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Flexible approach

The volunteering organisation should be prepared to change course if the initial assessment is leading to an unsatisfactory outcome, and also to permit a change of curse in the interest of the development of the individual volunteer through suitable training and work experience.

Below are a few examples of how other organisations have accoplished this:

Sports Volunteering North West Ltd has developed a cascade system
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CSV Volunteering Partners develop volunteering opportunities based on young peoples wants and needs.

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Sports volunteering North West

Sports volunteering North West (VNW) has adopted recruitment and selection method across the North West region to match young people to a wide variety of appropriate volunteering opportunities/placements, linking the experience they seek with local availability.

Placements have been provided through established routes, for example:

  1. Partnerships with National Governing Bodies of sport,

  2. Partnerships with sport development unites within local authorities,

  3. Partnerships with local clubs and organisations,

  4. One-off events.

 

A system called “cascade” has been developed by Sports Volunteering through county sports partnerships, local authority sports development units and local clubs, schools and colleges to ensure that opportunities in all areas are created to engage and support young people in volunteering.

Volunteers are encouraged to gain coaching and leadership qualifications through the project and to make use of these qualifications during their placement in a club or organisation. Volunteers who complete 200 hours are encouraged and empowered to become new mentors for new volunteers within the project and are also encouraged and supported to carry on volunteering.

The wide variety of volunteering opportunities within the programme, ranging from coaching to web design, database management, marketing and officiating is changing the philosophy of volunteering across the region to one which fosters an inclusive atmosphere. Widening the range of opportunities has greatly increased the number of young people who now access the programme and benefit from this support to develop confidence and skills in secure and friendly environment

                                 

Community Service Volunteers

Community Service Volunteers (the Yu-act project) recognises that its volunteering opportunities need to be attractive to young people if they are to be encouraged to participate and has developed a flexible approach around the idea of volunteering opportunities based on what young people want or are interested in. The main features of this flexible approach are:

  1. Open Mindedness – not simply trying to find young people to fit existing volunteering opportunities;

  2. Taster sessions – the Yu-act project does not recruit young people for long-term specific roles, but rather to experience volunteering as a “taster session”;

  3. Role of the project Worker – when a volunteer first becomes involved with Yu-act they meet with the Project Worker to discuss what they want to get out of volunteering;

  4. Designing the volunteers’ roles – with the young people’s input, a role is designed that will enable them to try and achieve their aims;

  5. Diverse activities – the result of this approach is a diverse range of activities being organised and carried out, including challenging subjects such as working with families who have been affected y HIV/Aids

  6. Training and support – the training and support needed for such diversity is properly identified and provided

 

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