Two Parkinson’s Disease Society (PDS) branch volunteers who attended “Effective Committees (Chairing and Managing Roles and Relationships) training recently, had this to say:
- “I learnt a lot, and will see some things differently and better”.
- “A very good day. I enjoyed it and hope to benefit from it.”
There is no doubt that volunteers can get a great deal from attending the right training to enable them to chair committees and manage branch relationships.
Valuing our 4,500 plus volunteers is a priority for Parkinson’s Disease Society, and this means meeting the support and training needs so necessary for good practice in the current challenging volunteer environment.
It’s not enough to “hope for the best”, when volunteers freely give their time and experience to support their favourite charity.
Olive and Jean’s McMillan’s story
Olive from Wallasey and her daughter, Jean, were invited last year to attend a garden party at Buckingham Palace to meet the Queen in recognition of their volunteer work for the Parkinson’s Disease Society.
Olive remembers:
“Our involvement with the PDS began over 17 years ago after my late husband Arthur was diagnosed with Parkinson’s.We realised there wasn’t a lot of support available to people like us living across the Wirral and helped to set up the Wirral branch in 1991.The branch offers people with Parkinson’s and their families the opportunity to contact others, share experiences and to take part in a range of social activities.
“Arthur passed away in December 2002, but since then our efforts to help people locally hasn’t slowed down.I have continued in my voluntary position as branch welfare officer, and with other volunteers facilitate a Carer’s group.
"We have raised money for local PDS services and secured a number of grant applications for funding."
In addition, Jean, who is now Branch Secretary, completed a trek in Nepal in 2002 with two friends, Stella Owen and Gill Barrie, raising over £10,000 for the Society.
PDS induction
Volunteers come with a wide range of life and work skills and bring much strength to the PDS. In return they will benefit enormously from a structured yet informal induction, and PDS actively demonstrates good practice in giving the best possible support to its volunteers.
All new and existing PDS volunteers receive an induction covering the basics such as who their named contact is, how often supervision meetings will take place, health and safety responsibilities for everyone, and what ongoing support and training is on offer.
Volunteers themselves help shape PDS’s future policy and development, getting involved in education, campaigning, managing branches and support groups, befriending, public relations and fundraising.
In addition, volunteers input to publications, printed materials, guidelines, communications, and the all important governance areas.
Supporting our volunteers
Many PDS volunteers have been involved with the Society for periods spanning from one year to 25 years plus. The contribution they have made to the development of the charity and the lives of people with Parkinson’s, their carers and relatives is enormous.
In recognition of the importance of volunteers, Volunteer and Branch Support Officer’s (BVSO’s) have recently been appointed in every country and region throughout the UK.BVSO’s all have specialist volunteer involvement experience and during 2008 the new team delivered support and training through inductions to 1,150 new and existing PDS volunteers.
Meeting volunteers specific training needs
PDS volunteers actively want to enhance their committee work, learn more about how to share good practices in managing committees, and what key leadership skills are required to allow their fully effective committees to work better.
Sourcing the right “Effective Committees” training has been straightforward, using CSV’s Consulting trainer Steve McCurley, and working together to customise sessions tailored to meet requirements.
Two sessions were held in London and Belfast, with another planned later this year in a central England location. Feedback has been very positive with high evaluation ratings.
The time and resource investment has been very worthwhile, not just in the short term but in looking forward to results that will, in the longer term, create lasting change.
Saying “thank you”
Recognition is, as we all know, so very important in saying ‘thank you’ for the efforts and achievements of all volunteers, and certainly should be top of the list of good practices.
At PDS, recognition is given through Honorary Life Memberships, Certificates of Merit, an Annual Branches weekend, Christmas cards, thank you letters and local events.
So, good practice is not solely about formal policies and procedures, it’s about having a structure in place where some basics standards are met for all volunteers, yet also having the flexibility to offer tailored support and guidance to meet individual volunteer needs where possible.
For more information visit www.parkinsons.org.uk
