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Involving VOLUNTEERS  in your Organisation |
As an organisation which involves volunteers you will be invited to attend our quarterly forum for Volunteer Co-ordinators
"Voices for Volunteers" the Forum which is administered in partnership with Middlesbrough Volunteer Centre, exists to provide networking opportunities, peer support and training and to encourage Good Practice in Volunteer Management.
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RCVDA can help you to identify training for your staff and volunteers
RCVDA ask that you keep us informed throughout the recruitment process so that we can re-refer the volunteer if your organisation does not meet their needs.
Throughout the year we will ask for feedback regarding your volunteers and the service you are receiving from RCVDA. This feedback will help us to evaluate and improve the referral procedure if necessary. |
We can help "Fill the GAP" in your group |
Redcar & Cleveland Voluntary Development Agency:
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Acts as a 'signposting' agency, matching potential volunteers with appropriate opportunities within Public, voluntary and community sector
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Works to stimulate and encourage local interest in volunteering and community activity
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Promotes "good practice in working with volunteers" to organisations who involve volunteers
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Maintains a comprehensive range of volunteering opportunities
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Identifies proposals or legislation that may impact on volunteering.
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participates in campaigns or issues that affect volunteers or volunteering.
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To register your interest contact the Volunteer Support Officer at RCVDA. You will be asked to complete a registration form about your organisation and each opportunity you have available.
RCVDA will upload the information to www.do-it.org.uk where volunteers can search the website by postcode for volunteering opportunities that match their interests. |
We will contact you with the details of potential volunteers so that you can arrange to meet with them.
It is important that you follow up the referral as soon as possible in order that the volunteer feels valued (we have found that initial contact by telephone for a one-to-one chat with the volunteer increases volunteer take-up levels).
It is up to the organisation to take up references and carry out any necessary checks on the volunteer eg CRB checks.
RCVDA are authorised to verify documents in relation to CRB disclosures on behalf of Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council |
Volunteer Involving Organisations
As an organisation involving volunteers you will receive ongoing support to assist in the recruitment of volunteers, plus additional information about good practice in working with volunteers.
RCVDA offers the following services to Volunteer Involving Organisations:
- Act as a "signposting'' agency, matching potential volunteers with appropriate opportunities within the local community.
- Works to promote and encourage local interest in volunteering and community activity
- Promotes Good Practice in working with volunteers
- Maintains a comprehensive range of volunteering opportunities
- Quarterly Volunteer Co-ordinators Forum - Voices for Volunteers
- Identifies proposals or legislation that may impact on volunteering, and participates in campaigns on issues that affect volunteers or volunteering
Volunteering Practice Advisor
Do you need help setting up your Volunteer Policy?
In recent months local Volunteer Centres across the Tees Valley have been devising a way to make life easier for volunteer-involving organisations. Together they have recently appointed a Volunteering Practice Advisor who will be working with organisations in Middlesbrough, Redcar & Cleveland, Hartlepool, Stockton and Darlington.
The primary role of the Volunteering Practice Advisor will be to train and mentor organisations in good volunteer practice tackling the tough issues that come with setting up and running a volunteer programme.
Areas that will be covered include:
- Recruitment of volunteers
- Volunteer retention
- Effective volunteer management
- Establishing good volunteer practice surgeries
- Building towards good volunteer practice
- Running volunteer forums
If you are interested in using this free service contact Trish Waters at RCVDA on 01642 440571 email trish@rcvda.org.uk
Volunteering Opportunities
If you would like us to assist you in finding volunteers contact Trish on 01642 440571 or email trish@rcvda.org.uk.. Click here to download registration form. We will then upload this information to www.do-it.org.uk the national online volunteering database.
Potential volunteers can search by postcode for volunteering opportunities that match their interests.
When RCVDA match a potential volunteer to your organisation we forward their details to you with a request that you contact them as soon as possible to arrange a meeting. It is important that you keep us informed throughout the recruitment process so that if your organisation does not meet the needs of the volunteer we can re- refer them.
It is the responsibility of the Volunteering Involving Organisation to decide if a CRB disclosure is needed. See CRB Checks
Voices for Volunteers
Minutes of Voices for Volunteers meeting 25th May 2010 click here.
Volunteer support information
You may find the following publications from Volunteering England useful and they are free to download from their site.
Volunteers and the Law
Volunteering for Everyone - A guide for organisations who want to include and recruit volunteers who have a learning disability
Involving Ex-offenders in Volunteering (this is a large document please be patient whilst it downloads)
Working with Volunteers: A management guide for refugee community organisations
Volunteering and Risk Toolkit
"Get it Right from the Start"
Volunteer Travel Expenses
Volunteering on a shoestring (not another toolkit!)
Don’t have the time to come up with policies and procedures? Don’t have the capacity to manage volunteers? Volunteering on a shoestring (not another toolkit!) has been developed by The LGBT Consortium for small organisations who don’t have the time or money to involve volunteers according to ‘best practice’.
There are four parts to Volunteering on a Shoestring:
- Volunteering on a Shoestring (not another toolkit!) A short, easy to use, step-by-step toolkit for organisations wanting to involve volunteers. To download it, click here.
- 20 steps to involving volunteers on a shoestring A follow-on from the toolkit, 20 steps to a great volunteering programme. To download it, click here
- Policies, procedures and guidance sheets We know you don’t have time to come up with policies, procedures and forms, so we’ve done this for you. We’ve created a downloadable volunteering handbook which you can adapt and give to your volunteers, guidance sheets on volunteering procedures and a number of template forms and procedures. You can either adapt them to suit your organisation or just insert your organisation’s name into the appropriate gaps, print them off and use them straight away.
Volunteer handbook click here 
Also useful for organisations that involve volunteer drivers is the Volunteer Driver’s Handbook from ROSPA |
