Simply Chat – December 2021
Headlines from our December meeting (2nd December 2021)
This month’s meeting focused on rewarding & recognising volunteers and volunteering in 2022.
How centres are recognising volunteers. Suggestions and feedback included:
- Acknowledging and chatting to volunteers every time they volunteer – How are you? How was your holiday?
- Catch-up meetings every month with staff and volunteers
- Include volunteers in your staff meetings
- Treat each volunteer as an individual
- Ensure volunteers are aware that they are an integral part of the team and that they are helping
- Where possible show the difference/impact/contribution volunteers make to your work (project, team and organisation)
- Socialising inc coffee mornings
- Training & development – centres have recently run training on dementia and domestic violence awareness
In regards to volunteer award ceremonies this may suit some volunteers and some volunteers may not wish to be involved.
It was suggested during the Chat it was perhaps ideal to award volunteers for contribution and not just length of time volunteering – What the volunteers contributes is more valuable.
What will Volunteering bring in 2022
Centres spoke that they were focusing on getting groups engaged in volunteering – the groups often weren’t looking for volunteers for a number of reasons:
- Organisation volunteer co-ordinators working less hours
- Organisations not fully running all services, or running them differently due to the pandemic
- Not taking on new volunteers
- Concerns of taking on volunteers but Covid lockdown could impact (the unpredictably)
Often smaller groups were not engaging and centres were trying networking sessions for example to speak to and catch up with organisations (run face-to-face, online or a hybrid)
Plans to engage groups and volunteers included:
- Pop-up events
- Internet Radio
- Local radio
Centres are also cleansing data and ensuring they have current, quality roles available (quality not quantity).
NCVO – Research examines volunteering policy response during the pandemic
Four key lessons from the pandemic for volunteering policy:
1. Long term planning and preparedness are vital
2. Effective communication and collaboration are essential
3. A strategic direction for volunteering in England is needed
4. Volunteering needs a healthy environment to thrive