Welcome to the 15th edition of the VMN e-bulletin, but the 1st under our new Government. We look forward to seeing what the new administration brings in relation to volunteering and mentoring and the future support for those vulnerable people in our society. We too have exciting announcements, this month we are asking you to help us set up a new networking website, we have lots of new volunteering opportunities, news and training as well as a brilliant case study of the JustPeople programme run by the Prison Advice and Care Trust. If you want to feature a case study or your volunteering opportunities in the next edition just email nathan.dick@clinks.org.
Please forward this email on to any other colleagues or organisations you think might be interested. If you want to join, ask us questions or make suggestions simply email Nathan at nathan.dick@clinks.org. If you are not interested in receiving this e-bulletin in the future please see how to unsubscribe below.
Volunteering & Mentoring Network
Issue 15 – May 2010
NETWORK NEWS: An Online Community – your thoughts
Clinks want to be able to bring together practitioners and any other recipients of this e-bulletin into an online community where we can announce news more quickly and provide interactive forums and chat rooms. We have already begun to develop this tool for our members but want your input as well. Got any bright ideas or advice? Let us know and we’ll make use of it before we launch the new website. Contact Nathan with your thoughts.
Link:email your ideas and suggestions to: nathan.dick@clinks.org or call on 07870 384 569
NETWORK NEWS: Volunteers week – will you share your story
Volunteering England (VE) are looking for people with inspiring volunteering stories to tell during Volunteers' Week running from 1-7 June. All stories are welcome; you simply need to let VE know about anyone you think has an interesting volunteering story. It may be about a project they have run, an incredible career change or just a volunteer who is a great role model in their local community. VE would especially like to hear from adults who volunteer with young people, as this year their media campaign will be calling for more adult volunteers to facilitate young people’s activities. Their aim is to let the general public know how rewarding volunteering with young people can be and the difference it can make to their lives and to local communities. The Volunteers Week Website has been revamped and re-launched as well, you can visit it here: www.volunteersweek.org.uk
Link:email your stories to kimberley.rowley@volunteeringengland.org
NETWORK NEWS: New National Occupational Standards for the mentoring and befriending of offenders
Skills For Justice (www.skillsforjustice.com) have announced the launch of National Occupational Standards (NOS) for Mentoring and Befriending of offenders and those at risk of offending. They are available to view and download using the Skills for Justice NOS Finder (see link below). The NOS Finder also contains information on how the new standards can be used and integrated into your organisations processes. The standards are individually downloadable and supply you with guidance on how to achieve each one. With regards to the qualification structure, this is currently being adapted for upload to the Qualification and Credits Framework (QCF). We will announce any further information on this as we receive it. If you would like further information on the NOS and how they can help your organisation please contact Tina Parker using the following contact details: Tina.parker@skillsforjustice.com
Link: Search the NOS Finder HERE
NETWORK NEWS: Jobcentre Plus supports volunteering
Volunteering England and Jobcentre Plus have signed an agreement to promote the value of volunteering to jobseekers in England and tackle any barriers they might face to volunteering. The agreement builds on the recommendations of the Commission on the Future of Volunteering, which proposed that more be done to reduce the barriers which some unemployed people face when volunteering. At the heart of the agreement is a commitment from both Volunteering England and Jobcentre Plus to take action to promote the value of volunteering with unemployed people and to remove the artificial barriers that can prevent them taking up a volunteering opportunity.
Link: Read the press release HERE
TRAINING: New Social Media Workshops – reaching new volunteers (2nd June, London, £35)
Would you like new ways to communicate with the groups and communities you support? Do you want to find and try out different ways to reach your volunteers? This training day will help you place social media in the context of your organisational development work role, support you to consider guidelines for responsible use of social media websites and give you knowledge about a wide range of current social media tools available. The training will also feature a practical social media surgery to help build confidence in use of social media websites and show how you can help local groups benefit from them too. The workshops will be delivered by the NAVCA ICT Champions and Red Foundation as part of Capacitybuilders' Modernising Volunteering & Regional ICT Champions work. More workshops will be announced in the near future.
Link: To book a place visit HERE or contact Carolyn Ellis at NAVCA on 0114289 3952 if you need assistance
TRAINING: NCVO HR Masterclass (27th May, London)
This course is aimed at all levels from those about to recruit their first employee to recruiting more staff or if you’re unsure whether you have all the right contracts and HR policies in place. This one-day HR Masterclass looks at how you can meet your legal requirements as an employer. You'll cover the key aspects of the employment relationship and how to recruit staff including what checks you need to do. You'll also look at how to induct staff into your organisation and what policies and procedures to have to help you if things go wrong. This course is aimed at managers, advisers, trustees and chief executives of frontline or infrastructure organisations and support providers who wish to develop their understanding of these topics.
Link: To book go HERE
TRAINING: Mentoring & Befriending Foundation: 2010 – 2011 training programme (National)
The Mentoring & Befriending Foundation (MBF) have launched a new structure to their training programme which consists of a set of courses aimed at ‘starting out’ and another aimed at ‘developing people and projects’. This two tiered training programme has a number of useful training courses for those delivering mentoring and/or befriending services.
Link: To find out more visit HERE
RESOURCE: Media Matching – communications volunteers
If you're looking for free expertise to help your organisation communicate more effectively, you can use the online Media Matching service from The Media Trust to place a request for the services of a media or communications volunteer. With hundreds of media professionals signed up as advisers, you can get valuable advice on a wide range of media and communications services including PR, marketing, web, branding and design. Simply register on the Media Trust website and submit request for support to them.
Link: Visit the Media Trust website HERE
RESOURCE: Youth Work – Careers Information
The National Council for Voluntary Youth Services (NCVYS) has a resource page on their website providing sources of information for those interested in searching out volunteering or employment opportunities in the youth sector. This includes a new 2nd edition of their careers guide. NCVYS is a diverse and growing network of over 170 national organisations and regional and local networks that work with and for young people (www.ncvys.org.uk)
Link: Visit the website HERE
RESOURCE: PQASSO Level 3 – available now
As explained in the Clinks Volunteering and Mentoring guide on Quality Standards (click here) the PQASSO Quality Mark is now available at level 3. The quality mark is aimed at supporting you to prove that your organisation is well run, well managed and committed to providing effective services. This is essential both when applying for funding and as a guarantee of quality for the people you work with.
Link: To apply for PQASSO level 3 go HERE
PUBLICATION: Righting Public Law Wrongs
This is a short compact voice (www.compactvoice.org.uk) brief for the voluntary sector when working with Government. This brief gives you a quick insight into the areas where you might have legitimate cause for complaint when dealing with public wrongs such as illegality, unfairness, irrationality and maladministration. The brief offers some tips as to how you can raise these issues and help resolve them.
Link:Download the brief HERE
PUBLICATION: Employee Volunteering - DCLG
The Department for Communities and Local Government in partnership with Business in the Community have published good practice guideance for employees volunteering in a variety of civic roles. This guide offers people an explanation of what the benefits and rewards can be for the employer, volunteer and the local community.
Link:Download the guide HERE
EVENT: Charities masterclass: Enlightened employee and volunteer management (22nd June, Cambridge, Free)
This employee and volunteer engagement masterclass delivered by Taylor Vinters solicitors will look beyond employment ‘best practice’ where the contractual nature of the employee relationship creates rights and obligations on both sides. An enlightened approach to employee engagement deploys a range of skills to raise performance and contribution. For volunteers, where there is no formal legal structure to govern the relationship, effective engagement with volunteers aims to harness the talent and goodwill to best effect within the volunteer force. This event will give your organisation some new ideas to improve on both volunteer and employee management form a specific charity perspective.
Link:Register HERE
EVENT: Volunteering Counts – Papers available online (Past event)
The Volunteering Counts conference that was held on the 1-2 March 2010 in Manchester brought together researchers and experts in volunteering from around the UK. Co-organised by the Institute for Volunteering Research (IVR) it assessed the current state of our knowledge and the future research agenda. If you missed the conference then Volunteering England have posted up all the speeches and presentations on their website for you to download.
Link: Conference resources are available HERE
EVENT: Changing the Profile of Volunteering (1st June, London, Free)
Focusing on why it makes good business sense to diversify your volunteer base, and supporting you to update your practice in reaching socially excluded groups, as well as influencing the Board in their approach to equality. This event brings together key voices in the volunteering sector to highlight the work of NNVIA (The National Network of Volunteer Involving Agencies) who, in partnership with Volunteering England, has been working at local, regional and national levels on ways of overcoming barriers to volunteering.
Link: To register a place book HERE or visit the VE website HERE
FUNDING: Capacity Builders – Volunteer Management Programme (National, deadline: 24th May)
Strand C of the Capacity Builders volunteer management programme is now open and supports both those who strategically manage volunteers or directly manage volunteers. The programme has been highly popular and is heavily subscribed so apply soon if you wish to access this funding.
Link: For more information visit the Capacity Builders website HERE
FUNDING: Santander Community Days – volunteering programme (National, deadline: June)
Santander are looking to provide over 7,500 hours of their employees time and expertise to charities that have a Santander branch in their area. There is no formal application process, simply contact them at community@santander.co.uk.
Link: Email: community@santander.co.uk
FUNDING: SITA Trust Young Person’s Volunteering Fund (National, deadline: June)
This funding is available to charities in particular areas who wish to engage young people in the improvement of a local public amenity. This includes such activities as providing play facilities for young people or installing disabled access to an existing amenity. Grants of up to £10,000 towards project costs are available. To check if your project is in an area eligible for funding use the SITA Trust’s handy postcode checker HERE.
Link: You can read more about the trust and how to apply on their website HERE
FUNDING: New Philanthropy Capital – position paper on SROI
Social Return On Investment (SROI) is a new model of funding for activities with a social gain – it focuses on investment and returns rather than grant or contract funding. Although this is a popular idea at the moment and has recently been piloted in and around Peterborough Prison many of us in the sector don’t have a full understanding of it. This useful position paper by NPC explains the basics of it and offers an opinion around its viability. Visit NPC for more useful information: www.philanthropycapital.org.
Link: Read the position paper HERE
VOLUNTEERING OPPORTUNITY: Muslim Offender Mentoring Scheme (London, Birmingham, Manchester, Bradford, Leicester)
In a unique partnership, Muslim Youth Helpline (MYH), Mosaic and Business in the Community (BITC) are launching a new project to provide focused support and mentoring opportunities to Muslim prisoners around the vulnerable period of transition from prison back to society. Mentoring starts up to 6 months before a prisoner is due for release and would be expected to continue for a similar period after release. Mentors will start by visiting the client in prison in order to build trust, gain a better understanding of the client’s needs and help prepare them for release. Following release, mentors will continue to support the client through the provision of emotional support, seeking workplace opportunities and general support around housing, education and related issues. Crucially, the mentoring arrangement will link into Business in the Community’s ‘Ready for Work’ programme. Ready for Work is an established, business-led, work placement programme aimed at helping socially excluded groups gain and sustain employment. The mentoring programme will be available to Muslim prisoners aged between 16 and 30 in the areas outlined above.
Link: For further information contact Julian Yorke, Programme Manager, Prison Mentoring on julian.yorke@bitc.org.uk or 020 7566 8735
VOLUNTEERING OPPORTUNITY: Women Offenders Mentoring Project (HMP Send, Woking)
The Ministry of Justice in partnership with Business in the Community (BITC) are looking to recruit female mentors for women offenders at HMP Send, near Woking. It is hoped the pilot will work with women from other prisons in the South East region but initially it will be with HMP Send. The programme is part of a pilot being run by BITC for the Ministry of Justice to support routes into employment for women offenders. The women will be in their last few months of their sentence and likely to be doing community work or work placements on a daily licence. The transition from prison life back into the community and coping with family, money and employment is hugely daunting and 1-1 support from a volunteer can be transformative in navigating these issues and reducing re-offending. The mentors must be willing and able to offer their time to support women and help them broaden their horizons in terms of employment and aspirations. For this programme volunteers are asked to commit to a minimum of 6 months; with mentors expected to be available at least twice a month for face-to-face mentoring sessions.
Link: For further information email: Emma Taite, Employability Manager on emma.taite@bitc.org.uk or 020 7566 8786
VOLUNTEERING OPPORTUNITY: Community Chaplaincies (National)
The Community Chaplaincy Association brings together a range of mentoring and befriending charities that work across the UK. They have launched a website that supplies you with contacts for all of these community chaplaincy projects. The projects deliver mentoring to those in custody and the community providing both men and women with a range of holistic support. Volunteering opportunities are available in some, but not all of the listed project
Link: Visit www.communitychaplaincy.org.uk for more information
CASE STUDY: JustPeople (Devon and Cornwall)
The Prison Advice and Care Trust (pact) have provided services for offenders, their children and families for over 100 years. They have always relied heavily on volunteers to deliver and understand the extra experience, resources and value that they bring. They also understand the unique sensitivities of working with offenders and their families and how these affect the way all staff whether paid or unpaid are trained and supported. JustPeople gives pact the opportunity to disseminate their current practices to support professionalism with partner agencies and to achieve the best possible service for beneficiaries across Devon and Cornwall.
Jointly funded by Devon & Cornwall Probation Trust and the Tudor-Lankelly Chase Trusts, JustPeople is an innovative new project that acts as a central co-ordination point for people wanting to volunteer in criminal justice settings across Devon and Cornwall. Volunteers are supported by services including, a comprehensive foundation training, more advanced training for specialist volunteer roles, and ongoing support and personal development tailored to the volunteer’s own individual needs. JustPeople is able to equip volunteers to work flexibly in a variety of settings such as the probation service, courts, prisons, restorative justice projects, prison visitors’ centres and community mentoring schemes.
The benefits to agencies are already clear. JustPeople provides voluntary and statutory agencies in the region with a reliable, vetted, trained and supervised pool of volunteers who can complement the work of paid staff, and contribute to the achievement of an agency’s objectives. The core JustPeople team provides volunteer management services for any community organisations who would like to make use of volunteers but lack the resources or infrastructure to manage them directly.
The Ministry of Justice and NOMS increasingly advocate the use of the third sector and volunteers to deliver and enhance services; JustPeople contributes to this aspiration and ensures that we do this in an organised, safe and mutually beneficial way.
“Volunteering for pact has enabled me to do some amazing things and I’ve learned a huge amount. In addition to my two shifts I attend team meetings and get supervisions. I’ve never been so well-looked after. Volunteering has widened my social circle too” - pact Volunteer, Exeter Prison
By increasing capacity and improving training, the project ensures better support for offenders who wish to successfully re-integrate in to society. Community mentoring schemes enable the services of the volunteer to move with the offender as they progress from agency to agency.
Want to know more? Visit the pact website HERE
WEBSITE OF THE MONTH: iVolunteer
i-volunteer came about following research undertaken by Red Foundation which showed that some volunteers and people who manage and work with volunteers were reluctant to use generic social networks as they struggled to get their voices heard in a crowded community, and were concerned about mixing personal and volunteer related networking.
Link: www.i-volunteer.org.uk
