News Articles
From Community Champion to Volunteer Coordinator
We interviewed our new colleague, Ebenezer, to learn about his volunteer journey and how he came to work with NCVSEbenezer first saw an article about the Community Champions Volunteer role with the Majority Black Led Churches (MBLC) project run by NCVS. He was particularly interested in the work the project was doing to engage with Black communities about Covid-19 vaccination misconceptions and…
Introducing Community Champions
Nottingham Community and Voluntary Service (NCVS) is working in partnership with the Nottingham City Council Public Health team and local NHS services to develop a team of Community Champions.Are you interested in a new volunteering opportunity or would you consider taking on additional volunteering to complement your current volunteer role?We are actively seeking volunteers to join a new network…
A review of Volunteer Passports
Dave Thomas, Volunteering Development Officer at NCVS writes... Over the very many years that I have been a Leader of Volunteers, the phrase “Volunteer Passport” has faded in and out of fashion. It has resurfaced on the national scene in reports produced before and during the Covid-19 pandemic. Although I have never been a fan of this concept, I want to explore the positives and negatives of…
What is the impact of volunteering?
Dave Thomas, Volunteering Development Officer at NCVS writes... Whenever I go to network meetings or conferences, I enjoy a game of Buzzword Bingo as much as anyone. But there’s a word that has been creeping into the vocabulary of volunteering which deserves rather more than a tick on the bingo card. That word is “Impact”. It’s become very popular, although its meaning is sometimes a little…
What has the pandemic revealed about volunteering?
Two new reports have made the news in the last couple of weeks, and could influence the future governmental policy response to volunteering.The Royal Voluntary Service (RVS) surveyed 2,500 UK adults in its Volunteering for a Healthier Britain report. The study asked about the wellbeing, health, volunteering activity and social connectedness of people to understand whether it had been affected by…
Where have all the volunteers gone? (Long time passing)
Dave Thomas Volunteering Development Officer at NCVS writes... Like everyone else, Leaders of Volunteers have had to deal with the effects of the pandemic. Some of us have been able to keep our volunteers involved by moving roles online, home-based or over the phone. Others have created new roles. Some of us have had to suspend our volunteer programme, and our volunteers have either drifted away…
The volunteer journey - first steps
Dave Thomas Volunteering Development Officer at NCVS writes... In my last blog, I suggested that the language that we use to talk about volunteering is important in valuing volunteers and in making it clear that there is a difference between volunteering and employment. I also admitted that I sometimes struggle to make that clear distinction. In this blog, I’d like to explore three very commonly…
Mind your language
Dave Thomas Volunteering Development Officer at NCVS writes... “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me”. This chant has rung out in school playgrounds and where groups of children get together since time immemorial. Even as we chanted this, or heard it chanted, we knew that it wasn’t true but it reminds us that words can hurt and the way we use them is important.…
What do we offer our volunteers?
Dave Thomas, Volunteering Development Officer at NCVS writes... One of the most important questions that I ask people who tell me that they want to volunteer is “what do you want to get from your volunteering?” The answer to this question can go a very long way to helping them to choose the opportunity that best suits them from the ones on offer on our 'Search for…
Loneliness Awareness Week 2021
This week it's Loneliness Awareness Week (14-18 June 2021), hosted by Marmalade Trust. The campaign aims to raise awareness of loneliness and get people talking about it. After a year of lockdowns, social distancing, and restrictions, more of us are experiencing loneliness than ever, which is having a big impact on our wellbeing. The theme for this year's campaign is…
