harriet Eadie gives her views from the World Conference on Volunteering
At a reception for all 1500 delegates at the World Conference on Volunteering in Amsterdam in January I happened to strike up conversation with my neighbour, Rosemary Sage from a volunteer centre in Adelaide, Australia. Remarkably, she knew of Volunteer Centre Edinburgh and had in fact been visited by one of our 50+ project volunteers who had been on holiday in Australia last year. This volunteer brought back some excellent volunteering materials which we have been using in the Resource Unit since then. What was refreshing about this meeting is not that we knew of each other but that we established a face to face connection.
Access to the internet has made, and will increasingly make, trends in volunteering much more global. We all access the internet for information from the common, mostly American, gurus of volunteering like Susan Ellis. Trends and standards in best practice in volunteering seem surprisingly uniform in the developed world. While this is a validation that generally speaking what we are doing draws on a wealth of international experience I am very concerned that we should not only be the followers of trends. In volunteering, as in politics, economics, you name it, it is easy to go along with a huge weight of conviction and powerful trends from the United States. We must make sure that we send out our own wealth of experience and our own ethical and political standpoint to the chat rooms, discussion forums and websites that are gathering prominence internationally.
There appear to be two opposite cultures in volunteering internationally. Very generally, and this is my own impressionistic view, not based on research, there is the culture of service, and there is the culture of participation.
The strong American voices, and this included in keynote speeches, multinational volunteering movements such as Red Cross, Girl Guides and United Nations Volunteers, talk the language of service. They speak from a strong, largely Christian tradition of looking after those less fortunate than themselves. Their language is very much that of Victorian philanthropists, or elements of New Labour. Politically it can seem `from-the-top-down'. Volunteering is seen as a personal duty and a moral commitment. It is about looking after the needy, whether they are across the world or just across the street. Much of our more traditional volunteering in Scotland would recognise this service ethos.
The growing, but still quieter, voice in volunteering is the voice of participation. Internationally this is the voice of people disenfranchised by politics or economics who embrace volunteering as a force for change. Their sometimes radical voice is of civic participation and community action more than volunteering, while they are represented more by campaigning organisations than service providing organisations.
This is volunteering from the bottom up. It is generally resistant to, and independent of, government influence. In Scotland the recent emphasis on volunteering by rather than for excluded groups and communities is in this tradition. The vast area of local community action and less formal grass roots volunteering belongs here, although much of it does not label itself volunteering.
As a local volunteering agency our role is to try to hold the balance between these different voices of volunteering and let each be heard.
The NLCB met with representatives of EVOC, CEC and Volunteer Centre Edinburgh to discuss the future of grant funding in Edinburgh. Contrary to current opinion Edinburgh is no longer over-funded, and the NLCB is welcoming applications from the area.
The NLCB also announced a raft of measures aimed at making its grants more accessible. The organisation has been criticised for its demanding application process, which is felt to have had the effect of excluding minorities, particularly ethnic groups.
The main changes will be:
- A name change: the National Lotteries Charities Board will be known as `Community Fund' - subtitled `Lottery Money Making a Difference'
- The two main grants programmes Poverty and Disadvantage and Community Involvement will be merged into one.
- A new `medium' grants scheme with awards up to £60,000.
The NLCB has identified poor project planning and financial systems as common reasons for applications failing from some ethnic minority groups. EVOC and SCVO are committed to working with such groups to assist with development planning to ensure that groups with real needs, but less experience, succeed under the new system.
If your group needs support in developing an application contact EVOC on 0131 555 9100
Over 120 people crowded into the Biosphere creating an atmosphere of excitement and anticipation sufficient to rival the Oscars themselves. The cream of Edinburgh's youth were there in force to cheer on their friends and colleagues at one of the most eagerly awaited award ceremonies this year. No not the MTV awards, the MV Awards!
55 young people aged between 16 and 25, and from all over the Lothians, were presented with certificates by local hero Jamie Andrews to mark their achievements as Millennium Volunteers.
After the formal part of the evening, the MV's got down to the real business of the evening - having fun and celebrating their achievements and their contribution to our local community.
The venue itself provides the perfect adjective to describe all the young people involved: The earth may indeed be dynamic but it would be a poorer world without the massive contribution of our "dynamic" volunteers.
MV Facts - Volunteer Centre Edinburgh has:
- recruited 82 Millennium Volunteers
- placed 60
- presented 19 Awards of Excellence
- presented 32 MV Certificates
MVs have contributed 5,380 hours volunteering in Edinburgh. That's an average of 90 hours each!
www.ltsbfoundationforscotland.org.uk
Once you've set aside time to type in the web address, you'll find this to be a decent site. Easily navigable with loads of information, and an online forum.
www.volunteeredinburgh.org.uk
Keep an eye on Volunteer Centre Edinburgh's website: by the end of May it will feature
a live forum for volunteer organisers!
www.dsc.org.uk
The Directory of Social Change's website now features a list
of small grants (under £5000). We await the day when a comprehensive
resource like Funder Finder finally staggers onto the web.
www.helpthehospices.org.uk
Millennium Awards are now available for volunteers interested in working
in the hospice movement. If you don't have access to the web contact:
Help the Hospices, Hospice House, 34-44 Britannia Street, London WC1 9JG
Tel: 020 7520 2312