Volunteer Co-Ordinators Newsletter & Updates

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The Volunteer Co-Ordinators group is a peer network of volunteer co-ordinators and managers from around Southampton.

Nominations are still open for the Volunteer Certificate Scheme!

*****DEADLINE 22nd APRIL******

Rewarding volunteering is all part of retaining your volunteers. The certificate scheme is a great way to show your appreciation to your volunteers from an external body. It's a lovely afternoon at the Mayors Parlour. The Echo also usually attend meaning that not only is it a great way to celebrate your volunteers but also can show case what your organisation does in the paper!

You can find the nomination forms on our website and if you have any questions about the event please let me know.

Motivational Interviewing Training

Levels 1 and 2 are available. Free of charge. For more information please select the links below.

Level 1

Level 2

Booking Form

Volunteer Manager Training!

After the recent survey we listened so please keep your eyes open for dates for the following training sessions:

Retaining Volunteers
Volunteers & The Law
Funding for Volunteers

St Georges Day Celebrations!

Southampton is a great English city. It’s always been built by all the people - wherever they come from - who make their homes here. That’s why Southampton’s first major St George’s Day Festival was launched in 2014.

Event Booking & Info

Group Volunteering

We're having an increasing number of companies looking for volunteering opportunities for staff. Now that the weather is turning if you have any large tasks that need tackling - perhaps your outside space could do with a spruce up or you have a room that needs attention please let me know!

Training Courses:

Alcohol - A Brief Intervention

Weight Management - A Brief Intervention

Domestic Abuse and it's effect on Children and young people - PIPPA

Spring Is Here!

Hi everyone, it really is spring, it looks lovely outside the Voluntary Action Centre windows looking out at Hoglands park, the windows are open - with the hope that the angry seagull who turned up yesterday doesn't return...

Those who have been by the VAC recently may have seen the daffodils outside the building - many thanks to the Volunteers at Community Roots for growing and planting them for us - if you want to find out more about the project you can attend their St Georges Day Celebrations.

Again it's been a busy month (or two), Volunteer Coordinators Forum to update you on. The Certificate Scheme is back and applications open, we're just about to launch "Southampton Super Stars" more about that below. Lots of training is also available which you can see below.

We've also got an important Friday Forum for Volunteer Coordinators coming up in May - Please read the details as your input will be vital moving forward.

The next Volunteer Coordinators Forum is taking shape - we hopefully have a guest speaker from the organisation "Good Seats" to tell us about a new initiative to get a new group of volunteers involved.

Volunteer Coordinators Forum

Thank you to all who attended the Volunteer Coordinators Forum on Monday 7th March. Slides are available here.

If you wanted to get in contact with someone from the meeting but didn't get a chance to during the networking, please let me know and I can get you in contact.

You can let us know you're attending the next VCG by booking! (please book so I know how many to expect)

Friday Forum - Quality Kite Mark?

6th May is the date of the next Friday Forum. We have two sessions planned. I will be running the second session (before lunch and networking) and I think as volunteer coordinators this is a subject you might not want to miss!

Quality Kite Mark for the Voluntary Sector – Increasingly funders and statutory Heath and Social Care services ask voluntary and community sector groups how they provide quality assurance in providing services, activities and in running their organisation - including activities involving volunteers. SVS would like to consult with local voluntary organisations to see if there is anything we can do to support this process by looking at what is currently available, the pros and cons of such a scheme and if a local kite mark would be of benefit to the sector.

You don't need to book and the Friday Forum is free of charge. The first session (starting at 9:30) will be on Showcasing Voluntary Action - a chance to see and hear about the work of other voluntary organisations in Southampton.

To view the information from this months forum (very informative sessions from the Council in regards to Benefits and from the PIPPA initiative) also for information on upcoming forums have a look here.

Southampton Stars!!!!

The website has now been launched. Please support this initative for National Volunteers Week - If you want to tell us a story, or if you have a newsletter you send out to your volunteers please include this asking them to participate.

We want to showcase the work of volunteers throughout volunteers week so we're looking for stories of when they have made a difference - I would also like to celebrate volunteer managers/coordinators during the week so please feel free to enter your own stories.

http://www.southamptonvs.org.uk/Volunteering/Southampton-s-Volunteering-Superstars

You can post this without using your name - we want to highlight to the city of Southampton how vital volunteering is. Not only will this celebrate your volunteers but also showcase your organisation during volunteers week. But this can only go ahead with your support.

From The Web...

The NCVO released a report recently suggesting that large charities have grown in the past year while medium and small charities struggle.

Youth volunteering is on the up (as mentioned in the above link) and if you want to get involved and capture some of the Youth Volunteering Market there is a new Social Action Toolkit available for organisations - free of charge. This also comes along with the BBC News piece on the dramatic rise in volunteering for 16 - 25 year olds.

Slightly older news - The budget came out in March - a sign of relief for charities as the NCVO puts it. You can see their thoughts on what will impact charities.

Slightly controversial, but I'd like to think we aren't biased when it comes to putting forward volunteering information - Volunteering isn't as beneficial as we tend to think it is? Interested to hear your thoughts on this one. Personally I think the benefits of volunteering are long lasting - Perhaps think of the volunteers who have moved into employment from their time volunteering? Those volunteers who were once service users and now support the service. I could argue this all day...

New research by sector specialists nfpSynergy found that charities have one of the lowest levels of complaints across 7 sectors, but they also have the highest level of people wanting to complain but not doing so.