Dave Thomas, Volunteering Development Officer at NCVS writes...
For many years, some employers from all sectors have been willing to give their staff paid time to take part in volunteering. Some voluntary and community organisations have embraced this and have involved volunteers effectively in this way. Others have found it very difficult, or even impossible, to engage with this kind of volunteering.
Dave Thomas, Volunteering Development Officer at NCVS writes...
From my own involvement in this process, I am fairly confident that this is not another top-down attempt to regulate volunteering.
I was one of more than 350 people involved and Nottingham CVS was one of more than 300 organisations that attended some of the 14 workshops. I was also interviewed as part of the consultation. (I even have a namecheck on the Vision for Volunteering website).
Ebenezer 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 misinformation and to support greater take up across this community.
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?
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 volunteer passports and invite you to let me have your feedback.
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”.
As part of the GreenSpace green social prescribing project, we are adding a little sunshine to Blue Monday and turning it green, promoting mental health awareness and opening discussions in the community around mental health. This online event aims to break down the preconceptions about mental health and to provide participants with ways in which they can help and support people.
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 the pandemic.