Volunteer Centre News Update – week beginning 13 February 2023
Welcome to the latest edition of the Volunteer Centre News Update. Remember that you can contact us with your thoughts and ideas about what you would like to see here. Your feedback is always appreciated.
Volunteer Recruitment Fairs
Lancaster – 23 February
On Thursday 23rd February we will be hosting a volunteer recruitment event at Lancaster Library between 10.30am and 1.30pm.
This event is open to anyone who is interested in finding out more about volunteering and what opportunities are available.
Approximately 18 local volunteer-involving organisations have registered to attend to promote their own roles, and the CVS team will be on hand to support people who might be interested in other opportunities, or have more general queries about volunteering.
It would be brilliant if you could promote this event to your own service users and anyone that you know who might be interested in finding out how to volunteer.
Morecambe – 6 February
Back on 6th February we hosted a volunteer recruitment event at The Arndale Centre. It went really well and we are extremely grateful to all the groups that attended, as well as all the members of the public who came along for a chat.
We would like to say special thank you to Craig and the team at The Arndale Centre, who had everything set up for us on the day, and allowed us to use the space free of charge.
Big thanks too to Damian and his team at The Bay, for their support offering chairs, toilet facilities, and teas and coffees!
The Big Help Out – 8 May
Have you heard of The Big Help Out? This initiative aims to increase the number of people volunteering; increase the diversity of people volunteering; and increase the number of hours given.
It sets out to raise the profile of opportunities in every community and encourage people to take part in local volunteering, build longer term commitments to volunteering, and tell the stories about the personal and community benefits of volunteering.
It was brought together in the first instance by national organisations in the Shaping the Future group and the Together Coalition, to be linked to the Kings coronation. The BHO encourages people to volunteer on 8 May, the Bank Holiday for the coronation. It has a high profile, with significant weight behind it from the Palace, but also pro-bono support from Saatchi for the publicity/comms work, and coverage from the BBC and ITV.
Lancaster District CVS will be taking part in a conversation with national partners soon about the Big Help Out and how we might best join with it to benefit our communities. There is a website where you will be able to find out more soon, as well as add your own plans for 8th May, here: https://thebighelpout.org.uk/
Befriending
The number of people in need of telephone or in-person befriending has shot up in recent times, partly due to the pandemic, but also because that wider need has been recognised in a way that perhaps it has not been in the past. What hasn’t kept pace with need however is the number of volunteers coming forward to deliver these services.
Several organisations are currently offering some kind of befriending service to local people, including Bay Volunteers, Lancashire Volunteer Partnership, and Let’s BeFriends. There are also befriending-adjacent roles, such as independent visitor roles with NYAS, providing support to a local young person in local authority care.
We want to raise awareness of befriending as a volunteer role and in the coming months we have some ideas on how we can do that, but right now we ask you to please share these roles, as well as the idea of befriending, with anyone who you think might be interested.
New Opportunities
Latest opportunities added to our website include:
- supporting the LDCVS Digital Directory of Services
- supporting people through various projects with No Labelz Out in the Bay
- Lancashire Volunteer Partnership – Community Befriending Support, support to older people or people with disabilities, and libraries, museums, and archives;
- a treasurer role with Friends of Lancaster City Museum;
- supporting a performance event this May – Facing the Past;
- welcome volunteers for a new community choir,
- and café and community hub volunteers at the Gregson Arts & Community Centre.
You can find more volunteering opportunities on our dedicated website!
Room to Reward – Hotel Breaks for Volunteers
Have you heard of Room to Reward?
They offer a way for you to say thank you to dedicated volunteers, those hidden heroes making a difference to those who most need it. Working with partners across the country they can offer stays at hotels – and now a holiday park – to your volunteer completely FREE.
So do you have a volunteer who you think deserves a break?
Register, nominate your chosen volunteer(s), and once approved present them with their break!
You can register here: https://www.roomtoreward.org/charity-community-group-registration/
Find out more about Room to Reward here: https://www.roomtoreward.org/
We’re looking for a learning and evaluation partner to support the #VisionForVolunteering
The Vision for Volunteering is a collective ten-year aspiration for the future of volunteering in England, based on a deep understanding and commitment to voluntary action. Through the Vision, we are seeking to bring about change in how volunteering looks, feels, and runs in England – making it brilliant for everyone, everywhere.
Now, the Vision for Volunteering is looking for a learning and evaluation partner to understand the effectiveness and impact of phase two in the implementation of the Vision and inform decisions about future strategy. Phase two is starting now and will run to 31 March 2024.
We are seeking interest from partners that want to work with us to finalise our plans for learning and evaluation of phase two, work alongside us to meet those plans, and be responsible for delivering key outputs to draw out learning and evaluate what has been achieved.
Up to £50,000 is available for this contract, inclusive of VAT.
Proposals should be submitted by 9.00am Monday 6 March 2023. The process is set out in more detail on the Vision for Volunteering website:
Volunteer Opportunity Promotion and Recruitment
Have you registered on our website to promote your volunteer roles? By adding your opportunities to our website you will be making them available to the hundreds of people per month who check our site looking for something to do. You will also enable our team to easily and quickly signpost people to your roles, to give them the information that they need to decide whether they would like to apply.
Registering is quick and easy and you can do it HERE.
Once registered you will be able to add your roles. If you need any help, or have any questions, you can contact Mark by email at [email protected].
In addition to the website, the Volunteer Centre can promote your roles via our bulletins and newsletters; through attendance at in-person events such as volunteer fairs; in 121 meetings with potential volunteers; through visits to various support organisations; drop-in events at local Job Centres; by posting to our social media platforms (#LDCVSVolunteerTuesday); and through our bi-weekly column in the Lancaster Guardian.
If you would like to discuss any of this, including having space in our Lancaster Guardian column, please contact Mark.
