23-25 April 2008
There will be something for everyone at the volunteering convention of the year. If you are a volunteer manager, run a Volunteer Centre, work for a company with an interest in employer-supported volunteering or feel like a little fish with some big ideas about volunteering, then float on over to... the Volunteering England National Convention.
If you only attend one event in 2008 – make it this one. In one place, you will gain insight into the work of Volunteering England and of key organisations working in and with the third sector, enhancing your work to ensure that volunteering remains at the heart of social change.
With over seventy workshops in our extensive programme to ensure that the Volunteering England National Convention - we are confident that the programme suits the requirements and interests of Volunteer Managers across the country.
Who will be attending?
The Convention will bring together a diverse range of delegates from all three sectors. We anticipate that volunteer managers from volunteer-involving organisations, charity representatives, Volunteer Centres and private sector companies with an interest in employer supported volunteering will find the workshops and speeches particularly relevant and useful.
Where is it being held?
Volunteering England is proud to be holding the Convention in the city of Newcastle at the Hilton Newcastle Gateshead.
How to find accomodation
The Newcastle Gateshead Convention Bureau have taken the pain out of booking accommodation by providing an easy to use website just for Convention delegates. It enables you to check the availability and book rooms at a variety of hotels located nearby. For further information about the city, please click here.
How to get there
You can travel by train - National Express is currently offering 10% discount on all "Advance" tickets purchased online.
The nearest motorway to the Hilton hotel is the A1/ A184 junction. There are 168 parking spaces in a secure, covered car park with controlled gates under the hotel. Car parking costs are £2.00 for 0-3 hours, £5 for 9+ hours and £3 overnight (6pm-8am).
Is there a dress code?
The dress code for the Convention, including the Gala dinner is smart/casual.
Due to unforeseen circumstances, some alterations have been made to the workshop programme
| Previous worshop code and name | Current workshop name, content and presenters names (where amendments are applicable) |
| VC1 - VCQA Wave 3 - Working together to make Volunteer Centre quality accreditation a success | (Title not amended)
This session updates Volunteer Centres on the revision of VCQA as it stands. There will be an opportunity for questions and comments relating to the revisions made so far. It is recommended that anyone attending this workshop read the draft revised standard which will appear on the VCQA web pages. |
| VC8 - VCQA core functions 3 and 4 Influence and change: practical tips for running effective campaigns | VCQA: Policy response and campaigning: practical Tips for influencing and creating change
This session highlights practical tips and management models that can be applied by Volunteer Centres to help them influence change at a local level |
VCQA core functions 5 and 6 - What makes an excellent brokerage service in the 21st century tick?
• What training is available for staff and volunteers running a brokerage service? What should be available?
•How many volunteers who express an interest in volunteering opportunities actually go on to volunteer?
•What is the future of brokerage?
•How will it need to change in the next few decades? | (Title not changed)
How brokerage will need to change in the next few decades?
Are we spending too much time running our brokerage services?
What are the unique selling points of brokerage in the 21st Century? |
D8 - School Governors One-Stop Shop
A practical example of good practice in governance | D8 - Gaining and maintaining company support
SGOSS has been working successfully with top employers for seven years to recruit school governor volunteers for the schools that need them most. This workshop will look at how organisations can approach companies about gaining support, successful volunteer recruitment strategies in the corporate environment and how to successfully maintain a relationship with a corporate supporter. |
| G5 - A route to professionalising your sector for managers of volunteers | G5: How Excellence in Volunteer Management (EVM) can increase your training capacity and be customised for your sector or organisation
EVM can be delivered in bite-size chunks, or as an endorsed award, or contextualised to suit your sectoral or organisational needs. Two trail-blazing EVM Training Providers point the way, by showcasing their work rolling-out the EVM award to organisations in north-west England and developing EVM into a qualification for managers of sports volunteers.
|
G6 - Just an hour
Northumbrian Water showcase their highly successful employer-supported volunteering programme and share some top tips on how to work with companies. | Presenter's name changed
Louise Hunter, Corporate Responsibility Manager, Northumbrian Water |
| G5 - How Excellence in Volunteer Management (EVM) can increase your training capacity and be customised for your sector or organisation
EVM can be delivered in bite-size chunks, or as an endorsed award, or contextualised to suit your sectoral or organisational needs. Two trail-blazing EVM Training Providers point the way, by showcasing their work rolling-out the EVM award to organisations in north-west England and developing EVM into a qualification for managers of sports volunteers. | Presenter's name changed
Sue Jones, Volunteer Centre Warrington and runningsports |
D4 - Risk: dispelling the myths
What are the genuine risks involved in volunteer management programmes? How to implement risk management strategies | The Future of Civil Society
Drawing on the work of the Inquiry into the Future of Civil Society in the UK and Ireland, this session explores potential threats to and opportunities for civil society, between now and 2025. The session will explore possible implications for volunteering.
Presenters - Lenka Setkova, Carnegie UK Trust and Justin Davis Smith, Volunteering England |
F6 - Volunteering by and with offenders
Volunteering has a considerable impact on the lives of offenders within prisons and on probation. This workshop explores the results of research carried out in 2006 by IVR, and features practical tips and guidance on volunteering with and by, offenders. | Session cancelled |
| C3 - Keeping track: what do you need from a volunteer database? | Professional skills based volunteering: sharing best practice
Meet with Barclays Community Relations Managers to discuss how they engage employees in professional skills based volunteering and the challenges they face. General discussion will also be encouraged to determine how companies can work with charities and community groups to develop professional skills based volunteering. |
D7 - Is social entrepreneurship the new volunteering?
More and more people are taking action on community and social issues that they feel passionate about, by setting up their own projects and activities, often beyond the confines of a structured charity or community group. This movement of people is being hailed as social entrepreneurs and a growing network of support and infrastructure services is developing to assist them get their ideas off the ground.
| Volunteering – in need of a makeover?
Social networks, speed dating, street teams, viral marketing, social
entrepreneurship… what do these have to do with volunteering? As part of the National Support Service to Modernise Volunteering funded by Capacity Builders, Red Foundation is leading a three year project to find out how we can utilise these modern marketing and engagement techniques to work with and recruit volunteers and to look at ways in which these can be harnessed for use by the wider volunteering sector.
This interactive session will enable you to find out more about our plans and contribute to the development of this important project. Come along and share your experience plus have some fun into the bargain! |
| B3 - Happy endings: dealing with the leaving process
Presenter: Lynne Gillett - Trainer | Presenter's name changed
Sarah Hayes, Volunteering Development and Grantmaking Officer, Volunteering England |
| F2 - Completing the Annual Membership Return | Session cancelled |
| G3 - Exploring the connection between research and policy | Session cancelled |
