Improving Support brings together resources, evidence and good practice to strengthen support services available to third sector organisations. Nine workstreams - operating under the Improving Support banner and funded by Capacitybuilders - will support the support providers in delivering improvements and meeting changing frontline needs. Volunteering England are the lead organisation for the volunteering workstrand.
VE are delighted to be working with Capacitybuilders and our partners the Red Foundation, CSV and NNVIA, the Nationwide Foundation, and V to improve support in an innovative way in the following four key areas.
- Faith-based volunteering
- Employer supported volunteering
- Volunteering within large national organisations
- New forms of volunteer involvement and management
For more information about the Improving Support programme visit www.improvingsupport.org.uk
Will the Facebook factor find new volunteers?
As part of its remit to look at new ways of involving volunteers, the modernising volunteering workstream has been looking at social networking and volunteer champions.
In September the workstream ran a series of focus groups with members of the Association of Volunteer Managers (AVM) and gathered useful information which will be made available soon. They will also be working with the AVM to pilot a social networking section on their website - www.volunteermanagers.org.uk. If you’re a member of the AVM and want to get involved, please get in touch using the contact details below.
Lead partner Red Foundation also wants to hear from you if you’ve used a social network to recruit and support volunteers. Do you have experience of developing volunteer champion or ambassador type roles? And if you are an active user of Facebook for personal use, they want your views on how it may help you to work with volunteers. Share your experience and opinions in our online survey which runs until January at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=yMgQxN_2f9Sog7d3fIKh4McQ_3d_3d
Before completing the survey, you may find it useful to read these briefing papers about the work Red Foundation are doing.
The survey will be complemented by focus groups and interviews. If you want to take part in a focus group or have a case study you would like to tell us about, then please get in touch by email nss@redfoundation.org or call us on 0845 299 7162 ext 2. We look forward to hearing from you.
Modernising volunteering workstream invites tenders for faith-based volunteering research project
We already know that faith-based volunteering can build links within communities. However, the potential for faith-based volunteering to build links across different communities has not been fully explored.
In the context of national debates about community cohesion and multiculturalism, the potential role of inter-faith volunteering is one that warrants further attention.
Volunteering England, the modernising volunteering workstream lead, is inviting tenders for research to support this project. The value of the contract will be in the region of £50,000.
Submissions must be sent by email to volunteering.nss@volunteeringengland.org to arrive no later than 17.00 on Wednesday 12th November 2008.
Evolve keeps you in touch with modernising volunteering
To keep up-to-date with the Improving Support modernising volunteering workstream, subscribe to our quarterly newsletter Evolve by sending an email to volunteering.nss@volunteeringengland.org
To keep up-to-date with the Improving Support modernising volunteering workstream, subscribe to our quarterly newsletter Evolve by sending an email to volunteering.nss@volunteeringengland.org
