Volunteering News
Supporting online and remote volunteers
Dave Thomas, Volunteering Development Officer at NCVS, writes... Although online, remote or virtual volunteering is nothing new, over the past year (2020-2021) there has been a fantastic growth in the number of such opportunities and in the organisations offering them. Many Leaders of Volunteers have responded to the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic by supporting remote teams.… Read More
Is that new role really a volunteer role or should it be a paid job?
Dave Thomas, Volunteering Development Officer at NCVS, writes... I have long been an advocate of the principle that volunteers can do anything. As long as people with the right skills are involved in the right roles, this has always been true. The voluntary sector is made up of hundreds and thousands of small organisations with no paid staff where volunteers have to do everything. But… Read More
Involving young volunteers
Dave Thomas, Volunteering Development Officer at NCVS, writes... Over many years, we've seen that young people have a passion and enthusiasm to be involved in their community and make a difference through volunteering. Here at the NCVS Volunteer Centre, we're keen to encourage Leaders of Volunteers to harness young people's desire to help and give back to their… Read More
Reviewing your pre-lockdown volunteering opportunities
Dave Thomas, Volunteering Development Officer at NCVS, writes... The pandemic hasn't gone away but now that lockdown has eased, I am seeing a real determination from many Leaders of Volunteers to re-engage with their volunteers and harness the enormous amount of goodwill towards volunteers and volunteering that has come about as a result of the outbreak. Almost six months ago, at the start of… Read More
Beyond promotion - the second step in the volunteer journey
Dave Thomas, Volunteering Development Officer at NCVS, writes... A very wise Leader of Volunteers once told me that it’s hard enough to get a volunteer to turn up once, but it’s far harder to get them to turn up for a second or third time. As Leaders of Volunteers, you put a lot of energy into attracting volunteers by creating great volunteer role profiles, superb social media posts and… Read More
Volunteering by people with support workers
Dave Thomas, Volunteering Development Officer at NCVS, writes... Here at NCVS, we are passionate about volunteering and we constantly promote the benefits of volunteering. When we see that support workers are also suggesting volunteering to the people that they are supporting, we get really excited. So if you have a support worker or if you are a support worker, you may be interested to know more… Read More
Volunteer Recruitment and Social Distancing
Dave Thomas, Volunteering Development Officer at NCVS writes ... In my last message, I invited Leaders of Volunteers to think about how their volunteer programmes will adapt as we come out of lockdown. Several leaders have been in touch and we have discussed how volunteer recruitment can be safe, while still adhering to volunteering good practice. One way to do this is to slightly change the… Read More
A message to Nottingham's Leaders of Volunteers
Dave Thomas, Volunteering Development Officer at NCVS writes ... Over the last 12 weeks or so, many local community/voluntary groups and charities have involved volunteers in new ways to help support vulnerable people during the pandemic. As lockdown eases, it is likely that some of these volunteers will be returning to work or will have less time to volunteer. As Leaders of Volunteers, we now… Read More
Nottingham charity receives Queen's Award for Voluntary Service
Nottingham-based charity We R Here has been named as one of 230 UK recipients of this year's Queen's Award for Voluntary Service. The prestigious award is considered the MBE for voluntary groups and recognises the exceptional service they make within their communities. The winners are announced every year on the 2 June which is the anniversary of the Queen's coronation. Last year a… Read More
Say thank you to a #NottinghamStar this Volunteers' Week
Next week it's Volunteers Week 2020! To celebrate and recognise the efforts of Nottingham's volunteers, charities and community/voluntary groups in response to COVID-19, we've teamed up with Nottingham City Council to set-up the #NottinghamStar campaign. The campaign will shine a spotlight on the kindness and generosity which individuals and groups have shown to vulnerable people during the… Read More
