About GoldStar 
Understanding the individual needs and barriers of the target volunteering population
The target volunteering population will often have needs that can be addressed effectively by appropriate training provision. Ensuring all groups of volunteers can access training effectively will be only be important for each individual volunteer, but critical for the efficient running of the volunteering organisation. An important aspect of this will be to understand and address barriers to raining face by individual volunteers, such as childcare, or lack of transport. It is also extremely important that workers or volunteer coordinators are trained to carry out this role.
Below are a few examples of how other organisations have accoplished this: |
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The renewal, Refugee and migrant project uses the different cultural backgrounds of volunteers as a positive aid to understanding when training mentors. |
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The volunteer centre Tameside believes that it is essential that volunteer coordinators have adequate training |
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The underlying philosophy of the Renewal, Refugee and Migrant project (RAMP) is to facilitate progress toward full integration into mainstream communities in a self-reliant way as soon as possible. One of the ways that this is done is by mixing the cultural backgrounds of the mentors and mentees, but ensuring that they have something in common. Mentor training and assessment processes follow the Rogerian approach of ‘learner-centredness’.
Dr Hailu Hagos who manages the Refugee Mentoring Service commented, “It is such a diverse group and it is very difficult to set a standard for these groups. So we are flexible and diverse in our activities. What we are proud of is it is a multicultural organisation. The mentors are as diverse as the mentees themselves”.
Mentors and mentees are offered separate mentoring inductions to help them familiarise themselves with RAMP’s mentoring programme. They learn what mentoring is and how they can benefit from it in plain English. Interpreters are assigned as necessary for those mentees whose level of English is low. Induction is considered crucial, as both mentors and mentees need to have a clear idea of their roles and responsibilities in the mentoring relationships from the outset.
As well as group inductions, the Mentoring Co-ordinator organises three-way meetings with individual mentors and mentees. Apart from background information about RAMP and the Mentoring Scheme, ethical codes of practice, such as confidentiality and boundary issues, details of the support system of the mentoring project are provided during induction.
Within the induction process steps are taken to address the complexity of a range of languages, cultural sensitivities, etc. to ensure a good match between mentor and mentee.
The volunteer Centre Tameside VCT
The volunteer Centre Tameside VCT acts as a broker, matching volunteers to volunteering opportunities throughout Tameside. The centre can give advice, training, and support to organisation that seek volunteer help. VCT also runs a variety of volunteering related projects.
VCT is the borough’s only volunteer development agency and it supports over 100 volunteer recruiting organisations, matching more than 750 volunteers per year with them. In these circumstances it is essential that those who fulfil the role of volunteer coordinators have adequate training in this role. VCT provides this training as a best practice, the main features of which are as follows
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Comprehensive – training should cover all aspects of work with volunteers;
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Interaction among coordinators – VCT runs a successful forum that involves volunteer coordinators from a range of volunteering recruiting organisations from Tameside and elsewhere;
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Produce information packs – VCT has produced a publication, “Information for Groups Working with Volunteers” that covers all the essential elements for setting up and running a volunteer project;
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Good practice – the training will cover aspect of good practice on matters such as recruitment and selection, support and supervision and involvement and recognition.
Back to Good Practice 
