What are the MV Awards?

The MV awards provide young volunteers between the ages of 16-25 with the opportunity to gain highly regarded, nationally recognised accreditation for their voluntary work.

With support from the Scottish Executive, this national scheme is locally delivered by the Volunteer Centre Network in partnership with Volunteer Development Scotland.

The awards can help your organisation to:

• recognise the contribution young volunteers make to your organisation through their voluntary work

• Say an important thank you to your volunteers for all their hard work, commitment and achievements

• Demonstrate your commitment to young people in providing a quality volunteering experience

The awards are free, very simple to administer and look great on a young person's CV.

 

Who can be awarded?

The awards are open to all young people aged 16-25 living in Scotland, volunteering as individuals or as part of a group. They can also be awarded to 14 & 15 year olds volunteering as a part of a larger group. If you have volunteers who fall into this category please contact us for more details.

 

How do they work?

Certificates are presented when volunteers have completed 50, 100 and 200 hours of voluntary service. All certificates are signed by MSPs and the 200 hour Award of Excellence signed personally by the First Minister.

Many young people volunteer for more than one organisation and all of these hours can be counted towards their award. Time spent engaging in training for their voluntary work, support & supervision and some travel can also count. New and current volunteers can be awarded. See how the awards work with our flowcharts here

MV also provides a valuable opportunity for volunteers to chart their personal development through their volunteering experience. They require the young volunteers to ask themselves what they hope to achieve, review what they have done and chart their progress in achieving their goals. The forms are available below.

Personal Plan (completion notes)

Distance Travelled (completion notes)

Personal Profile (completion notes)

Volunteer Centre Edinburgh holds an annual MV Certificate Presentation Ceremony each Autumn for all award achievers. Young people enjoy coming along to this event and really do value the certificates they receive.

How do I register volunteers?

Step 1

Organisations taking part in the scheme must be registered with their local Volunteer Centre. You can check if you are already registered by calling your local volunteer centre. Contact details for all volunteer centres in Scotland are available at here.

Organisations in Edinburgh not already registered with us can download a registration form here .

 

Step 2  

Next register your volunteers using the forms below.

Volunteer Registration Form (completion notes)

Additional Organisations Form

Volunteer Timesheet (completion notes)

Certificate Request Form (completion notes)

 

Step 3

Once you have your volunteers registered all you need to do is record the number of the hours they volunteer. Once the target hours (50, 100 and 200) have been reached contact the Volunteer Centre for processing.

iIf your MV volunteer has a particularly special or interesting story of their volunteer experience please tell us about it by completing the form below.

Case Study (completion notes)

 

Who do I Contact?

For more information about the scheme and returning completed forms please contact Kade Moncrieff kade.moncrieff@volunteeredinburgh.org.uk, 0131 225 0638.

 

STOP PRESS!

The MV Volunteering Passport website is now live and allows volunteers to register for the MV Awards online, record their own hours, keep a journal of activities, set themselves goals and search for volunteer opportunities in their local area.