Transcript Document
Nottinghamshire is a great place to be a volunteer: • • • • • Huge range of options issues time + duration location + access Placements needing specific expertise provide a high standard of accredited training. There is a continuing variety of paid work in the sector covering different levels of responsibility. The sector makes a recognisable contribution to the local economy as an employer. Volunteering figures are high and the numbers are rising. Background • At least one volunteering development agency in each of the 8 districts including the city. Some were independent volunteer centres, for some it was a function within a CVS. • Within the volunteer centres – then called Bureaux – some focused on the six core activities of a Volunteer Bureau some developed and managed a range of service projects delivered by volunteers, some a mix of both. • The degree to which the 6 volunteering functions were delivered through the CVS was decided at a local level by its Board of Trustees and depended an a range of issues so service delivery across the county was not consistent. • In 2004 Gershon Report and review of Infrastructure. • Research was undertaken locally to identify the benefits and the potential difficulties of working more collaboratively, and to establish a cost effective Volunteering Infrastructure for Nottinghamshire providing a high quality consistent service. • 2006 - The birth of Volunteering Nottinghamshire - registered as a company in order to legitimately secure contracts and to employ staff as required. - It has a chief officer and currently manages a £600,000 V project in partnership with BTCV - supports a collective of accredited Volunteer Centres; a collective of countywide Volunteer Involving Organisations - is working towards being the strategic voice for volunteering in Nottinghamshire. The Opportunities and Challenges 1. The impact of the recession resulting in more people becoming available to volunteer • Short term volunteers and long term service delivery needs of some existing charities. • The needs of the volunteers overriding the needs of the host agency impacting on the mission, aims and objects of organisation and service beneficiary • The capacity and resource to create new types of voluntary engagement able to meet the needs of the volunteers specifically in relation to employability; volunteering by definition is primarily for the benefit of others. • The capacity and resources to increase the number of volunteering opportunities for people needing additional support or who are from different cultures. • The need for funds to properly market the different types of opportunity and their benefits both to the volunteer and to the community. • The recognition that volunteering is not the same as a work placement in the voluntary sector 2. 2012 Olympics • New bodies and posts being funded to support and develop volunteering in sports • Support and even develop local sports networks. • Nothing coming to established VCS connections where this is an organisational priority. • Volunteering Notts invited to contribute after structures and priorities established by local authority 3. The election of a new political administration in County Hall whose first priority is to review all services and expenditure with no increase to the council tax. • The time and experience needed to do this; we are in September; no feedback expected before November, the Compact decrees 3 months consultation time. • The need to ensure that whilst the value of volunteering is recognised the principles which determine what should and should not be a volunteering activity should be clearly stated and fought for if necessary – no NI6 in County Strategy • Funding – range of support through Real Help for Communities, Future Builders, Capacity Builders etc but neither at national level nor in Notts have we been able to secure funding for volunteering infrastructure. • Funding applications – for many orgs run by volunteers with no paid staff, the administrative burden placed on them is huge • For infrastructure groups to remember to be an advocate for those we serve when they too may be struggling for funds. 4. “Professionalising” Volunteering • Volunteering can be embedded into a career path without lost of its definition - Freely Chosen, without payment (except expenses) and for the benefit of others. • Voluntary does not mean Amateur : Amateur is the opposite of professional • Does an increase in bureaucratic procedure make us more professional? • Issues around branding, accreditation and charges for VBase • Identified Training delivery can be shared but training is not always necessary; recognition and thanks is. • Local authority workers as Trustees can change the ethos of the organisation and create Mission Drift – work becomes target and not people driven • Managers in the vcs will benefit from the same training as managers anywhere else. 5. Government having volunteering in its spotlight • Partnership Working – recognise the need to engage with vcs at the research and development stage of any project • It is not enough just to see VIO’s as deliverers of public services or picking up on services that no one else wants to deliver • Having this principle of involvement at the beginning built into the Community Engagement Strategy for the county. • We are the agencies with the local knowledge but we need to be better at gathering it and using IT to share it. Action • Keep a close watch on what is happening • Have the mechanisms and resources in place for proper debate with colleagues as well as government • Have a voice at local, regional and national levels, through which concerns may be aired and good practice shared. • Message from Nottinghamshire to OTS Work with us – YES: Support us - YES: Take us over – NO!