Home


GoldStar - Promoting good practice in managing volunteers from socially excluded groups


Search site:


Search WWW

Search goldstar.org.uk

Induction and training

 

 

Organisations aiming to match volunteers to appropriate volunteer work will need to ensure that the induction process and training given can contribute towards that goal. This may include exposure to various volunteering activities, for example, through taster sessions in order to ensure an appropriate match to volunteering roles.

 

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

Age Concern Islington provide ongoing training that is tailored to individual roles.
View Good Practice Guideline

Barnardo’s North East give their volunteers personal development plans so that individuals can develop their career skills.

View Good Practice Guideline

 

Age Concern Islington

Age Concern Islington (ACI) manages a number of diverse projects and activities and has developed good practice with the aim of ensuring that volunteers are given induction and training that tailoring to their individual roles. In assessing training needs ACI give particular attention to:

  1. ongoing training needs – new volunteers are given induction training, but they are also invited to quarterly training session on ACI policies, and offered role specific training;

  2. Personal safety – especially for those who visit people’s homes;

  3. Consideration of client needs – for example, day centre volunteers need training in such matters as first aid, manual handling, and the language of care settings;

  4. Specialisms – training in specialist subjects has included: dyslexia and the specialised reading programme “Catch-up”; food and hygiene, and adult abuse training;

  5. Accredited training – for example, IT training for administrative volunteers, working towards ECDL/CLAIT accreditation.

                             

Barnardo’s North East

Barnardo’s NE project, promotes training to volunteers and engages them in activities to raise their self-esteem and encourages them to realise that they have transferable life skills that they can use elsewhere in work.

Learning and development is considered a high priority for the project, particularly as service users may have no formal qualifications. For some volunteers achievement of Open College accreditation may be the only chance they have to gain a certificate and could be a significant personal achievement.

Personal development plans are put in place for those who want to use their volunteering as a means to develop career skills.

Part of Barnardo’s aim is to develop opportunities that take into account the needs of the individual. So instead of just advertising a particular opportunity, it will develop a new opportunity to respond to a volunteer’s interest or need. This care with matching volunteer to opportunity and creating specific opportunities ensure greater retention of volunteers. 

Back to Good Practice *