July Capability Building Event - Volunteering in 2023
In July, we held our latest Capability Building Event as we explored the volunteering landscape in 2023.
If you missed the event, or want to watch again, you can catch-up on the recording and chat here. You can also find out more about the themes we covered and discussed, calls to action and recommended reading below.
Key Themes
Collaboration, not Competition - Opportunities to share volunteers and provide volunteers with greater opportunities to share their skills.
Volunteer Passports - Nicky Stainton from Voluntary Norfolk shared their local ‘volunteer passport’ platform, linked below. With several local initiatives across England, we encourage the continued sharing of learnings and resources across partners outside this meeting by building connections across the network .
Informal vs Formal Volunteering - Many people who volunteer can be demotivated by formal volunteering requirements and structures. Yet some, particularly young people, may be drawn to volunteering because of the opportunity for formal qualifications and skill development.
Young Volunteers - Many shared an ambition to better engage young people in volunteering. Some partners work with schools and Universities to support young people in their citizenship, with cause-based volunteering opportunities recommended.
Access to Volunteering Opportunities - For groups including people with visual impairments, those who are deaf or have hearing loss, and people facing physical, social or financial barriers to volunteering, there needs to be thought about how we address the lack of access to volunteering opportunities if we are to unlock the potential of the voluntary sector.
Language - As we heard from many of you: language matters when it comes to volunteering. Many people do not consider themselves to be volunteers, and research has shown that language around volunteer requirements can be a real barrier to certain groups.
Volunteers, Staff, and Service Users - It’s important to acknowledge that the line between staff/volunteer and service user is less-defined generally as many people find themselves affected by emergencies such as Covid-19 and the Cost-of-Living Crisis. Partners note how volunteers have less opportunity to give their time and often less of themselves to give due to new demands.
Quotes
“I found the United Nations perspective quite enlightening - provides non-UK data and a better model around volunteering.”
“There is so much information to keep up with it is really useful to have it all in one place.”
“The biggest value is not in the resources shared but in the lively group discussions.”
“[I made] good links to RNIB and Deaf Plus for increasing our accessibility.”
Calls to Action - Things to Consider…
Collaboration, not Competition - If organisations are sharing volunteers, how do we ensure high quality standards and training and how do we provide the right platforms to achieve this?
Informal vs Formal Volunteering - How do we better understand the motivations of volunteers, to set up the right incentives and structures to support them? How do we create the right structures to support a consistent and reliable volunteer body, whilst also supporting the highly valuable informal volunteering landscape?
Young Volunteers - It was suggested that partners reach out to sixth forms, colleges and universities to connect into student volunteering schemes they may have. How would be best to do this? Do you have a local setting that could help?
Access to Volunteering Opportunities - How can we ensure that the barriers for some who want to volunteer are removed, and what can be put in place to make volunteering accessible to all?
Staff, Volunteers and Service Users - With the line between these groups less-defined, how do we support staff and volunteers through their own crises, and find opportunities for service users to graduate to volunteer or staff roles?